Today's work on/in the business - Mon 31 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.15am to 4.30pm less 1/2 hour for lunch and two 10 min breaks (including travel time). (7hrs 25mins)
2. Work on business plan. (2hrs 40mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 30 Aug

1. Work on pricing based on changes required. (3hrs 30mins) Complete!

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 29 Aug

1. Work on pricing based on changes required. (4hrs 30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 28 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.15am to 3.30pm less 3/4 hour for lunch and two 10 min breaks (including travel time). (6hrs 10mins)
2. Work on pricing based on changes required. (1hr 15mins) - this got me back to where I thought I was at 11.30pm last night...
3. Work on pricing based on changes required. (1hr 10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 27 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.15am to 4.30pm less 3/4 hour for lunch and two 10 min breaks (including travel time). (7hrs 10mins)
2. Work on pricing based on changes required. (6hrs)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 26 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.10am to 3.25pm less 1/2 hour for lunch and two 10 min breaks (including travel time). (6hrs 25mins)
2. Work on pricing based on changes required. (4hrs 30mins)

ABITE - exhibition, attended for competitor anaysis

Last Saturday I went to the ABITE exhibition in Jeff's Shed. Originally, Dave and I were supposed to go together, but he had work that needed to be done, so I went on my own.
In some ways I'm happy about that, as I'm not sure that I can see $40 worth of value in visiting, but certainly I got $20 worth.
This is not to say that other people would not have got full value from their ticket - it was simply that, for us at this point in beginning our business, there probably wasn't full value.

Most of the reason for going was to see how many competitors were there and what they are currently offering. However, for what should be fairly obvious reasons, I didn't really want to advertise to them that we are starting up in the same area... This meant that I tried to check out what the stand was about before talking to them. This worked most of the time, except for once towards the end when I didn't check out all of the signage before talking to the guy - which means one competitor knows who we are...

In reality, as I expected, there aren't many companies with offerings to the same market that we are targeting, which is good. There is some competition at the next level up, but that's ok - we may never enter that market and if we do, that's well in the future. Basically, attending the exhibition only added one new competitor to the list of competition that I was already aware of.

The $20 value (or more) that I got from the visit was in one conversation. A telemarketing/prospecting company that I got chatting to (or at least, I chatted to the Managing Director of the company...) - he is very enthusiastic about the idea of adding value to our software by supplying discounted prospect details at the same time as installing the software, where our two businesses share the profit on the transaction - which sounds very reasonable. He was also describing a process for determining the value of customers which may well be incorporated into the software later as well. So that was a really positive outcome - and worth the headache I had by the time I left!

Of course, I also collected some information about companies that we may need to use in the future, although again, most of that will be at least 12 months from now, all going to plan.

I also obtained details of a couple of businesses that we may be able to partner with to sell our product as well, so that was good too.

Unfortunately, I missed the start of the talk on using Twitter and Facebook to help with your business, so missed the part that I would really have liked to hear, which was about Twitter. However, I think that the basic information I wanted to hear was probably not included, given the assumptions that were made when they were talking about Facebook, so I probably didn't really miss what I needed... oh well - the internet has the information, I just need the time to do the research!

So all in all, it was a worthwhile afternoon, but I'm probably glad we didn't both go - if your business is on its feet, this is a good exhibition, but we are too new to get full value from the exhibitors.

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 25 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.10am to 3.20pm less 1/2 hour for lunch and two 10 min breaks (including travel time). (6hrs 20mins)
2. Work on business plan. (2hrs 15mins)

Today's Centrelink - Tues 25 Aug

35mins to travel to Centrelink from TAFE, hand our forms in and get home - the queue seemed quite long when we got there, but they were actually processing people fairly quickly.

Then 10mins to ring Centrelink when I worked out that we'd probably understated Dave's hours for the fortnight by a day - for once, I got through on the first try and the call was processed quite easily.

All in all, a good day for Centrelink interactions.

Today's Centrelink - Mon 24 Aug

20 mins to fill in most of both Centrelink forms, ready for handing in tomorrow.

Includes chasing up Dave for what his work hours have been this fortnight.

