Katie Pringle

The out of office assistant

Tags:
emails

Posted by Katie Pringle on September 8, 2008 8:16 PM

There is a universally acknowledged truth that when a thing should be easy, it generally isn't.

Why is it something as a simple as turning on an out of office assistant on your email system turns into a goliath IT project complete with monosyllabic IT helpdesk staff (my brother - cheap doesn't always equal cheerful).

Now I know you're probably thinking well if you've got old reliable MS Outlook then nee worries, but ah, we can't afford any of that fancy Microsoft systems in these harsh economic climes, so we have a free to use email system that links in with our website.

What a carry on, total waste of time as well, within ten minutes of having the out of office set up our inbox had 300 new emails and we were in such a tizzy that we took the whole thing off. Crazy.

That's what you get when you try and be organised and take control of your business. a slap in the face and a small mountain's worth of error messages.

As it turns out there wasn't that many emails - the current economic climate has finally hit our little business and I think it'll take more than a fully functioning email system to revive our current fortunes. Go figure.

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Boilers and business don't mix

Posted by Katie Pringle on June 30, 2008 7:36 PM

In opinion polls for the most stressful times in your life - moving house, getting divorced and death (of a loved one not your own) all feature regularly but over the last few weeks I have been experiencing a little discussed but arguably equally as misery-inducing event: the fitting of a new boiler.

Having a boiler changed doesn't sound like that much of a faff - but therin lies part of it's insipid
torture. Because you see it isn't just the boiler that's getting replaced, it's every single radiator in the house, all the pipe work, wherever that may currently be, must be taken out and brand new, shiny, copper piping gets slapped up all over the shop. The key factor in this disturbing event is that every single room gets affected - no where is safe from the claggy dust that clings to every surface and the mind boggling array of tools that appear in neatly lined trays all. over. the. house.

Condusive to running a business like a slick-well oiled machine? What do you think?

Continue reading "Boilers and business don't mix" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Back to business

Posted by Katie Pringle on June 9, 2008 7:10 PM

What with all the sunny weather we've finally been experiencing (one week into June!) myself and the business partner have been struggling to keep up our work ethic of late. We come in from our 'other jobs' and somehow the allure of a night in front of the computer, answering emails and preparing invoices just doesn't compete with a nice cold white wine spritzer out on the patio (yes it's retro and possibly unfashionable but it is tres refreshing!).

I don't think it's possible to breathe down your own neck, but as my own boss I really need to take myself into a quiet room and ask me why I've let my performance slip over the last few weeks. And yes I know it's only been sunny for like two days but maybe I'm using the weather as an excuse for my general laziness towards our little fledgling business of recent weeks.

The thing is though although I love the time away, the freedom of not feeling like I always have to be doing something, it does come at a price.

Continue reading "Back to business" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Return to sender

Posted by Katie Pringle on May 12, 2008 7:28 PM

This evening I got in from work to find a parcel at the front door.

As my eyes scanned across the address an unwanted recognition crept over me. Just under a week ago this very same parcel had been taken by me, from my house, to my local Post Office. In the time honoured tradition I had written on the front where I wanted the parcel to be sent to. Sometimes this gets referred to as the address. The place we wish the parcel to go to. This address was not and is not, my address. And yet here it was, back again...in my house!

Like some kind of Lassie-esque parcel, this package had come home. ARGHH!

Continue reading "Return to sender" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Qualified opinions

Posted by Katie Pringle on May 7, 2008 8:24 PM

Tommorow myself and my business partner are off to a meeting with a buyer at a large museum who may hopefully, possibly, maybe, want us to create a product specifically for them. This would be our first commission and we are pretty nervous about the meeting.

We don't have any experience in this area and so we have absolutely nothing on which to base our expectations. So what do you do when you don't know what to do? Well, if you're anything like me, you go ask someone, anyone what they might do in that situation.

Continue reading "Qualified opinions" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Meeting expectations

Posted by Katie Pringle on April 20, 2008 10:25 AM

Two weeks ago myself and the business partner attended the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate. Since that time it's been a bit crazy at RPS towers. You see for us, orders are like buses, you wait for ages for one to come along and then three turn up at once.

No complaints on that front, I love "buses", but it has meant a slight re-evaluation of our production methods. Telling stockists that they will have to wait 4-5 weeks to receive their products is not something we think is acceptable, but at the moment, to tell them them anything else would mean dissapointing them come delivery day.

