Today's work on/in the business - Wed 30 Dec

1. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 1 post today. (35mins)

There should have been more work today, but it was REALLY hot - and I was out for a big chunk in the middle of the day supporting my partner who was in a race...

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 29 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. 52 visits over the last month - so still dropping as expected, 32 new visits, which is really good, % of clicks by search engine is dropping off, but there's still 1/3 from referrals, so that's ok too. 1 visit each from Malaysia and Kuwait. Overall, it's still quite a good variety, but is tailing off as expected for this time of year. (10mins)
3. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (1hr 25mins)
4. Continuing to look at reference books available to use with the new platform and associated processes. (1hr 10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 28 Dec

1. Follow up on existing customers and prospects. (20mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (10mins)
3. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM - a very frustrating day, as I probably have to throw away most of today's work and start again. (5hrs 50mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 24 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Ensure accounts are up to date. (30mins)
3. Review the project schedules - pushed out another few days - again. (5mins)
4. Review progress made this week and ensure the schedule is right for next week. (10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 23 Dec

1. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (1hr)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (30mins)

Short day - it's nearly Christmas!

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 22 Dec

1. Record invoices paid - thanks! (20mins)
2. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (50mins)
4. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (4hrs 55mins)
5. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. 66 visits over the last month - so still dropping as expected, 37 new visits, so that's good, still with a fairly even split over Google searches, referrals and direct, so it is all still pretty good. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 21 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Continue reading on the new software I am learning for the new process. (1hr 30mins)
3. Visit to our graphic designer to discuss changes to the structure of the website. New menu structure agreed on. He's going to make the design changes, then we get to add detail. (2hrs 45mins)
4. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (2hrs 10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 19 Dec

1. Continue reading on the new software I am learning for the new process. (1hr 30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 18 Dec

1.  Invoice reconciliation. (15mins)
2. Ensure accounts are up to date. (5mins)
3. Record business emails. (10mins)
4. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (4hrs 25mins)
5. Review the project schedules - pushed out another few days. (5mins)
6. Review progress made this week and ensure the schedule is right for next week. (5mins)
7. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 17 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (15mins)
2. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. OK - fixed the issues I had yesterday, so it's working again. (8hrs 45mins)
3. Check log book is up to date. We seem to be running at about 45% business at the moment, which is ok. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 16 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. Only 89 visits over the last month - still tailing off, must be because we are approaching Christmas, 32 new visits, fairly even split over Google searches, referrals and direct, 1 visit from Canada and 1 from the Netherlands, so it is all still pretty good. (10mins)
3. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. Annoying - I thought I was making such good progress, then did some other testing at the end of the day and realised that it only worked in one set of circumstances - so that's all to try and fix still. (7hrs 20mins)
4. Check whether there have been any updates to client's online survey. (5mins)
5. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 3 posts today. (30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 15 Dec

1. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (1hr 35mins)

I took the rest of today as the other day in lieu for the weekend I worked through a couple of weeks ago... Lunch with friends and wandering around a gallery, followed by chats over cuppas - a great day!

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 14 Dec

1. Record business emails. (20mins)
2. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
3. Review the project schedules - fortunately nothing needs to change again. (5mins)
4. Review progress made this week and ensure the schedule is right for next week. (5mins)
5. Follow up on existing customers and prospects. (10mins)
6. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (30mins)
7. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (3hrs 20mins)
8. Record details of invoice paid. (10mins)
9. Continue reading on the new software I am learning for the new process. (1hr 20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 11 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Invoice reconciliation. (10mins)
3. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (5hrs 15mins)
4. Ensure accounts are up to date. (25mins)
5. Record business emails. (10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 10 Dec

1. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. Finished a couple more of the really basic 'helper' forms. (6hrs 15mins)
2. Continue rereading the website - fixed a couple of typos that had been introduced. (20mins)
3. Continuing to look at reference books available to use with the new platform and associated processes. (There are a lot to choose from, but many of them are old now - also need to compare prices as they are wildly different across the range, you can't just say that all books are cheaper from supplier x). (1hr 20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 9 Dec