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 24 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.10am to 3.55pm less 1/2 hour for lunch and two 10 min breaks (including travel time). (6hrs 55mins)
2. Check the IBIS website to see if there are any reports more suitable for our business than the ISP one that we have a copy of (yes, there are 2 - now to see whether we can get them through the TAFE). (50mins)
3. Finish reading through information collected on Saturday at ABITE. (20mins)
4. Setup surveymonkey account ready for creating and sending market research survey. (10mins)
5. Record some of the competitor and potential associate information I collected from ABITE in our system. (30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 23 Aug

1. Read through competitor website and find new pricing - which is probably more competitive than I thought... :-( (15mins)
2. Go through information collected yesterday at ABITE and show Dave. (1hr 20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 22 Aug

1. ABITE - Australian Business and IT Expo at Melbourne Exhibition Centre - including travel time there and back. (3hrs 45mins)
2. Find business card costs for financial planning spreadsheet. (45 mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 21 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8am to 4.10pm less 3/4 hour for lunch and two 15 min breaks (including travel time). (7hrs 5mins)
2. Read Marketing book for NEIS training course (30mins)
3. Load test system onto our friend's laptop so that he can learn about it, with a view to selling/promoting it. (30 mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 20 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.10am to 4.10pm less 3/4 hour for lunch and one 15 min break (including travel time). (7hrs 50mins)
2. Continue work on financial planning spreadsheet. (2hrs 15mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 19 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.05am to 3.50pm less 3/4 hour for lunch and one 10 min break (including travel time). (6hrs 50mins)
2. Continuing reading 'Small Business for Dummies'. (15mins)
3. Download document templates onto USB for Dave and I (related to NEIS training). (15mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 18 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.05am to 4.20pm less 3/4 hour for lunch and one 10 min break (including travel time). (7hrs 20mins)
2. Update resume as per requirements for NEIS training course and print. (10mins)
3. Send emails required - one query and one follow up. (10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 17 Aug

1. NEIS training course - 8.30am to 4.20pm less 1/2 hour for lunch and two 10 min breaks (including travel time). (7hrs)
2. Continuing reading 'Small Business for Dummies'. (5mins)
3. Put my partner's customer and invoicing information onto our system, cross check this information with credits to his account and advise him what is still outstanding! (Not happy about having to do this!!) (1hr 10mins)

Preparing for the NEIS training

Well, there's not really much required to prepare for the NEIS training. Basically, we need to take notepad and pen - they tell us everything else will be supplied. Time will tell whether that's actaully the case or not. I suspect that life will turn out to be easier on some days if I take the laptop - given that it has all the work I've done so far in preparing for going into business...

Thanks to a friend, I have borrowed a bicycle that I can ride to and from TAFE that is much less likely to be nicked than the one I normally ride, which is great. However, we are going to go in on the motorbike tomorrow, so that Dave can go straight on into town and do some work after we finish.

Lunches still to be prepared, but I'm pretty sure we've both got clean dry clothes ready for tomorrow, so that's about the only thing left to do.

At the moment, my main concern is that the next 5 weeks are going to be REALLY full on - with still no time left over to exercise or socialise. Also, they are bound to expect twice as good a business plan, as the two of us will be working on the same business plan, rather than preparing separate plans - although I expect Dave to concentrate on the technical support side of the plan while I continue to focus on the software side of things...

Dave and a mate have also come up with an idea for an additional piece of software, somewhere down the line, so that needs to be put into the mix when thinking about design aspects. This is ok, though, as we always intended to expand the software provided, rather than just having one product to offer.

I spoke to my ex partner on Friday, who did the Certificate IV in Small Business Management through Swinburne TAFE a few years ago, after we separated. It turns out that this was 6 months full time (or 12 months part time), as opposed to the 6 to 7 weeks that I was told it takes through Box Hill TAFE (although, to be fair, this was the same person who told me that the Cert III that we are doing takes 4 weeks, which does not include the extra week you have to finalise your business plan and hand it in, or the two days of the following week that are set aside for you to meet with the reviewers to discuss your business plan).

He also advised that he hasn't heard of anyone who had their business plan accepted as handed in the first time. So, I will not worry too much if our business plan gets rejected or requires major amendment when handed in at the deadline. Obviously, the required changes will just be made and we'll move forward with the plans and ideas.