So we find ourselves having to do something we have as yet managed to avoid as a small business.

Forward plan.

Continue reading "Meeting expectations" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is jam hot

Posted by Katie Pringle on March 10, 2008 7:33 PM

If there was a job interview for starting your own business, effective self promotion would be high on the list of 'essential' criteria.

You are a one man band and as such you have to get out there and bang your own drum.

Your best intrument is yourself (stick with me here), you know the most about your products, you believe in your business the most (well you should do or you're off to a bit of a non starter) and you've got to get out there and get other people, your potential customers, to believe in your products aswell.

There is no budget for marketing or PR. Let's face it guys, there isn't even a budget. What you can do you have to do for free, and sometimes the success of your business will live and die on how good you are at self-promotion. You can have the best idea, the best products, the best of everything but if you can't get out there and tell people about it then you haven't got the best business. In fact I'd be suprised if you've got a business at all.

Now I don't tell you this as someone who excels at self-promotion. Far from it, in fact when this lecture is being delivered I'm probably somewhere at the back of the class, middling through and finding every opportunity to self-promote a tortuous task to be endured rather than embraced. I'm way too British about it. The mistake I make is feeling like I am trying to sell myself instead of the product. And we all know British people are the very model of modesty. C minus - must try harder.

BUT, I do know how very very important it is. And I also recognise it in other people with envious eyes. They make it look so easy.

Tips for self-promotion?

add or read comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Talking with the tax man

Posted by Katie Pringle on March 4, 2008 9:24 PM

Well actually she was a lady tax man but that didn't make her any less scary when she rang last week to 'question' our partnership tax return.

'There's no way this one will go through as it is' she states in cool business like tones.

'Oh really' I say, feeling the prickling of sweat on my upper lip. 'Why not?' I ask, knowing I'm going to need to write down the answer and the chances of there being a pen that works within reach of the phone looking as slim as me getting through this conversation without looking like I haven't got a clue.

'Because the figures in 3.24 and 3.25 should give you the figure in 3.26'.

'...yes' I answer, not having the foggiest clue what 3.2whatsits is and feeling too much of an inept pretender to ask for clarification. (I'm stood in my pajamas at this point and even though I know she can't see me, I feel like my just having got up is becoming clearer to her with every word that comes out of my mouth - and she does not approve. 'Tut tut' I hear her thinking, 'still in bed at 9.05 on a work day, no wonder the accounts aren't in order'.)

She continues '..and they don't.'

'They don't?'

'They don't.'

'Oh.' Balls.

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Computer says no...

Posted by Katie Pringle on January 29, 2008 8:15 PM

Though it disturbed me to read in the Daily Telegraph over the weekend that certain special people were being advised not to fill out their tax returns online amid fears over security I had left it too late to fill out my form long hand and so was left with little choice but to do it on the internet.

Happily though it seems I have nothing to fear from the Inland Revenue's security systems. As I am not a politician, a member of the Royal family, a celebrity or indeed any other variety of 'important' person I do not need to have upgraded security when I complete my tax return. The bog standard security is quite appropriate enough for a woman of my position.

Apparently.

Bouyed by the evident confidence the Inland Revenue holds in it's on-line systems, I ploughed through the labyrinthine self assessment form beginning on Saturday morning and emerging late Sunday afternoon an older, quieter, greasier version of my former self.

If, as is planned no-one will be able to complete their tax returns on paper next year without facing stiff penalties then I can only hope that some work will go into improving the usability of the IRs website.

It was like a magic trick gone wrong, all misdirection and false bottomed hats.

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The doutbful guest

Posted by Katie Pringle on January 21, 2008 7:23 PM

The list of 'things to do' is slowly turning into a tome of almost biblical proportions. Task 136: Thou must order more ribbon - probably two wilt be cheaper than one.' The business partner and I recite from it at length and use it to flag ourselves at intervals.

I find myself mentally rebelling against the neccessary rigidity of my day job and the depressing monotony of North-east weather. I will not make this just another thing that needs to be done. I want my business to be firstly creative and secondly a business. And the trade off might be less sales.

Like alot of people trying to get a business off the ground I cannot afford not to work as well as run the business. The upside of this is it takes the pressure of having to make money every month. On the downside it can leave you feeling less entused to deal with the day to day administration of a business. I'm starting to cling to the creativity it offers and resent the rest.

Today especially a memory from last summer kept popping up in my conscious and I know exactly what it's trying to tell me. I want to be more like Edward Gorey.