1. Check whether there have been any updates to client's online survey. Unfortunately not. (10mins)
2. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. Frustrating - lots of work on another form, then it stopped allowing me to restart the system! Have gone back to a backup from early this afternoon - will try and move forward again tomorrow - WITHOUT repeating whatever I did wrong this time...! (7hrs 40mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (25mins)
4. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 8 Dec

1. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. Finished the first form - one that's really basic, but it's nice to have something ready for testing for Perfect Notes CRM v2! (7hrs 45mins)
2.  Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. 118 visits over the last month - still tailing off, must be because we are approaching Christmas, 45 new visits, which is still good. (10mins)
3. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 7 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Follow up on existing customers and prospects. (25mins)
3. Reading on the new software I am learning for the new process. (55mins)
4. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (6hrs 20mins)
5. Look at reference books available to use with the new platform and associated processes. (There are a lot to choose from, but many of them are old now). (1hr 5mins)
6. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 3 posts today. (1hr 10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 6 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Look at reference books available to use with the new platform and associated processes. (There are a lot to choose from, but many of them are old now). (4hrs 45mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 5 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (5hrs 5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 4 Dec

1. Ensure accounts are up to date. (50mins)
2. Invoice reconciliation. (15mins)
3. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (8hrs 10mins)
4. Review the project schedules - pushed out again as doing the first couple of forms is taking longer than expected. (10mins)
5. Review progress made this week and ensure the schedule is right for next week. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 3 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (6hrs 50mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 2 Dec

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (5hrs 5mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 3 posts today. (35mins)
4. Networking - face to face. Monthly networking meeting as part of the NEIS support. (3hrs)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 1 Dec

1. Follow up on existing customers and prospects. (10mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 4 posts today. 3 of those are to reach the average of 1 post per working day required for November, so 1 left over towards reaching the average required for December. (1hr 5mins)
3. Update my record of time worked. (15mins)
4. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. 139 visits over the last month, but tailing off towards the end of the month - that might be because we are approaching Christmas - 1 visit from France, 49 new visits - good! (15mins)
5. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (5hrs 55mins)
6. Check schedules for me and my partner and adjust calendar entries as required. (10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 29 Nov

1. Final day of the three day Business Profit/Cashflow improvement seminar. (11hrs)

Well, it's finished - but the changes and work it's prompting has only just started...

I was sceptical about this initially, and it may be that not all of the suggestions can be implemented in our business, but it was definitely worth my time to attend. Now to put some stuff into practice immediately, then I reckon rereading all the notes in a week or two would be really useful - that's long enough for my subconscious to have processed a lot of the information, so time to go through the suggestions again to get more out of them.

A tough three days - LOTS of information - but worth it. Thanks, Aaron!

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 28 Nov

1. Day two of the three day Business Profit/Cashflow improvement seminar. (15hrs 30mins)

I'll be honest - my head hurts... There is so much information coming in, it's going to take me a while to sort it all out and then use it. But I'll get there!

Today included a really nice dinner after the seminar where we could do some networking and socialising - good fun - good food. Who could complain about that?

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 27 Nov

1. Day one of a three day Business Profit/Cashflow improvement seminar run by Aaron Parsons of
http://thebusinesscommandos.com/. 
(11hrs 30mins, including travel time)
2. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)

I was in two minds about attending this, after the initial 2 hour intro. However, I am really glad that I did - not everything that is being talked about will be directly applicable to our business, but there is certainly enough here that can be used to make it worth my while to spend this time here.