And to make tomorrow more interesting, in my lunch break I get to call a potential customer. The first of the (hopefully) many that will be referred to us by the business consultants - encouraged to consider our CRM software when choosing which system is most suitable for them! Also the first that I will be talking to about our software that I do not already know in some capacity or other - another big step forward.

So, tomorrow I get to be in class in leathers and motorcycle boots, with helmet and gloves in hand - then I get to ride the train and walk home (in leathers and motorcycle boots, with helmet and gloves in hand...) But I'm looking forward to actually reaching this next point in the process of setting up the business - progress is good!

Today's Centrelink - Sun 16 Aug

2hrs 15mins to apply for the 10 jobs required for this fortnight.

Despite the fact that we were told we probably don't need to do the full 10 applications, I don't want to allow anyone to have the ability to later tell us we need to pay back money, so 10 applications it is.

This time includes sending a number of possible jobs to Dave to look at.

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 15 Aug

1. Continuing reading 'Small Business for Dummies'. (1hr 45mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 14 Aug

1. Site visit to resolve customer issues. (1hr 25mins)
2. Travel to and from site visit. (1hr 30mins)
3. Email and phone correspondence with business consultant re potential lead. (15mins)
4. Email to potential lead. (10mins)
5. Update records for last 2 items. (15mins)
6. Continuing reading 'Small Business for Dummies'. (10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 13 Aug

1. Development work on our product. (4hrs 30mins)
2. Continuing reading 'Small Business for Dummies'. (1hr 10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 12 Aug

1. Correspondence with customer to organise site visit on Friday. (10mins)
2. Organise my mail file - setup folders and move emails into them. (45mins)
3. Development work on our product. (2hrs 30mins)
4. Read through Small Business Victoria pamphlet on what they offer small businesses. (15mins)
5. Continuing reading 'Small Business for Dummies'. (45mins)

Today's Centrelink - Tues 11 Aug

10mins to finish my Centrelink form and find one job for Dave to apply for.

1hr to hand in the forms - which is actually not a bad time, given how long the queue was when we arrived.

I asked about the next fortnight, given that we start NEIS on Monday and normally you need 10 job applications per fortnight. We will see what the forms say when they arrive, but the girl we spoke to suggested that we only need to do 4 applications - just enough to write on the form - which is good.

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 11 Aug

1. Development work on our product. (2hrs)
2. Review brochures from Design Victoria that I picked up at the 'Make Your Website Work' seminar (20mins)

Today's Centrelink - Mon 10 Aug

30mins to apply for the last 2 jobs required for this fortnight.

10mins to complete as much as I can of my Centrelink fortnightly form.

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 10 Aug

1. Continuing reading 'Small Business for Dummies'. (30mins)
2. Development work on our product. (4hrs)
3. Write up notes on 'Make Your Website Work' seminar (20mins)
4. Review some of the information emails that have been banking up for a couple of months now - particularly the Design Victoria/Energise Victoria ones as they relate to events that will pass soon. (30mins)

Some of the other background tasks

I was mentally reviewing what is on here and realised that there are a couple of things missing from this record.

So, as part of the preparation, we chose a business name, checked it was free, checked the domain name was free and bought the domain name. Later, we registered the business name, with an ABN. We decided not to register for GST at this stage, as it is unlikely that we will have enough turnover to justify it.

We developed a website, which has been through two versions so far and there is another version in the planning stages.

Just recently, I have also opened a bank account in the business name, as I had a cheque that needed to be deposited (and you can't deposit a cheque into your personal bank account if it's made out to the business name, even if you take along the business name registration information...)

And of course, the first thing that we did was to buy a laptop that the development and documentation could be done on and that would be portable for client presentations. Then, when we could afford it, we moved from dial up internet connection to broadband.

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 9 Aug

1. Reading a few chapters of 'Small Business for Dummies', along with the intro. Fortunately, it hasn't told me anything that I didn't already know - in this case, no surprises is a good thing! (1hr)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 8 Aug

1. Record the details of the couple of people I met at the seminar last night, as well as the contacts with Victorian Business Centre and Whitehorse Council (35mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 7 Aug

1. Documenting some emails back and forth for reference later (20mins)
2. Sorting out the last processes for NEIS (30mins) - spread over an agonising and stressful 5 hour period!

The NEIS application and acceptance process

NEIS is the government's assistance for those getting benefits who want to start their own business - New Enterprise Incentive Scheme.