Continue reading "The doutbful guest" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Aurora Project

Posted by Katie Pringle on January 16, 2008 9:15 PM

The business I run is a creative business, which basically means that myself and my business partner create our products, from initial design through to manufacturing and packaging. Like alot of businesses we love our products and we assumed that everyone else would love them too but it was a cold slap of reality when we realised that we had no idea how to give other people the opportunity to love our products (and, fingers crossed, part with their hard earned cash to buy them).

When you've expended so much time and money producing the thing you want to sell it can be very difficult to accept that people aren't just going to knock on your door asking to buy it. You may laugh at my naievity but I don't think we're the only business making that mistake if the failure rates for new enterprises are anything to go by.

Besides the lack of skills in marketing and sales that many new businesses suffer from it can also be incredibly expensive getting the exposure you need in order to make your venture a real business, which means money coming in as well as going out. So how do you do this?

Well unfortunately it isn't the same answer for every business but for us we needed to be seen by retailers in an environment where they were looking for new and exciting products, things that were made in Britain, by hand and that were a bit different from what you'd get on the high street. What we needed was a trade fair, the The British Craft Trade Fair to be exact.

But with prices for stands costing upwards of £400 pounds for 3 days that's a big outlay for a new business to expend. And that, ladies and gentleman is where the Aurora Project came in.

Continue reading "The Aurora Project" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New year... old taxes

Posted by Katie Pringle on January 3, 2008 7:30 PM

'tis the season afterall, the tax season that is and what more timely reminder of my need to get serious about proactivity in 2008 can I have than the looming deadline for tax returns. It has been interesting reflecting back on the financial year of April 2006 to 2007. With the distance of time I can look back quite proudly on what we achieved (obviously not financially - I'm talking to you Mr Hart Davis) but still we really did lay alot of the groundwork for what became a fairly successful 2007. It would most probably be prudent at this stage to look ahead and plan for what we would like 2008 to hold for us as a business but to be honest when you're wading through all your old accounts and bank statements it just leaves me feeling very nostalgic.

Anyway if you're like me and you run a small business and you haven't been terribly organised with your tax return and you're making regular trips from the inland revenue website to youtube for distraction enjoy this little celebration - of a new year and of creative ways to waste time - surely youtubes raison d'etre!

New years dominos

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Santos. L. Helper

Posted by Katie Pringle on November 5, 2007 7:48 PM

Myself and my business partner have on numerous occassions (usually when something is going wrong) felt as though we are chained to our business. However this has taken on a more literal meaning in the last few weeks as we struggle to fulfil our order obligations in the busy run up to Christmas.

I arrive back from 'my other job' and I feel the work room calling to me with a slippery tongue. It tells me I cannot, must not sit down. I walk zombie like to confront the mountain of products that need completing. Pick up, put in bag, attach label, punch hole for display, pick up, put in bag, attach label, punch hole for display, pick up, put in bag, attach label, punch hole for display so on and so on ad infinitum until mind and body are comfortably numb.

At this point I slap myself around a bit and enjoy the simple but satisfying pleasure of knowing that for the last few weeks and for a few more to come I have The Best Job In The World

'Why?' you ask...

Continue reading "Santos. L. Helper" »

add or read comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Posted by Katie Pringle on October 29, 2007 6:35 PM

I visited our beautiful town centre this Saturday. I entered the car park bright eyed and full of hope and four hours later I emerged a shadow of my former self, my eyes tired from all the artifical lighting, my elbows raw from all the jostling and my hope, well I lost that around about lunchtime when I saw the huge queues wrapped around my favourite department store eatery. Woe, woe was me.

And yet, despite all of this, and believe me I'm as disappointed with myself as you are, I actually felt pretty Christmassy. I'm not saying I enjoyed my shopping experience, far from it, it was awful, but there's no denying that it felt like Christmas.

Continue reading "It's the most wonderful time of the year..." »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes ...

Posted by Katie Pringle on October 19, 2007 1:50 PM

My new temp job has kept me away from the computer and the business a little more than I'd like of late. It's been just under a week since I last checked my emails and less than a month ago that would have been an unthinkable situation for me. Every day I'd be on checking orders, replying to customers, contacting suppliers. Now because I spend so much time at a computer at work I find the keyboard at home feels strange under my fingers. The pressure is just a little off and even the letter names are a slightly different size.

