One of the problems that every small business faces is how to recruit one or two people to help you grow your business when you don’t quite have the finances yet to support them.

The Home Training CIC is offering to pay an intern to work with you for 6 months with no obligation as part of the DWP Future Jobs Fund.   It is a win for everyone as you as the small business owner get a free employee for 6 months and the intern gets a good solid work experience that will help them get a job in the future.

What does that mean? It means that you get free resource for your business and they pay for it for 6 months. Seriously! And what’s even better is that it is totally ethical.   They are working with 18 – 24 year olds who are unemployed.  The Home Training CIC will work with you through the recruitment process and help you find the right candidates (even doing the initial screening). They even offer mentoring to the potential applicants through the process and while they are working with you. There is no obligation after the 6 months as the programme is a way of dealing with the ‘no experience’ issue for these young people.

They have contracts all over London, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Yorkshire and Humber and North East of England.

This programme is for employers wishing to expand but reluctant to invest in salary and training costs without first proving the worth of the candidates, or where new opportunities exist that would not otherwise be cost-effective to entertain, this is an ideal solution.  You start the process by identifying the jobs, we’ll do the rest.

Their commitment

Their FJF commitment to you includes:

• Understanding your job opportunities and matching to appropriate candidates
• Creating bespoke online training programmes to suit their work-related training needs
• Assisting you through pre-interview screening and with on-going support after recruitment.
• Providing all necessary documentation to make the whole process as easy as possible for you
• Providing ‘in-work’ mentors for candidates to make sure they stay on-track.

They will pay…

• candidate wages at National Minimum Wage for 25hrs per week for 26 weeks, and
• your employer’s National Insurance contributions for the candidate(s).

How to act

The programme is being managed by Bev Burden and you can contact her directly on 0844 888 764 or by email her at b.burden@htcic.org and mention that you heard about it through Women Unlimited.

Don’t forget to come back here and tell us how you got on!

Ever felt too shy to ask for a recommendation from a customer? Ever kicked yourself later that what they had to say could have really helped win a piece of new business?  Are you concerned that some recommendations sound a bit salesy or fabricated?

One of the things social media is helping us overcome is a hesitation to use recommendations and testimonials in our sales efforts.  It’s now not uncommon for us to see displays of customer quotes, case studies and endorsements on websites, in promotional literature and on social network profiles.  What’s less apparent though is a strategic approach to this vital sales support tool, one that ties in with the business goals of the organisation or the individual.

Think strategically

Positive feedback is, of course, very nice to receive but to get recommendations that help grow our business; it pays to think more strategically.  Try and answer these 3 questions…

1. What specific service, product or message are you trying to raise awareness of in your current marketing and sales plans?
2. In the process of buying from you, what aspect might a potential customer need reassurance with?  What concerns would they have at this stage, that need to be addressed?
3. Which names or types of businesses would look good and impress potential customers, if they were seen to be endorsing, recommending or even referring business to you?

Your answers to these questions will influence the types of recommendations you should be trying to harness and the people who could provide them.

Changing perceptions

One lawyer, I spoke to recently, had thought just along these lines.  She was fed up being type-cast for one area of expertise when in fact there were several areas she was highly skilled at.  ‘I decided to ask clients I’d worked with in these other areas to write a recommendation on LinkedIn about what I’d achieved for them.  I was also careful about my profile updates and only gave examples of work relating to these ‘unknown’ areas.  It soon paid off.  Several clients came back saying ‘wow I didn’t know you did that as well, can we meet for a chat?’ ‘

Presenting the customer’s viewpoint

Similarly, a hotel manager I came across really thought through their customers’ buying process and turned recommendations to their advantage.  In selecting a hotel, the manager realised many customers were interested in specific details about the quality of the bedrooms and hotel ‘experience’.  Rather than profiling general comments on the hotel’s website such as, ‘we really enjoyed our stay’, he encouraged customers to describe specifics that they liked about their visit.  This generated comments such as ‘the comfy beds with the Egyptian cotton bedding gave us a great night’s sleep’ and the ‘home baked pastries you served at breakfast were divine, what’s your recipe?’ being promoted.  It also influenced some of the key words the manager built into his website’s search engine optimisation.  He soon experienced a sharp rise in web enquiries.