I have known about NEIS for many years, as my ex-partner did this after we separated and I think I knew about it through friends before that as well. So I have known ever since we first went to Centrelink that we wanted to talk to someone about NEIS.

However, when I first went to see Centrelink, we had the waiting period to sit through. Also, we were told that you need to receive at least one benefit payment before you can talk to anyone about NEIS. I have since discovered that this is because you don't appear on the NEIS database unless you are receiving payments, which makes sense.

Then we had the paperwork fiasco which led to us having about 4 forms to complete and hand in over 2 days, so it was a while before we settled down enough to think after that and the NEIS question was put aside.

As part of the Centrelink process, you get sent for an appointment with a Job Services Australia supplier - the ones who actually help you to get a new job, rather than Centrelink who make sure you are doing the right things to get paid support from the government.

So, Dave has his first (this time - I already did this once when we first put the paperwork in...) - it's supposed to be both of us together, but for some reason the system wouldn't let the woman put my information in, so it didn't get done at that time, so the appointment for me never got made... (as I said - it was a saga...!) So basically he chats to someone for a short while, gives them his resume, they give him his Job Seeker ID and show him the Job Search website and we go home. This is the basic process for people out of work. His next appointment to see this is set for about 3 months time (I think).

Then my paperwork gets set up and I get an appointment. Same deal - go in, talk to someone, she finds my original resume and checks it hasn't been updated - all good. As part of that conversation, she asks whether I was made redundant or anything, so I tell her about the company going into liquidation - she checks the date that happens and tells me I'm in the wrong 'stream'... Turns out that 'normal' unemployed is Stream 1 - this means that the government knows you're out of work, but there's no great urgency to assist you more than making sure you know how to look for jobs and that there's no disability reason for you not to be employed - hence the process Dave went through and the time till the next appointment. Then there's Stream 2 - which turns out to include those made redundant since the end of Feb 2009 amongst other categories - and means that there's $500 allocated to assist you to find employment and you get fortnightly meetings to assist you. There are also Streams 3 and 4, but I don't know what they include - although you would assume that they include those who have disabilities that mean they need more assistance to find employment.

So my appointment must have been on Wed July 22. The woman I saw said that I had to go back to Centrelink and get them to put me in the right Stream, because that way I would get better assistance. But I knew that I was going away for a relaxing weekend on Fri morning and that I had other stuff that needed to be done on Thurs, so I wouldn't get there until Tues. Oh well - my loss - and only a few days. So I left and planned on going to Centrelink on Tues, which we had to do anyway to put in our forms.

So Friday while travelling my phone goes in and out of reception, which I don't worry about because I've got voicemail and no one is likely to need to get in contact with me anyway... When we get to Echuca, I have a voicemail message, so I call up to see what it's about. It turns out that there are two messages - and voicemail gives them to you from latest to oldest - so I get a message that, unless I can't make it, I have an appointment on Thurs 30 July to see Libby to get my upgraded employment plans kickstarted, then I get the message that the woman I saw on Wed had put through my paperwork herself and I would get a call from someone to make the appointment... All good!

So on Thurs, I go in for my appointment, thinking that this is just going to be more painful - I mean, I STILL don't really want a job with someone else's company, so having the employment people push that harder because they've got funding is only going to make it worse for me, right?
Wrong!

This woman is great - she obviously really enjoys her work and is genuinely there to help people (which, to be fair, the previous woman was as well, but this one is more bubbly and over the top).

So, very early in the conversation, I tell her that I don't really want a job... I want to start my own business with my partner - and I know about NEIS (I picked up the Swinburne NEIS brochure which was sitting on the reception desk while I was waiting) - so what can we do? Well - she leaps upon this and says right - self employment is your Employment Pathway Plan's key objective - ok - that's fine - we'll just put that in! Wow!! I can do this! I'm finally talking to someone who isn't fighting me, but actually supporting me/us in this plan! Yippee!

So, she tells me that Box Hill TAFE have their NEIS information sessions at 10am on a Friday and goes to get the Box Hill brochure - she couldn't find one either, so she just adds researching NEIS sessions to my plan and off we go. Sign away your life, add details into the computer system, get interrupted about a dozen times for her to do other things, print out the plan, sign away my life again, say goodbye and go home to look up how to get into the next day's NEIS session at Box Hill!