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 26 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Invoice reconciliation - unfortunately, the new ones are not old enough to chase and there's no point in chasing the old ones - we're pretty sure the outstanding ones will never be paid... (35mins)
3. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (9hrs 10mins)
4. Review the project schedules - pushed out again as I'm still working out whether the proposed platform will do all the things we need. (5mins)
5. Review progress made this week and ensure the schedule is right for next week. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 25 Nov

1. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (45mins)
2. Continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (7hrs 25mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 24 Nov

1. One question answered - continuing work on the new platform for CRM. (9hrs 10mins)
2. Update MS Access work for customer. (35mins)
3. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. 159 visits over the last month, 1 visit each from the Netherlands and Germany, 56 new visits - good! (15mins)
4. Record business emails. (5mins)
5. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 23 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Follow up on existing customers and prospects. (1hr 10mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (45mins)
4. Still one question about the proposed new platform for CRM, but got a lot of the first form's layout done today. Of course, this has led to another question - which I've asked the experts... Why is nothing ever simple? (5hrs 45mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 20 Nov

1. Trying to finalise the last couple of issues to determine that the proposed new platform for CRM is viable - still one question... another major piece of the navigation processes sorted out, though. (1hr 30mins)
2. Work on MS Access database for client. Couple of reports finalised and sent to her - now she needs to give me a bit more direction on what information will be useful to her. (2hrs 45mins)
3. Invoice reconciliation. (20mins)
4. Ensure accounts are up to date, including processing an invoice that was paid. (35mins)
5. Fill in form for professional indemnity insurance. (20mins)
6. Review the project schedules - pushed out again as I'm still working out whether the proposed platform will do all the things we need. (10mins)
7. Review progress made this week and ensure the schedule is right for next week. (15mins)
8. Respond to the first customer enquiry where they found our business through a Google search!!! (Very excited about this!) (20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 19 Nov

1. Trying to finalise the last couple of issues to determine that the proposed new platform for CRM is viable - still a question or two... bit more of the navigation processes sorted out, though. (4hrs)
2. Invoicing - sent the one that I didn't have an email address for earlier. (5mins)
3. Work on MS Access database for client - gone back to Excel spreadsheet to setup values. I have to let the client know that the survey needs to change for next time - it will then be easier all around. (2hrs 50mins)
4. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 18 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. 142 visits, a couple of click throughs on google searches, 4 visits from the USA - via Facebook and Google Image search, 37% new visits - good! (15mins)
3. Look at Webmaster tools - need to make a few changes, but no real bad things. (5mins)
4. Trying to finalise the last couple of issues to determine that the proposed new platform for CRM is viable - still a question or two... (4hrs 35mins)
5. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (50mins)
6. Work on MS Access database for client - created report manually - not really useful yet, but the start of what is required. (2hrs 55mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 17 Nov

1. Identify and implement a way to fix the broken Facebook Page link on our website. (30mins)
2. Work on MS Access database for client - form is good and fields are correct, but the default report doesn't work due to the number of fields present... (1hr 5mins)
3. Working on the last item required as proof of concept for back end for CRM v3. One part of the process required works, now to add some more structure around it. (6hrs 40mins)

Socialising in the evening - all good!

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 16 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Invoicing - missed one earlier. (20mins)
3. Follow up on existing customers and prospects. (25mins)
4. Assist with checks to latest website updates. (5mins)
5. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (1hr 10mins)
6. Investigate back end for CRM v3. Working on updating absolutely baby, basic, no real functionality prototype for our system - looking good so far - a couple more processes proven.  (4hrs 15mins)
7. Work out how much my partner has been paid since we started as a NEIS business - to keep track of income so that we don't break the limit for how much income you can get outside the business. (10mins)
8. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 15 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Invoice reconciliation. Unfortunately, no one has paid us since the last time I checked. But my ongoing customer is still chasing her accounts people, so I hope the payment will arrive soon. Prepared a couple of new invoices and sent one - need to chase up an email address for the other customer. (35mins)
3. Record all outstanding items in the accounting system. (25mins)
4. Review the schedule for next week. (25mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 14 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3. Working on updating absolutely baby, basic, no real functionality prototype for our system - looking good so far.  (5hrs 10mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 13 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3. Do tutorial for this, then absolutely baby, basic, no real functionality prototype for our system - looking good so far.  (8hrs 30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 12 Nov