Earn the right

Of course, you have to earn recommendations.  As well as delighting the customer with your product or service quality, you have to build up a degree of goodwill so they’ll happily invest time and energy to endorse you.  So consider what you can do for them before you ask them to do something for you.  Can you help them in any way with anything?  Can you recommend them in a testimonial or to a specific customer?

Go for specifics to be genuine

And if you have done a great job and a customer appears delighted, invest time to find out the specifics that they liked so much. These will help make any testimonials sound genuine, as they’ll be in the customer’s language and not yours. In fact invest time anyway to capture all feedback (good or bad) as it will help your business to improve and gain a competitive edge.  Often customers are happy to give time for something they value, if they think it will a) preserve it or b) improve it.

Different recommendation tactics and uses

When you receive some great customer feedback, ask if you can use it to inform others.  In doing so, it’s wise to test what the customer would be comfortable with – for example, would they be happy to:

• Give a written recommendation that appears on your website, promotional materials, social network profile etc?
• Act as a referee for you, if a potential client wanted to have a chat with an existing user of your products/ services?
• Feature in a case study which you publicise?
• Co-write an article or joint piece of publicity with you touching on their experiences?
• Endorse you in a competitive pitch situation?
• Refer contacts from their own network, who may be facing a similar situation?

Recognise and reward

Always stick to their preferences and bear in mind that, If there’s a reward in it for them (such as publicity they can use for their own business purposes or some form of reciprocity), they’ll be more willing to help. Whatever support they lend, it is important to thank them in some way.  And, of course, never let them down with anyone they refer to you, as their reputation and judgement will be put on the line.

Once you have recommendations what should you do with them?  Well it very much depends on their content and the purpose they serve.  For some you may indeed want to broadcast them all over your promotional and sales materials.  For others you may want to keep them safely hidden until a specific stage of relationship development with a prospective customer. The trick is to keep recommendations closely linked to your business plans. Think strategically and you’ll secure a better return from them.

____________

About the author: Michelle Daniels,  Managing Director – Extended Thinking

An experienced and effective business development and marketing strategist, Michelle has built a successful career increasing top line growth for service businesses and organisations. She helps her clients turn their marketing, business development and thought leadership plans into reality with her ‘hands on’ support and practical advice.    A prolific writer, Michelle also combines creative flair with business nous to produce highly effective results.  She has written (and ghost-written) for many professional and business publications and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and professional services marketing group.

Extended Thinking

Extended Thinking is a hands-on marketing and business development consultancy.  Bringing together great minds and great ‘doers’, we help our clients devise and implement plans that achieve real business growth.  Our clients come from a wide variety of backgrounds and sectors, but invariably are those who are too busy or lack the resources to action their marketing and business development plans.  We roll our sleeves up and muck in to free them up to do what they really want to do and are good at doing.

At the We Mean Business event at Westminister Hall in February, Maria Eagle MP confidently stood in front of 250 women and stated that women weren’t good networkers.  Yesterday in the Times Antonia Senior wrote an article entitled “Why Women are such bad networkers”.  What is going on here?  Why is this message being bandied about like it is fact.  So I’m here to set the record straight.  The opposite is in fact true… they’re not just good networkers, they’re great networkers.  This is evidenced not only by the number of women only business networks but also by the Mums networks that exist all over the country.

Last Monday, at the Women Unlimited Stepping into Success conference, the buzz was deafening as women were connecting and building new relationships with each other.  In my 10 years of networking, I have never seen this kind of connection and energy at a mixed networking event.  I am a member of multiple women’s networks as well as mixed networking groups.  Networks such as Athena, Sister Snog, She’s Ingenious and Women Unlimited are thriving. If you asked the women that attended the meetings in these networks,  whether or not women were good networkers, you would hear a roar of disapproval at even asking the question.

Women are not natural networkers?

In the Times article the second paragraph starts with the statement “Women are not natural networkers.”  Ok ladies, look inside yourselves and tell me whether you think this statement sounds even remotely accurate. Women network every day of their lives whether they are mothers, carers, business owners or career women.  We are constantly sharing news, stories, advice and referrals.  Networking is how most of us choose our suppliers, decide which items to buy, and learn about new opportunities.  Women are behind 80% of all purchases here in the UK and any business which thinks that women don’t network (and thereby share referrals and recommendations) doesn’t understand the way that our society works and runs the risk of missing out on the market that they should be spending most of their energy on.