Back home, find basic details on Box Hill TAFE's website, but you can't book in online, so call them and book in over the phone.

Friday, I leave home about 15 mins early, as I know that I will probably have to park a distance away and walk in, so I'm there on time - but no one else is... 10.05am and the room is still locked - I decide I'll give them 5 mins more before I go downstairs to the office and find out what's happening. So, about 8 mins past, a guy arrives and apologises for having got caught up in a meeting and is therefore late. He says that there's going to be two of us in the session, but starts asking me about my business plans while he sets up and we wait for the other person to arrive. His reaction is basically positive, so that's good. About 10 mins later he decides that he'll start anyway, with just me, otherwise he'll be running too late for his next appointment. Just as he's starting, another guy comes in. Turns out he's not the expected other person, but adds his details to the list and Len (the guy running the session) asks a few questions about his business idea and checks he's on Centrelink payments (and therefore eligible for NEIS) - the answers to which are 'some kind of internet business' and no. So he's not eligible, so he leaves. So I get a personal information session...

Lots of chatting, there's a NEIS slide show that he has to go through, which covers the background of NEIS, the eligibility requirements, what will be covered in the course, what is required to fill out the application form (which you can only get by attending an information session), what resources you need to use to fill out the form and what you can do if your application isn't successful. There's lots of emphasis in this that the process is competitive and that not everyone will be accepted. Basically, the feel I get is that our business idea is ok, the fact that we've got so far on our own is a positive (where I thought that it may well be the point at which it all fell in a heap, as there is lots of emphasis on the fact that it has to be a new business, not an existing business) - the only thing he says is that we may have to sign a stat dec that we haven't been in business full time yet - which is ok, as we haven't. So, after he's run over again chatting to me, I leave with positive feelings to go home and fill in the application.

Because Dave and I have got so far in our planning, completing the NEIS application is actually quite straightforward. It mostly consists of collating the information that I've already got into the format that the application requires. The only real exceptions to that are the fact that you need to check with Business Victoria regarding any licenses that you require and check with the local Council for permits. So the first one can be done online, but the second one required an actual phone call. So most of the processes were done in fits and starts over the weekend, with the two phone calls made on Monday (there were two, because there is no actual category for computer software in the Business Victoria online system, so I had to call up to check what might be required - the suggestion being to look at Computer Game production as a reasonably equivalent category for that part of the business). As part of preparing the application, we decided to add a couple more categories of license costing for our software, and I stuffed up the calculations for this late on Sunday, so spent the rest of Monday updating those figures, then printing off all the supporting information in a readable/understandable way, along with the actual application.

On Tuesday morning, we were woken by a friend knocking on the door, which was a bit embarassing all around - Dave had intended to do a bike ride in the morning, so had told her it was fine to drop over after taking the kids to school, but he hadn't told me about it and he hadn't gone out for the ride either, so we'd both fallen asleep again after the alarm was turned off! Anyway, so she went through the application as well, but fortunately most of what she did was to fix up the wording - she didn't think that there was anything obviously missing, so that was good. So about 11.30am on Tues I was on my way to hand in the application.

In typical fashion for me, as the work for this was complete, I had migraine spots starting by the time I'd got to the second set of traffic lights on my way down to the TAFE... (I frequently get sick when I take a holiday, etc etc...) So by the time I got to the office to hand in the application, I really wasn't feeling very well and just needed to get back home while I could still see well enough to drive safely. This means that I was fairly rushed in handing it in.

The guy who ran the session on Fri was standing in the corridor outside the office where the application had to be handed in, but he was talking to someone, so I didn't interrupt him, just went past and back, then headed home.

Apparently he basically finished the conversation he was having, went into the office, took my application, read it and approved it on the spot! So I got the call that it was approved only an hour or two after I got back home, which was really great (and I was able to explain why I'd run away so fast). So the woman from Box Hill asked about Dave's eligibility for the NEIS and we got that sorted out, as I already knew that he was eligible from my conversation with Len on Friday. So she emailed Dave the application form, I emailed him my filled out version, he completed his version and we delivered the printed and signed version to Box Hill TAFE on our way to the library that afternoon!