1. Record business emails. (5mins)
2. Follow up on enquiry whether we need professional indemnity insurance as well. Of course it turns out that we do need it - more money! BUT I can't print the PDF form that needs to be filled out... (45mins)
3. Update my Ubuntu virtual machine as preparation to installing the latest potential back end for CRM v3. Actually this is running as a background function for the rest of the day and more, but this is the time dedicated to setting it up. (20mins)
4. Investigate back end for CRM v3. Now looking at something that sits on top of the previous candidate and appears to remove some of the issues I was having - looking good so far.  (8hrs 20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 11 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Respond to a panic message from one of my customers - she deleted a document before having her first coffee of the morning and needed instructions on how she (might) be able to recover it. (35mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 1 post today. (15mins)
4. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing work on the 'working example' I thought I had yesterday. Unfortunately, no success. Tomorrow I probably move to a Ubuntu virtual machine - at least for development.  (5hrs 55mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 10 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 1 post today. (45mins)
3. Send email following up a customer enquiry. Basically requires on site changes which will be scheduled once they have paid for more hours. (15mins)
4. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. 35 new visits out of a total of 90 since we started tracking, which is good. (A lot of the repeat visits will be us working on the website and reviewing changes). Strangely, the visits include one search each from the UK and the Philippines! (30mins)
5. Create the first version of an MS Access database for a new customer. It's a while since I've worked with Access, so there's some (re)learning involved. Next thing is to check that the fields are still in the right order after I reorganised their default form. (1hr 35mins)
6. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing work on the 'working example' I thought I had yesterday. Unfortunately, it looks pretty but doesn't actually DO anything... not quite right still! I also can't remove the last couple of warnings - if I change to the recommended new process, it says that it doesn't understand it, even though that's how the standard interface works... (2hrs 35mins)

I think it's time to start the tutorial again, but creating skeletons of a couple of our actual forms, and see how far I get. If there is no joy with that, it will be time to install another virtual machine and develop on Linux.

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 9 Nov

1. Assist with website changes - we nearly have the cross-browser issues sorted out now, at least to the point where looking at it in IE doesn't make it look stupid... (5mins)
2. Update record of market survey results. (10mins)
3. Updating competitor analysis. I need to go back and check that I'm comparing apples and apples - I have a nasty feeling that the figures I've just put in for the new competition don't include all the values I've included for the other comparisons - so the rankings I've just plotted are crap! Also put this on the backburner - other things to do first. (1hr 10mins)
4. Send follow up email on enquiry whether we need professional indemnity insurance as well. There has been no response as yet. (10mins)
5. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - looks like this is locked in now! I have a very simple proof of concept version of the first form accessible - not nearly right, but present. I have also got a working version of one of the examples, which gives me most of the structural elements that I need to get a prototype happening. This includes 5 mins at about 12.15am when I worked out what the final issue was. (As well as lots of time spent on the internet working out what all the errors meant and how to fix them - the examples were written with version 3.0 present and I am using 3.4 - they've made a few changes along the way...). There are still a couple of issues to resolve - the example always opens in edit mode and I can't see why at the moment and there are still a couple of warnings about features that are going to be removed in future versions - need to work out what the new process is before I work up my prototype - but it's looking good, which is wonderful! (7hrs 55mins)
6. Site visit to new customer - she seems happy with the plan. (1hr 20mins)
7. Record the outcome of the site visit. (15mins)

So the main really good thing about today is that we seem to have locked down the new platform for the CRM solution. Obviously, there are still a couple of small questions, but it looks as if it's all going to work now! So now I can concentrate on starting the actual conversion of the software, which is great!

