Month: October 2016

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Running a Business from Home – A Learning Curve!

With so many brits ditching the 9 to 5 and setting up shop in their spare room, we thought we’d take the time to give you a few hints, tips and tricks on how to run a business from home. So whether you’re going completely on your own or just setting up a side job, planning world domination or looking for a bit of pocket money, there are some things you should bear in mind.

In today’s technological age, you can get find a personal trainer on the internet, buy everything including a kitchen sink from your living room laptop and even sell your house. In fact, if you’re not looking into the online options for business-expansion, you may become obsolete…

Red Tape & Legislation

First of all, you definitely need to tell your tax man! In your first three months you need to get in touch with HM Revenue & Customs letting them know you’ve taken the plunge and have started your own business. You’ll also need to state whether you’ve set up with a team or you’re going at it alone, if it’s the later you’ll need to register yourself as a sole trader – official, right?

 

Office Space

Get yourself a virtual office, what better way to get your business on the map? Having a virtual office is a great way to gain some presence, it’s even better when you’re set up in some of the most sought after locations in the world! There are companies out there which offer affordable solutions to actually renting your own space such as Orega virtual office.

 

Accountant

An accountant may sound expensive, but in the long run it will definitely save you a few pennies! They’ll let you know what costs to expect so you can budget your spending. One of the best benefits of hiring an accountant is that they can let you know what costs you could claim for. For instance, if you’re running a business from home, you may be entitled to claim for the costs of expenses such as heating bills. If you’re local to Chester (like me) Mitchell Charlesworth are renown for their start-up services.

 

Insurance

Insure yourself! We’re not saying you need business insurance if all you’re doing is setting up a computer and sending round a few emails, but if that computer coming to a dead stop would cause you a whole lot of bother, we’d recommend insuring it! There are a lot of forms of insurance you may need including public liability and commercial, make sure you do your research before opening up your business to the public!

 

Organise Your Paperwork

Investing in a filing cabinet may be the best thing you ever do for your business. You may remember having a special tray in school that you kept all your text books and important letters in, think of your filling cabinet as your grown up tray. This is where you should store your payment records, receipts and all other important documentation you may be asked to show. You can thank us later!

 

Boundaries

Most importantly, don’t let yourself become your work. Even though you’re working from home it doesn’t mean you have to be on call until midnight every night! Give yourself breaks to make time for your loved ones. It’s so easy to get swept away in the world of work, so designate break hours for yourself to make sure you have a little me time.

If you can keep focused at work, you should be able to get done in 8 hours per day (in theory!). Parkinson’s law dictates that the length of a task will swell to fill the time available, so set yourself deadlines and focus on 2 or 3 things per day to get done.

 

Learn By Mistakes – Not all Yours

Learn by your own mistakes, by learn by others as well.
Do lots of research before starting your own business – books, videos and articles.  You can learn by your own mistakes, but these can often be costly, so read and learn by others too.

See a list of books here.

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Practical Architecture and Construction Challenges for Children

Construction doesn’t just create beautiful buildings, it’s also an excellent activity for children!

There are so many benefits that come with a construction-based challenge, from problem-solving and analytical thinking to inventiveness. You can encourage your children to express their own ideas using a range of real-life tools by choosing the right activity.

Construction Projects

To find the right project for your kids to get stuck into, take into consideration the age and physical development of the children taking part in the task. You should also bear in mind the range of materials you have available and the time and space you have for your fun-filled project. Finally, you know what your children are interested in – pick something they care about which will grab their attention.

So what practical architecture tasks are out there? One of the easiest materials to get hold of is paper – you’d be amazed at how much you can do with some newspaper and sticky tape!

Get children involved in construction projects and they might become successful tradesmen! Well, let’s hope not…

 

 

See if the children can build a tower that will hold the weight of a dictionary, or a bridge that reaches from one table to the other. Make it a competition and see who can build the highest free-standing structure with just three pieces of paper. We’re sure that with these fun games you’ll have a class of aspiring architects in no time!

 

 

Here is a great teaching resource for those of you interested in teaching engineering & construction to children.

Lego – Of Course!

Do you sometimes wish that kids these days would put down their mobile phones and pick up some Lego? Well, with this challenge it could really happen. Think of how many pieces of Lego there are, now think of what you could build – the opportunities are endless! Make it fun and see if they can build a robot or improve their practical skills, or give them a brief to construct a tool that will help make everyday life easier. If the children are older, why not throw a challenge in there and limit the number of pieces of Lego they can use?

 

 

Simple Challenges for Younger Kids

If you’re in the mood for introducing some art materials, try out the “Dam Challenge”.

With just ice-lolly sticks, water and some modelling clay, see if the kids can build a miniature working dam. Maybe go DIY and ask the little ones to make some improvements to everyday objects such as pencils or a plastic cup. You never know, you might end up with a Dragons’ Den-worthy contraption.

Here are some more challenges with sticks:

A sensory bottle is great for toddlers, even if they just see how it is put together.
Ideal in the autumn – get outside, collect leaves, twigs, etc. and place in a see-through plastic bottle.
Very basic, but the idea is to get children involved in making lots of bits and bobs, from helping out with recipes to building lego towers, it all helps with practical skills and confidence.
Just make sure none of the parts get eaten by younger children!

Make sure you support the kids throughout their challenge. Start the task by explaining the problem and what needs to be done, talk through the different materials and describe what they’re traditionally used for, then brainstorm ideas to encourage your children to be as creative as possible.

 

Have you tried to get your kids involved with a construction challenge, whether in the classroom or on the living room carpet? Let us know their favourite!