Now all that was missing was the fact that Box Hill TAFE need an actual referral from the employment people before they can officially take one of the government allocated places (that they get paid for) for us - and that needs to be done by Fri at the latest in order for us to start the program on Mon 17 August. So I emailed Libby at the employment people that we needed appointments and why and waited for her response. Then Dave got work on Wed, so I had to email her again to state when he was and wasn't available... hoping that she'd still be able to fit us in before Friday!

So, the previous email reply I got from Libby arrived about 8.15am - it seemed reasonable to expect a similar sort of time for this reply, after adding some time for her to make the appointment(s)... So by 8.30am, I don't have an email - do I worry? What time do they actually start work? Hmmm.... probably 9am, so I split the difference and decide to phone at 8.45am. So I phone up, ask for Libby, get through and she says that she's just reading my emails - bonus, she actually knows what I'm talking about. So we organise an appointment for 10am on Thurs - that's ok, the update will be with Box Hill TAFE by Friday, so that's all good. Relax for Wed.

Thursday we attend the appointment at the employment place - find a couple of jobs we can apply for, as they have the jobs sections of the paper on the table, so the time spent waiting is not entirely wasted. Fortunately, as Libby knows what we're there for, the appointment goes quite quickly. She sets up Dave for NEIS, he signs his life away, signs his Employment Pathway Plan which now says he's got to do the NEIS training, then my plan gets updated for the same and I sign it - all done. All I need to do now is check tomorrow that the referrals went through to Box Hill TAFE and we're set to go!

So this morning I ring Box Hill TAFE - and there's no referral on the system. All the rest of the information is there, she can see it, but there's NO REFERRAL! So she tells me to ring Libby and get her to put the referral on the system... So I ring Libby, who is with a client, but says that as soon as she finishes, she will investigate what new thing on the system (which all changed on July 1) she has missed. Then she will ring me and let me know. And then I get to ring Box Hill again...

I swear, I can feel a stomach ulcer starting while I'm sitting here waiting for the phone to ring...

Because remember, if this doesn't happen today, we don't start the course until the middle of September!

Well, it didn't get done as soon as she finished with that client - or the next few - but it does sound like it got started as soon as she finished with that client. Because I know they're busy, I don't call back for a while - but that stomach ulcer is growing. So I end up calling again about an hour later - she's on the phone. Then I call again about 1.45pm - she's at lunch. So I call again about 2.55 - she's with a client, but I made sure that the message I left included the fact that I have to follow up with the TAFE after she does her bit, so it can't be left right to 5pm! No call, so ring them back at 3.35pm or so - no, she's still with a client and the receptionist doesn't know when that appointment started, so we can't estimate when she'll be free.... argh!!! I'm just about at screaming point by now!

3.55pm - no call. So I go and get changed, ready to drive down there and camp in reception until it's sorted out - final resort. Before I leave, I decide to call one more time - and get put through, and she's just managed to get both of our referrals processed - she's got the confirmation screen for me up in front of her and reads it out for me, as well as confirming that she saw the same one for Dave! With the changes to their computer system, the part that she did was correct, but there's another new section which ALSO needs to be done - this was the bit that was missed out yesterday. Turns out, she's been talking to Terry from Box Hill TAFE about the processes, so I probably don't need to confirm with her - except that for my peace (freudian slip - first typed that as 'piece'!) of mind, I need to get confirmation that it's ALL complete - which Libby agrees with.

So, phone Box Hill TAFE. Terry confirms that she's spent about 1.5 hours on the phone to Libby, helping her to go through the new process that's required! So it's been a saga all around! Anyway, when I'm first talking to Terry, nothing's come through to her system, but as we talk Dave's referral comes through, and then mine comes through about a minute later, so it's all good!!! Yippee!!!!

Well, Terry says that she'd already managed to put Dave's and my places through, somehow, knowing that she'd get the information today, but it's now all done the right way as well. So, she's missed today's mail, but our timetables etc will be sent out in Monday's mail, so we definitely start the NEIS course on Mon 17 August!