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 7 Nov

1. Review the schedule for next week - had to move one operational plan item based on the site visit that I'm doing on Monday afternoon. (20mins)
2. Create clean copy of potential back end for CRM v3. (5mins)
3. Work on the website, particularly allowing access via Google Webmaster Tools as well as reading through the Google information and determining a few things that need to be changed. Changes sent to my partner to work through. (1hr 20mins)
4. Updating competitor analysis with a couple of new ones that I've recently found out about. I think there are a coupld of others that also need to be added, but I'll do that when I find them again - not sure whether more competitors is good or bad... (1hr 55mins)
5. Record a couple more items in the accounting system. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 6 Nov

1. Check the other brochure and the presentations for the typo in the phone number - thankfully, there were no issues! (10mins)
2. Accounting - depreciation figures were entered on the wrong dates... Some other items needed to be entered. (30mins)
3. Review my blog for entries in the operational plan that need to be updated. Found them, updated the operational plan and added the required calendar entries. (45mins)
4. Record times worked in September 2009 after we finished NEIS training. This turned out to only be 8 days, which is disappointing, but before that we were mainly focused on work to create the NEIS business plan, which really doesn't fit with the business hours. (10mins)
5. Invoice reconciliation. Unfortunately, no one has paid us since the last time I checked. But my ongoing customer is still chasing her accounts people, so I hope the payment will arrive soon. (10mins)
6. Follow up on a customer email. Information is required on following up with another entity and there's another question that I'll need to think about further. (15mins)
7. Ensure the log book for our car is up to date - we missed writing a couple of entries down which were repeats of previous entries, but then recorded a couple of readings after that - took a little while to sort out, but it's all up to date now. (30mins)
8. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 4 posts today. (45mins)
9. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. Looks good, we're still getting traffic. :-) (10mins)
10. Investigate Google Webmaster Tools. This included reading through a lot of their information and reviewing our website - the review of the website was not entirely thrilling, as it highlighted a couple of issues that appear to have been present in our website since it was originally created. It's not really comforting to realise that NONE of us involved have checked the website in all reasonably available browsers, because one of the issues has been there since the site was originally created. (2hrs 50mins)
11. Phone call and agreement to meeting with new client - Monday we determine what the actual parameters are, which is great! (10mins)
12. Make required changes to the website to remove a lot of the issues with alternative browsers - it's still not perfect, but at least it's not so glaringly wrong! (25mins)
13. Update competitor information, based on further research that has occurred over the last few weeks. Fortunately, the first one is no competition in our target market! (1 hr)
14. Update my record of time worked. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 5 Nov

1. Update my record of time worked. (10mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. Determined how we can implement licensing and that there are a couple of ways to implement scheduled tasks. (1hr 55mins)
3. Ensure that the initial brochure is ready to send to prospects, with the new logo - including fixing the typo in the office phone number! (10mins)
4. Work on scheduling for projects. (20mins)
5. Create a draft operational plan - now I need to go back through the blog entries and check whether all the regular tasks are in the operational plan. (45mins)
6. Accounting - work out and enter the depreciation figures for October - but I've just realised that they're in for the wrong date... So have to fix that! (30mins)

A bit frustrated today - a short day due to a house inspection by the real estate agents, so final cleaning then waiting for them to turn up. Waiting... waiting... waiting... They gave us a two hour block that they would arrive in - so not even a specific time. When they were an hour overdue from that two hour block, I called. Turns out that they expected us to confirm that we would be available, but the letter says to contact them if you are NOT going to be available - so a huge chunk of the day wasted for nothing. Of course by then I was angry about the whole situation, so couldn't settle into any real work afterwards either! ARGH!

Well, hopefully Friday I'll get some decent work done.