No ass kissing here

The journalist seems to indicate that if we’re not schmoozing then we’re not networking.  So because women are not so good at kissing their bosses behind, then they are not good networkers.  Yes, I would have to agree with that, as not much ass kissing goes on around here, however relationship building definitely does.  In my web design agency, Springmedia, 90% of all our new business comes via referral.  When I decided that I was going to go on a new business drive, I didn’t start advertising on Google, I didn’t put an advert  in a magazine, I joined a business network which resulted in a direct additional £8000 turnover in 6 months and indirectly (ie referrals from new clients that I gained there) another £17,000 in turnover.

People buy from people they know, like and trust

People buy from people that they know, like and trust.  And networking gives us the opportunity to develop relationships that can turn into business both as a buyer and a seller.  I now have an accountant, book-keeper, a personal VA, a new intern, a printing company and a new team member all via networking… and these are just a few of the new relationships that have developed through this activity.

What’s your objective?

Networking also isn’t all about getting close to the big cheese in the room. It really depends on your objective.  The thing that annoys me about this article is it’s lack of perspective, lack of facts and the assumption that networking is all about getting to the top of the tree in an organisation.  There are many reasons that women network, such as support, learning, and sales.

… are you a cyber loser?

And then we have the ‘cyber losers’; women who are not utilising social media for business.  Clearly this journalist is not following female business owners on Twitter.  Technorati has shown that women are twice as likely to do business via social media than men.  Women have embraced social networking and Liz Cable who purports herself as a social media expert suggests that women are not promoting themselves in the right way.  Again, I have to disagree.  I know of multiple women who are generating new business every day via Twitter and Linked In; women such as Ces Loftus of Creatively Minded, Rona Wheeldon from Organised PA and Sarah Turner of Turner Ink.  Social media is a great way to build social proof, share a bit of who you are and share and promote the work that you are doing.

I’m not going to get to riled up about this article, as the journalist had started with the premise that women were not good networkers and then went on to deliver a one-sided argument to back it up.  As with anything, there are women who are great networkers and women who are poor networkers, but if you would put yourself in the latter category, I highly recommend that you find a way to embrace networking.  A couple of great books on the topic are The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick and Brilliant Networking: What the Best Networkers Know, Say and Do .  If you have any networking stories, we would love to hear them.

If you want to read more about this, Nancy Williams, has written her response on her blog TigerTwoTiger

This is the latest article from Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation on how homebased businesses can go global.

With home based businesses being more likely to export than their non home based colleagues, it can safely be said that home business owners have quite a role to play in stimulating international trade. Is it a route you want to take? Here’s how to go about it.

Expand your horizons. Increase trade.

Research carried out by Professor Colin Mason of the University of Strathclyde revealed that:

“The proportion of home based businesses deriving more than half their sales from overseas customers – although very low (6%) – is actually greater than for other SMEs indicating the presence of a small proportion of home based businesses that are highly export oriented.”

This is certainly something we see at Enterprise Nation; from the artisan who is importing fair trade bags from India, applying a special design, and selling them to the US, to the information publisher who is expanding his site to Sweden after spotting a gap in the market and forging local partnerships.

Follow these five steps to increase your own international sales.

Perfect your product – is yours a product that is likely to have high demand from customers overseas? Handmade and British craft products are popular, as are products and services appealing to a niche audience. If you cater to a niche audience in the UK, the likelihood is you’ll also be well received by customers overseas.

Present yourself – you have your product/service, how do you present it to potential customers? For handmade goods, consider selling on international platforms such as Etsy.com Artfire.com and Dawanda.com. If you have your own site, sign up to payment providers such as PayPal so you can accept worldwide currencies. Consider having your site displayed in the local language as research from www.lingo24.com shows you’re more likely to make sales when content on your site is translated.

Choose international suppliers – there is a support network of providers offering everything from parcel delivery to local call numbers and meeting space; companies such as Skype, parcel2go.com and Regus. Make the most of their international network to expand your own.