You may have figured by now that I'm a creature of habit and change is something that sticks out uncomfortably and uncomfitting in my routine world. Yet for all that I continue to find myself in new and dare I say it exciting situations that without the business I don't think I'd ever experience. And I'm not just talking about keyboards here people.

Continue reading "Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes ..." »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Honk if you're Hectic

Posted by Katie Pringle on October 1, 2007 8:17 PM

The last few weeks have been hectic. The weekend of the 15th of September saw us head down to Londinium with our products in tow and a few rather shabby presentation boxes for Design Edge a southern version of the British Craft Trade Show which we attended earlier in the year.

The idea of the show is that a wide variety of British designed and British made products are brought together in one location and then hoards of lovely buyers come from near and far to place their Christmas orders for shops, galleries and museums.

Armed with an eight disc audio book and a brand new satellite navigation system we made the long journey down to Sandown Race course in pretty good spirits and made good time. Saturday afternoon was spent arranging our hastily printed promotional materials and gawping at other much more professionally dressed stands before a frantic late night search for a calculator* and a disturbed night at the local Holiday Inn.**

Continue reading "Honk if you're Hectic" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Like a well oiled machine

Posted by Katie Pringle on September 10, 2007 11:34 AM

Got in. Got on the phone. Rang stationers to order more card. Stationers mocked me but ordered card. Logged on to the computer. Checked emails. Received 60 messages.

Deleted 40 containing porn. Read remaining messages and replied where necessary. Received call from stationers to say that some card not available the rest to be picked up tommorow. Searched youtube for current favourite song. Received call from another card supplier to confirm my order. Confirmed order.

Began internet search for inkjet printer cartridges for A1 printer. Received call from card supplier to pay for ordered goods and to confirm delivery time. Continued search for inkjet printer cartridges.

Continue reading "Like a well oiled machine" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Welcome to the Jungle

Posted by Katie Pringle on September 4, 2007 10:32 AM

In a couple of weeks time our business will be attending a trade fair in London called Design Edge. It's a fair 'for British designer makers' of which we are one and it's on over three days in mid September.

We attended our first trade fair in March and it was a really good location for us to showcase our products as we finally seemed to be hitting our target audience. Buyers come from all different kinds of outlets, they can be from museums, galleries, independent retailers and even garden centres.

So we're in full prep mode trying to get everything organised for our trip, we're organising accomodation, getting sample products together and trying to decide whether or not we can afford to put the prices up on a few of our products.

Continue reading "Welcome to the Jungle" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's the final countdown...

Posted by Katie Pringle on August 30, 2007 11:02 AM

First up some revelatory news that I know will help thousands of self-employed people across the region today. Come in close... closer...o.k that's close enough...

ahem...TAX DOESN'T HAVE TO BE TAXING

I know I know, when I first heard those magical words I too was confounded as to why I had ever put off doing my tax return. Here is the answer to all our fears, these six words of carefully chosen copy can allay our worry and bind us to the kitchen table for hour after hour of mind-numbingly enjoyable form filling ^^raises eyebrow^^

So it's only 1 month until all those self-assessment tax returns have to be, well, returned and that clock is a ticking.

Continue reading "It's the final countdown..." »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Development Hell

Posted by Katie Pringle on August 23, 2007 1:54 PM

The process of developing and making a new product is not always a happy one. Time and effort and more than a few arguments must all combine in a crucible of ideas for sometimes weeks and months until finally a product emerges from the smoke and debris and you look it up and down and say (suck air between teeth) 'ooh I'm not sure...'

Designing a new product is definitely one of the most creative parts of running a business. Myself and my business partner get to um and ah to our hearts content, research stuff on the old tinternet and fanatasize about how popular it's going to be and how we'll easily sell a couple thousand before Christmas. Ha.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Designing a product is not always easy but it is the easiest part of running a sucessful business. Without products you don't have a business right? Wrong. Without sales you don't have a business. That's right, it's harsh.

Continue reading "Development Hell" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Shoppers Paradise?!

Posted by Katie Pringle on August 20, 2007 10:26 AM

On saturday I was in the co-operative shop I'm a member of doing a duty day. A duty day is basically an un-paid days work in what has become a depressingly quiet shop.*

Quiet that is apart from one distinct group of shoppers.

Several times over the last few weeks the shop has been the target of shop lifters who have stolen then 'returned' items for a full refund.