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 4 Nov

1. Send emails to follow up existing prospects. (1hr 30mins)
2. Assist with changes to the website. (20mins)
3. Double check - do we need workcover? No, as a partnership with no external employees, we cannot have workcover. When we employ other people though, we need to take out workcover to cover them. (30mins)
4. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. (10mins)
5. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (1hr 5mins)
6. Record business emails. (15mins)
7. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (3hrs 20mins)
8. Networking - face to face. Monthly networking meeting as part of the NEIS support. (3hrs 45mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 3 Nov

1. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. (15mins)
2. Follow up on the lack of phone call from my latest customer - she did say she was busy. (5mins)
3. Update record of market survey results. (10mins)

Short day because it's a public holiday - so that's allowed!

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 2 Nov

1. Review business plan - particularly tasks planned. There needs to be a new To Do list with items that were included in the business plan. This has now been created in our CRM system. (1hr 20mins)
2. Accounting - record all the initial assets put into the business so that we know what happened in October. (25mins)
3. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (20mins)
4. Add the To Dos from our business plan into our CRM system so that they can be tracked. (45mins)
5. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 2 posts today. (2hrs)
6. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you- proving that the online networking is driving people to our site, which makes THAT worthwhile, as well as from Facebook, majority of traffic from Melbourne, but some from other states as well (probably from networking sites). (20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 30 Oct

1. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you. (15mins)
2. Review old to do lists - everything has pretty much been covered, which is good. (15mins)
3. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (5hrs 5mins)
4. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 3 posts today - KPI has been met! (1hr 30mins)
5. Sort out storage of business emails - hasn't been done for a while. (20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 29 Oct

1. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you - seems that people are actually finding us - yippee! (25mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 3 posts today, not quite up to plan, but nearly - only need 3 more by the end of the month to meet the KPI. (1hr)
3. Follow up on the lack of email from my latest customer - she did say she was busy. (5mins)
4. Find a form that requires email address entry before you get to proceed and look at the code - can we steal some of it? I found a couple, but I need to look at the code further with a clear head. (30mins)
5. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (1hr 30mins)
6. Proof read the website text changes and upload the amended pages. (45mins)
7. Investigate the requirements that our latest customer has - what is actually involved? (45mins)
8. Record business emails. (20mins)
9. Record the hours that I am working, to get a feel for how many hours I'm ACTUALLY working. In fact, it's not too bad, at least for October (and I'm not checking further back than that...) (30mins)
10. Add Perfect Notes to Google Local Business Center. (20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 28 Oct

Well, this post should have been done last night, but I was just thinking about writing it when we heard that a friend had an accident, so finding out how he was (seems mostly ok - more scans to double check this morning) was a higher priority...

1. Tidying, ready for our first meeting with our NEIS business mentor. This is the one where they have to verify that we are actually set up for business and have a reasonable working environment. The others are generally elsewhere, but for this one the house had to look good. (1hr 10mins)
2. Look at the statistics that Google Analytics gives you - which basically told me that the only people who looked at the website that day were us. (10mins)
3. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. Still looking good and the process is coming together in my head, but there's still a couple of questions that I haven't seen the answer to yet. (2hrs 30mins)
4. Update record of market survey results. (10mins)
5. Accounting - check whether some of my partner's invoices have been paid and that all business expenses from his account have been recorded. (1hr 35mins)
6. Business mentor meeting. This seemed to go well. He didn't seem to be startled by anything we said and he seems to know what he's talking about. We're free to email or call him if we have any questions or issues in between the scheduled meetings - all good! (1hr 15mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 27 Oct

1. Setup Google Analytics account and send code to my partner to add to each website page - now we'll know who visits the site (roughly) and how they travel through it - it's good. (40mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (3hrs 10mins)
3. Help with work on the website - privacy page. (10mins)
4. Talk to new customer - thanks to an associate company who referred the business to us. (15mins)
5. Networking - follow up on posts and queries - 3 posts yesterday and 3 posts today, not quite up to plan, but getting there. (1hr 30mins)
6. Some unknown amount of time tidying... first business mentor visit is tomorrow afternoon - lounge particularly needed some work!