Strengthen links – visit countries in which your trade is increasing to meet customers and win new ones. Keeping in touch with local customers and partners is now so straightforward with online project management and meeting tools such as Dimdim (www.dimdim.com), Huddle (www.huddle.net) and Basecamp (http://basecamphq.com)

Tell your story – so others can be inspired to look overseas and achieve the same success. A good time to celebrate these stories is Global Entrepreneurship Week (www.gew.org.uk)

Without a doubt, home based businesses are producing products and services that have global appeal.

With the technology tools and applications now in place to help secure customers and partners, expect to see international trade flourish yet further!

Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation the home business website and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’ Her next book ‘Working 5 to 9 – how to start a business in your spare time’ will be published in May 2010.

Well I have to say I am not sure where the last 9 weeks have gone and it seems like it was only yesterday when I was wrapping presents and decorating the Christmas tree, now we are gearing up for Easter and looking forward to the seeing lambs skipping around the fields and daffodils emerging from the depths of the cold earth like little teasers of sunshine – something I cannot wait to see more of as we begin to crawl slowly out of the darkness of winter that always seems to go on for longer than I prepare myself for!

Well Shine4Life had a very calm start to 2010 as I was focusing more on getting married and moving house – all within the space of 2 days! If you have been following my previous stories you will know that as an Aries I tend to fly headlong into plans that at the time seem like a fantastic idea but as I start to return to planet earth reality hits and dawn breaks back in the land of the living……Yes yet again I find myself asking ‘why’?????????!!! – However I do believe in walking the walk and talking the talk so when I coach my clients and encourage them to set stretching goals I kind of think I should be doing the same, I must learn the difference between ‘stretching’ and downright ‘madness’ though!

So having agreed in late December to become Mrs Kenworthy plans were soon in place to arrange a January wedding and party, having total faith in my organisation skills I delighted in finding unusual ways to source my wedding dress, plan the party and also the logistics of the day itself. In another moment of madness I decided that it would be great fun to get married in the countryside at 2pm and jump into what can only be described as a go-kart with a jet engine and return back to London for a wedding party in the evening, all sounds fun I hear you say, well it certainly was when the deluge of snow hit and the drifts were higher than the roof of our ‘go-kart’ that also has no proper form of heating!

However despite all the pot holes, road blocks, snow drifts and black ice we succeeded in having the most wonderful day and I am still smiling now! So now it was time for the house move!!!!!………

As I have alluded to before my IT skills are nothing to get excited about, and having finally got my desktop and laptop to cleverly talk to one another from the remote location of my members club that has now become my office the next challenge came when un-plugging and moving my equipment to my new home. In my usual Aries fashion I did not make notes of what cable came from where but unpacking my much loved IT technology suddenly realised the error of my ways! So to cut a long story short 4 weeks later, two trips to a computer restoring centre for my base unit and much cursing, swearing and tears I have regained my IT status in all its former glory!

So both my two large goals of 2010 being successfully completed I have re-focussed my energy on Shine4Life and my business plans this year. I am starting to get used to working for myself and having hated the lack of routine and structure beginning to revel in the joy of avoiding peak hour travel that removes the need to find my face pressed into some smelly business man’s armpit or to experience ground hog day week in week out; in fact I am starting to LOVE my new life, challenge and new routine! It’s funny how thoughts change and the ease at which we would rather return to what we know instead of giving things a chance. I have learnt through my experience that change is a frightening thing but it is also a wonderful thing if we choose to look at it in a positive way. So I guess what I am trying to say to all new business start ups – don’t look back, don’t give up and believe in your ideas, ability and strength. I heard a wonderful quote during a workshop I attended on Life Mapping……

‘As you think, so you become’

The power of thinking positively stimulates the brain to release mood enhancing chemicals into your system that has the effect of creating positive feelings and emotions that in turn promotes great thinking and ultimately business success. So on that note I leave you all with another quote that I often remind myself of when facing challenges and blocks as we all do throughout our lives, so until next time…

You Can If You Think You Can!

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will.
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.

~ C. W. Longenecker ~

Do you have content you would like to share with an interested audience of existing and potential customers? It’s never been so easy to package your content in a stylish way, and distribute it in a cost-effective way. Enter the age of home publishing.