Bearing in mind we're a co-operative and everyone makes the products we sell, you may be thinking that these people are the lowest of the low but when they're the only potential customers you're getting through the door I think I can be forgiven for trying the hard sell on them as they try to edge their way back out the door.

'Photo-journal to record your most special theiving experiences madam?!'

Continue reading "Shoppers Paradise?!" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cultural Differences

Posted by Katie Pringle on August 13, 2007 11:37 AM

It's only when you see another way of doing things that you begin to question the merits of the system you currently work within.

Whilst away on holiday I visited a place in America called Cape Cod. It's located on the coast of Massachusetts and is made up of lots of little towns, about twelve in total. Venturing into one of these little towns I was struck almost immediately by something.

In this bustling town centre with flocks of holiday makers and locals out on the streets enjoying the sun and the breeze there wasn't a single Starbucks or Macdonalds or Gap or indeed any chain store whatsoever.

These places were notable by their absence . Insead there was streets full of small independent shops, some good and some bad, all with their own identity and all being allowed to thrive without the presence of chain stores.

Continue reading "Cultural Differences" »

add or read comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

B.U.S.E (pronounced busy!)

Posted by Katie Pringle on July 22, 2007 5:14 PM

B.uckling U.nder the S.train of E.nterprise

I say this in my most not complainingest voice but man I am busy!! So busy!!! Four exclamation marks busy!!!! A flury of orders has come in a week before I go on holiday and I'm frantically working away trying to get them all made up and ready to be sent out before I go.

I haven't had a big order in a little while so it stands to reason that one would come in as soon as you get the suitcase down from the loft.

Still I am emphatically not moaning or whinging or any of those negatives that we business types must expunge from our vocabularies, because orders are great and I wouldn't be able to do what I do without them. Well I would but it would be very sad and people would pity me in the street.

So this week in between writing up invoices and printing off labels and cursing whatever packaging god decreed that only things smaller than a box of a certain size will fit into that box of a certain size (which is not the right size!) I drifted off into the realms of fantasy and wondered to myself...

Continue reading "B.U.S.E (pronounced busy!)" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Business Link checks my pulse.

Posted by Katie Pringle on July 12, 2007 10:12 PM

I received a questionnaire from Business Link today. Basically it wanted to know whether my business was still alive and kicking and whether the support they gave me had helped in any way.

The 12 Month Survival Questionnaire, to give it it's full title was a little despressing to say they least. The second question asked abruptly: 'Are you still trading?' and then expectantly 'If no, when did you cease trading?' A small box was provided for the date of your businesses untimely demise.

You would think then that I took some pleasure in circling the Y on this particular question but instead I found it put me in a reflective mood. I found myself reminiscing on a meeting myself and my business partner had over two years ago with a business advisor. We were full of ideas and energy and enthusiasm. They were full of tax and business plans and bank accounts.

Continue reading "Business Link checks my pulse." »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sales and payments and bank balances...oh my!

Posted by Katie Pringle on July 3, 2007 11:04 AM

Today has been a good day. Given that it is only five past eleven as I write this one might argue that I'm counting the chickens before they've hatched but nevertheless I say it again - today has been a good day. I woke up this morning, came down stairs, picked up the post and there in amongst the guff were three beautiful cheques, encased in perfect brown kraft envelopes.

All these cheques are for orders that have already been sent out, one in particular comes from a stockist that has been somewhat laxidasical in their attitude to prompt payment. Several polite but firm conversations and a duplicate invoice have been required. However today all was forgiven of said stockist and following on from this blog I'm saying farewell to the munchkins and following the yellow brick road all the way to my bank.

The bank you may be suprised to hear is one of my favourite places to go. As so much business is done via card and on the internet, almost all our out goings are paid for in the virtual realm. No cash transactions and very little cheque writing. All this means that the bank does not hold negative connotations for me. I check and manage all our accounts online and so it is the misleadingly labelled 'favourties box' that holds most of my dread where money is involved.

The consequence of all this is that I really only go to our bank when paying money in. This ladies and gentleman makes a huge difference. Like Pavlov's dog, conditioning has now taught me that going to the bank equates to sales and can be rewarded with happy feelings and a positive spring in my step. My palms do not sweat, I feel no shame, I walk in head held high and say these magical words 'Hi, I'd like to pay some cheques into my account please.'

Bliss.

Continue reading "Sales and payments and bank balances...oh my!" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dirty Talk...

Posted by Katie Pringle on June 29, 2007 2:44 PM

I'm a bit of a fan of Murder She Wrote.