(And now, I need a break - getting this all done has been WAY more effort than it should have been and today's stress levels are through the roof!)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 6 Aug

1. Appointment with employment people (part of the Centrelink requirements) to get NEIS training referral, so that we can both start NEIS course on Mon 17 Aug (1hr)
2. Website design and useability seminar (2hrs 30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 5 Aug

1. Remote support for a client - create two Notes Ids (25mins)

(Had to be done today due to my migraine yesterday - so much for a day where I did no work)

Today's Centrelink - Tues 4 Aug

1hr to find and apply for 2 jobs... no wonder Centrelink consider finding employment to be a full time exercise!

Fortunately, we're both a bit ahead this fortnight. After last fortnight's rush job when I got back from Echuca, we decided to make sure we averaged one application a day - so effectively making sure we each applied for at least 2 jobs every couple of days. This has worked, so we will continue this plan when we have to do the Job Search - which fortunately does not include the time we are doing the NEIS training.

So I have 8 of this fortnight's job applications done - only 2 more to do by next Tues.

More thoughts on running your own business

Firstly, it appears that I'm never going to actually catch up as originally planned, so I'll just try and keep up to date from here on in...

Now, everyone knows that you need some plans for a business - at whatever level of detail. You obviously need to have an idea of what your business is going to do or be - or you won't have a business. Then you need an actual 'business plan' - the one that tells you where you're starting, where you want to get to and at least some idea of how to get from here to there. On top of that, you need some type of marketing plan - how are people going to know that your business exists?

Then there's the one that I don't think I've heard anyone put into words before - although that may just be that they've said it and I've missed it/misinterpreted it/whatever... And it particularly applies if you are planning a home-based business - not so much if you have a shop/office/warehouse. The 'how on earth am I going to stop working on my business' plan! This is the one that sets down how you plan to avoid working every waking minute on your business. It sounds easy - and unnecessary - but, believe me, it's not!

Even on this blog, you'll see that I have planned to NOT work, particularly to go out for a bike ride, a number of times. So far, I've made it out once - I had to go to the bank to collect a new card and took the opportunity to ride the bike. That's IT. The total number of rides I've done... And yes, the fact that it's crappy winter weather has impacted on that, but the fact is that the main reason I have not got out more is that there is an urgency to GET THINGS DONE - software, planning, research, reading, documentation, etc etc etc. Combined with the pressure that I know that version 2 of the product is going to be much easier to sell than version 1, meaning that I can't really justify stopping writing code yet.

After the NEIS application was put in, I promised myself 2 days off (as this had been written/collated over the weekend) - so, driving down to put in the application, I get a migraine. 1 Nurofen capsule and 4 Panadol tablets later, I'm starting to feel that my head is almost normal again - but that's all of Tues used up. This morning, which is supposed to be the best day in the outlook weather-wise, I'm still not feeling really ok, so don't feel up to riding... So another day of my 2 days off is effectively wasted...

So, silly as it seems, if you go into business for yourself make sure you have a plan to NOT work - which includes details of when and what you are going to do instead (no, I don't mean eat and sleep, I mean bike rides, visits to the park/zoo, window shopping, coffee with friends, other family time) - AND STICK TO IT!

All the plans you make for your business need regular if not constant review as circumstances change. Make sure this one is included - it's not going to help your health and wellbeing if it's stuck on a shelf out of sight gathering dust.

So, the only thing I need to do now is to write my own one of these and put it into practice - wish me luck!

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 4 Aug

1. Finalise NEIS application form and required attachments (1hr)
2. Hand in NEIS application form!!! (45mins)
3. Get NEIS application approved, application sent to Dave, Dave fill out application and hand it in (10mins for me - 1hr or so for Dave)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 3 Aug

1. Continue filling in NEIS application form, including calling the Council and Business Victoria to find if there are any other permits or licenses required. Time not helped by the fact that the costing spreadsheet updates I started last night had missed one vital step, probably wasting a couple of hours! (6hrs)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 2 Aug

1. Continue filling in NEIS application form (3hrs)
2. Look through Business Victoria's website for licenses etc (1hr)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 1 Aug

1. Start filling in NEIS application form (1hr 15mins)
2. Look through Energise Enterprise site on Business Victoria's website for events that we should be attending over the next month (1hr)

Today's Centrelink - Sat 1 Aug

1.5 hours (approx) to find and apply for 2 jobs (and prove that careerone, mycareer and jobsjobsjobs websites only appear to have a subset of what is available on seek)
(Fortunately I found a few that Dave can think about along the way... but it's still a LOT of time for that little result)