Technology, the great leveller

It used to be that if you wanted to publish a book, magazine, newspaper or show series, you could only do so if you had access to large (and expensive) capital equipment and a workforce of hundreds. Not any more. Web-based applications are freeing up the imagination and putting home business owners in control of how content is distributed. Here are some to get you started.

• Books – always wanted to write the authoritative guide for your industry/sector? Want to show off your portfolio of photographs or handmade goods in a coffee table style book? Now you can with self-publishing sites Blurb www.blurb.com and Lulu www.lulu.com

• Newspapers – move over, Rupert Murdoch, the home business owners are coming to media town! Become a newspaper publisher with Newspaper Club www.newspaperclub.co.uk – the service is currently in beta but you can sign up and see what this tool could do for your business

• Magazines – digital magazines are becoming increasingly sophisticated with embedded links to buy products alongside video clips and interactive forums. Take a look at Yudu www.yudu.com and Zmags www.zmags.co.uk. According to digital publishing service, nxtbook media, advertising in digital magazines is more trusted than online ad banners so for your sponsors and advertisers offering a presence in a digital magazine and on your site offers a good rate of return for them.

• Audio – speak to your audience by producing a podcast and inviting in guests who can be interviewed using Skype. Click here http://www.enterprisenation.com/detail/How_do_I_produce_a_podcast/1814/1.aspx to read a round-up of features on how to produce a podcast.

• Video – publish content of you making your product/service or customers saying nice things about your product/service, by using a Flip camera that can be bought for around £90 and comes with only one button so is hyper-easy to use! .

• Online – share content and your expertise in the form of an online slide show using Slideshare (www.slideshare.net)

This list does not even cover publishing content for people to consume whilst on the move ie mobile applications and publishing for devices such as the iPad and Kindle – that will be covered in a future piece.

In the meantime, make the most of earning revenue from charging individual subscriptions or secure a sponsor who would like to be associated with your content and the viral way through which you’ll distribute it. Before you know it you’ll be publishing online, in print, and in audio/video, to an audience of interested readers/watchers/listeners. What a business to run from the comfort of your own home!

Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation the home business website and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’ Her next book ‘Working 5 to 9 – how to start a business in your spare time’ will be published in May 2010.

You are able to choose 2 of these 5 fabulous masterclasses during the day.

Getting your PR Right: This masterclass is being run by Diana Soltmann of Flagship Consulting, a top 50 PR Firm. Diana regularly runs our Grabbing the Headlines workshop and will share her expertise on how you can use PR for your business.

Stand up and Stand out: Lynne Parker of Funny Women is running a condensed version of her amazing workshop on how to use humour in business and as a way of expressing yourself. This masterclass promises to explore how a humorous approach to business can empower you

The Keys To Successfully Launching A New Idea: Cally Robson, Founder of She’s Ingenious! , will share some handy takeaways on the things every business owner should build into their idea to make sure it’s a winner. Cally has coached hundreds of start-up entrepreneurs through development and launch of their innovative business ideas. She has particular insight into the ingredients, practical AND personal, that make for success in new start-ups.

Influence power and styles of sales communication: Helga Moran of Motivate Me will share with you the 4 stages that uncovers your unique advantage over your competition and how to get an ‘unfair’ share of voice in the sales arena. In addition you will discuss the 10 tips to making a memorable positive impression.

Advanced networking masterclass: Alessandra Alonso of Shine People and Places will share with you her tips and advice for taking your networking to the next level. She will be discussing how to achieve maximum imipact at every networking event you go to.

There are so many inspiring women in business who are balancing their home, family and work lives and who are a shining light to other aspiring people. Last week I went to the We Mean Business conference run by Business Link. The aim was for women to come together, meet, support, encourage, befriend and connect with each other. There were several keynote speakers whose passion, determination and courage were infectious.

One of them was Steph Cutler who overcame sudden blindness but defied “the bastards who wouldn’t employ me” to build a successful business helping others with disabilities. She encouraged us to see obstacles as opportunities not setbacks. In fact she says there were times when she found her blindness was to her advantage, for instance when she started public speaking she couldn’t really see the audience so it made her feel braver and now she loves it. She forced herself live with her disability in a way that meant living her life to the fullest. As she jokes- if life deals you lemons, what do you do? Make Lemonade! It has not been an easy journey but it has been a rewarding one.