Oh you read correctly,I'm talking about the Murder She Wrote starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, Cabot Cove's resident murder mystery writer and amateur sleuth. I bring this up not so much to be ridiculed as a young woman who watches granny t.v but more to highlight a common problem amongst business men and women, and potential entrepreneurs.

Several times during an episode I watched recently Jessica comments to her friends that she cannot possibly meet up with them because she 'has work to do'. And yet during the entire episode she never actually spends any time at her type-writer actually doing the work she needs to get done. Instead we see her galavanting all over the town solving yet another fiendishly clever murder. (Season 2, Episode 14 'Keep the home fries burning')

This fictionialised scenario of talk instead of action is a very real predicament which often decides the success or failure of any business venture. We all secretly wish that we could just say the things we need to do to make our business a success and they would magically get done.

Continue reading "Dirty Talk..." »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2007

Posted by Katie Pringle on June 24, 2007 10:45 PM

Or as I like to call them, the NEWEY's 2007. (It's snappier, it has more zing, It's easier to type!)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that any wo/man in possession of a successful business must be in want of an award.

We want to be judged, to be told that we have done well, to be patted on the back and given a gold star. More than that we want to be told that we are better than others, more successful, more betterer! more successfuler! ; )

And thus the awards show was born.

Official recognition for all your hours of toil, your night of glory in front of all your business peers and hopefully plenty of free marketing ...should you win of course.

Continue reading "North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2007" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Making plans

Posted by Katie Pringle on June 18, 2007 9:20 PM

Would it surprise you to know that I was looking at job sites today?

No you're not mistaken you are on a business blog and I am indeed partner in a small business, but it's time I make a confession. (Come closer) Ahem, starting up a business will not neccessarily guarantee you an income. At least not a sizable one, at least not for the first couple of years.

Now this doesn't mean i'm not making any money, things are not that dire, but really I've only been at the stage to actually make a profit in the last 4 to 6 months. The creative process takes time and cannot be rushed...you understand ; )

So with this in mind I will now reveal another insider secret: some small business owners have to supplement themselves with a part time job of some sort until their business is looking a little more financially stable. I am one such small business owner.

And I think I'm ready for a change.

Continue reading "Making plans" »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When It Rains It Pours...

Posted by Katie Pringle on June 15, 2007 12:05 PM

Today it is raining.

No scrap that, today it is absolutely pouring down. Sitting inside at my computer I can hear it's relentless pitter patter on the guttering outside and I am satisfied that nature has seen fit to emulate my current mood with a zeal I can hardly match in my own soggy mental state.

And the reason for this displeasure I hear you ask, well quite simply i'm dissapointed with the work that someone has done for us on a job. I'm not happy about it, they obviously think it's fine and I'm left in the uncomforatble situation of having to complain after the fact.

Why is it that no matter how simple you may think a job is in business, or indeed in life in general there is always room for a balls up?! After reflection i think this mostly comes down to poor communication on both sides.

A bit of advice: Never be afraid to patronize in business. This may seem very harsh and positively not positive advice but hear me out. I say patronizing because sometimes that's what you worry you'll come across as, but actually it's not patronizing it's just clear, simple, concise communication. Communication that doesn't assume anything.

Continue reading "When It Rains It Pours..." »

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Story So Far...

Posted by Katie Pringle on June 14, 2007 4:56 PM

Hello Hello Hello! Welcome to my blog, settle in, get yourself a cup of tea and then let's get down to business.

My name is Katie Pringle and for the past two years I have been a partner in a small business with big aspirations called Rock Paper Scissors.

About six months ago I approached the Journal with an idea for a column, I would write entertaining, informative pieces that told from the inside the trials and tribulations involved in getting a new business venture off the ground.

They replied along the lines off, 'Hey Pringle, get into the 21st century, don't you know Blogs is where it's at?!' And the rest as they say, is history.

So here we are, my very own blog, or should I say our very own blog, because I've done my research and I know that for a blog to be successful it needs dialogue, which means me and you.

Anything I write which you want to comment on please feel free, the more the merrier : )

Right, that's introductions out the way, next time let's get stuck into the meaty stuff

add or read comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to nebusiness by Katie Pringle. They are listed from newest to oldest.

Search the site

About this site

Recent comments

Recent Posts

Tag cloud...

Sponsored links

Feeds

Blog Authors

Archives

Links

Sponsored links

Katie Pringle