Penny Power who runs the social media site Ecademy spent 12 years building up her business, losing her family house along the way as she and her husband struggled to make ends meet. But she was determined to be a full-time mum (and a great one at that) at the same time as creating a successful business around the then entirely untried idea of globally connecting with people online. She stuck it through the tough times, held on to her dream, balanced her steps along the tightrope and finally it all came together. Her legacy is to turn on its head our mothers’ adage to “never speak to strangers” and instead she encourages us to make an assumption of trust of people- to make friends with others, to connect, to engage, to share ideas and contacts, to give, to listen, to offer yourself to the world community, to be there for others, to offer help, to ask for help. She tells us our personalities are our greatest asset, not what we are selling. It is us that others are interested in getting to know, like, follow and maybe then when we are truly connected we can start to collaborate in an organic and creative way. She celebrates young people who are growing up as the Facebook generation- making friends online is second nature and when they grow up and walk into the world of work, they will do so with a network of thousands of friends, supporters, fans and mentors. She believes that the wider your network the more productive you can be, and that friendship is the most powerful thing on earth.

Shaa Wasmund was also an amazingly motivating speaker. At the age of 21 she was interviewing Chris Eubanks, when he asked her to become his promoter. She knew nothing about boxing. She was the only woman in the industry apart from the bikini clad card holders and she was surrounded by alpha males. Her ability to look them straight in the face and do what she had to do reminded me of the Country and Western song “You gotta have balls to be a Woman”. On her first day of working for Bob Geldof he came in “fucking this and fucking that” and she spun round, looked him right in the eye and said “Don’t you ever fucking swear at me ever again”. It stopped him in his tracks, he laughed and never swore in her presence again. Even at such a young age she demanded respect, she used the power of being a woman with humour and energy. She took risks, she didn’t let anything stop her and she is charismatic, funny, caring, quick-witted, approachable- someone you immediately want as a friend. A woman in the audience stood up to ask for help from us all. She was from the charity Shelter and hadn’t met her monthly target. Shaa said if she told us why we should support Shelter then she herself would buy a year’s subscription. The woman gave a moving speech and then Shaa surprised us all by telling us that she would double her subscription, because when she was 11 she too had been in a homeless family, living in a hostel, afraid to ever ask friends ‘home’, sharing a bathroom with other families. One day her mother sat her on the mattress with springs poking through the material and she said to her: “Take a good look round, because whatever you do in life, you will never, ever, ever have to live in a place like this again.” Shaa picked her life up and she has made a huge success of it, not least being one of the most inspiring and loveliest of people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

If only we could bottle the essence of these women! But at least we can learn from them.

Note from Julie: You can see Shaa and be inspired by other female at our Stepping into Success conference on International Women’s Day, March 8th.

_________

About the Author: Lou Hamilton is a filmmaker and photographer. She formed Create Lab to use creativity and imagination to inspire positive change in people’s lives. As a qualified coach Lou runs a networking group called Women Talking Business. She makes mini-documentary films of featured guest speakers, which are shown on her TV channel

With many home based businesses now growing by outsourcing and partnering, as opposed to taking on staff, it’s important to have an agreement in place with new partners that allows for a smooth running and profitable partnership. Emma Jones explains how to go about it.

Making the case for a business pre-nup

Do you remember Paul McCartney going to court with estranged wife Heather Mills to battle it out for who got what? Commentators made the point that a pre-nup would have saved lots of time and money. Consider a partnership agreement as your pre-nup in business. At the outset of a relationship, all is good and you’re excited about potential but be safe; have a few things written and agreed so both parties are clear on expectations.

The following should not be taken as concrete legal advice, more of a guideline on how to draw up an agreement. An agreement only need be a single page and cover the basics:

• Scope of agreement – what is your partnership working to achieve, for example “This agreement is made between Company A and Company B. The agreement is related to the generation of online advertising revenues/hosting of an event/development of a new product.”

• Respective responsibilities – set out the expectations on who does what. For example, Company A will be responsible for promotion and business development and Company B will take on technical development and client care. Also include note of how you’ll keep each other briefed, maybe through the use of an online project management tool such as Basecamp.

• Finances – what will be the split in revenue, and is this before or after costs? And who owns the intellectual property of the product/service/activity? Consider including a clause that states the agreement will be reviewed in six months so both parties can check on progress and have the right to cease the agreement if it hasn’t gone as planned.

• Be fair – agreements where both parties feel they’re receiving their fair share are likely to be longer-lasting than those where one party feels embittered. Talk about this before writing and concluding the agreement.

• Sign it! -  after making effort to produce an agreement, be sure to sign it! And then store it so you can access if the need arises.

When writing the clauses in your agreement, think about all the things that could go wrong and safeguard against them. It’s a practical exercise and won’t harm your newly formed business relationship but will get it off on a firm footing. If you’re looking for a template agreement, check out www.clickdocs.co.uk or www.the-legal-shop.co.uk

Wishing you a fruitful and rewarding partnership!

__________

Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation the home business website and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’ Her next book ‘Working 5 to 9 – how to start a business in your spare time’ will be published in May 2010.

I wasn’t surprised to see a story in the Mail recently that Countryfile presenter Miriam O’Reilly is suing the BBC for age discrimination after she was axed from the BBC show. There’s been a number of similar criticisms aimed at the broadcaster in recent years including the high profile departure of Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing after she was replaced by younger model Alesha Dixon.  Unfortunately these are far from isolated incidents.

In business, the issue of age (particularly for women) can come up time and time again. This is always going to be difficult to tackle but with the right attitudes, it is entirely possible for women of a certain age to continue on to have a long and successful midlife career.   I started my own business and wrote my first book in my forties and I can honestly say I have never looked back!

Women often get trapped in a vicious circle of negative thoughts and emotions which prevent them from making headway and achieving their goals.  They start creating myths that become a way of thinking.  Myths such as;

-          I’m too old to have what I want

-          I’ve squandered my dreams

-          I don’t know who I am anymore

-          It’s better to be secure than happy

-          I’m not good enough to compete with younger models

-          I don’t have enough time or money to change

-          It’s just too late

These essential attitudes need to be turned around to get back on their career track and really succeed in business.  As a cure for these harmful myths I teach eight attitudes that will propel you forward.

1.  ‘I live my life on purpose’.

2.  ‘I create what I want’.

3.  ‘I know who I am’.

4. ‘I am true to myself’.

5. ‘I am good enough’.

6. ‘I like myself’.

7. ‘I take time for me’.

8. ‘I’m certain of my success’.

To boost to your self-esteem, complete the exercise below and I guarantee you’ll be feeling more positive about yourself very soon!

Exercise: My greatest achievements in business so far …

Let’s get started by reminding ourselves about why we are ‘good enough’ by listing our successes so far in business, those things that you are most proud of. These might be anything from starting a business, getting the role you set your mind on or maybe re-training in an area you’ve always been interested in.

First of all, list the things that you have achieved in business so far. Choose the ones that provoke the greatest feeling or emotion. Aim for a minimum of 10!

Next, I want you to transfer this list on to a large piece of paper and place it where you can see it every day. You may also want to transfer it onto a smaller piece of paper and carry it with you in your handbag, so that every day you can remind yourself of all the things you have achieved and feel good about YOU!

It’s a great start to dispelling those mid-life myths and building the attitudes for success. If you want to discover more please visit www.agewithattitude.co.uk.

____________

About the Author: Lindsey Agness is the founder of the Change Corporation an organisation which runs leadership development programmes for businesses and self-help programmes for individuals. Her company reached the finals of the Kent New Business of the Year Award and Lindsey herself was a Finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2007 & 2008. Lindsey’s first book ‘Change Your Life with NLP’ (Pearson, 2008) was in the top 20 of all self-books in the UK in 2009 and her next book, for mid-life women, ‘Still 25 Inside’ comes out on the 7^th May.  The book supports her new programme,  ‘Age with Attitude’ which is dedicated to mid-life women everywhere realising their true potential in a seemingly youth-orientated world. ‘’It is for women who believe in beginnings not endings,” says Ms. Agness. www.agewithattitude.co.uk