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 26 Oct

1. Follow up on email for customer - support details and investigate their licensing issues - next question. (10mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (1hr 10mins)
3. Record more business account information. (15mins)
4. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (4hrs)
5. Investigate answering machine software. (25mins)
6. Call potential customer back - leave a message as she is in a meeting. (5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 25 Oct

1. Create and send invoices for my partner's work of last week - while I'm in 'Financial Controller' mode... (55mins)
2. Record business emails. (30mins)
3. Record more business account information - I think I've got it set up right! (55mins)
4. Assist in changes to the website - we're still learning how it was set up initially, so making changes is still a bit trial and error... It looked fairly odd a few times through the afternoon - but is ok now. (1hr)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 24 Oct

1. Continue reading documentation on accounting software, set up initial accounts and record yesterday's purchases - seems to have worked! (5hrs)

Plus a little bit of time spent organising the back bedroom so that the computer desk which was being collected could actually be put into the room when it arrived - seemed worthwhile to me!

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 23 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (3hrs 15mins)
2. Tidying of the back bedroom, which is to be the other office - so my partner and I can both work at the same time without distracting each other... (1hr - maybe more) Ended up with some stuff to put on Ebay, and other stuff to keep.
3. Download and start reading documentation on accounting software. (1hr 30mins)
4. Trip to find and purchase a mobile broadband USB key - needed to visit two stores before we found one of the keys that was on special. (1hr 40mins)

A couple more items ticked off the to-do list!

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 22 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (3hrs 50mins)
2. Follow up on email for customer - support details and investigate their licensing issues. (50mins)

There should have been more work today, but life got in the way... Tomorrow is another day!

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 21 Oct

1. Recreate the Facebook page a couple of times until the format was as desired - thank goodness deleting a page is easy! Setup my partner as an Administrator for the page, so we can both update it and post to it. (1hr 20mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - continuing to read the documentation for the next candidate. (4hrs 15mins)


So, here is the links to the website for the business: Perfect Notes

The Facebook Page link has been added on your right!

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 20 Oct

1. Learn basic use of NetBeans with C++ and Python. (1hr 25mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - reading documentation on the next candidate. (7hrs 45mins)
3. Create initial Facebook page for the business (including getting a logo that doesn't get chopped on the edges badly by Facebook beside comments). (1hr 5mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 19 Oct

1. Investigate NetBeans - environment for creating some of the software pieces that I need to go with the selected backend (or any other that may be required....). I think this gives me everything that I need at the moment to create the extra pieces that are required outside the database itself. (10hrs 20mins)
2. Investigating some of the other pieces that are required. (2omins)
3. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - start investigating the next candidate. (25mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 17 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - install the next candidate. (25mins)

Well, I didn't spend much time on the business today - I figure it's about time I actually took a weekend off and this is the weekend to relax on.

Saturday afternoon watching a friend race in the final stage of the Honda Hybrid Women's Tour 2009 and then watch the final stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2009 - lots of fun watching the racing, getting strange looks from other people as I bounced up and down out of my chair to yell support, catching up with friends that I only see at cycling and generally having fun.

Then Sunday afternoon at the bar at the end of the Around the Bay in a Day - again catching up with friends, congratulating them for finishing the various distances they rode and generally enjoying the fresh air and (sometimes) sunshine!

A really good weekend off!

It's official!

Well, with all the other stuff that I was doing on Thursday, it almost went unnoticed... But we're officially in business as of Thursday 15 October! Supported on NEIS payments, which means we can earn as much as we like in the business and our payments don't get reduced, it's only work outside the business that impacts on the amount we get paid. :-)

I think the real reason that it hasn't had a huge impact is that there are still things to sort out - the back office is not fully set up yet, the procedures are not written up (let alone finalised), I haven't sorted out the mobile internet access yet, leaflets for the tech support side have not been designed let alone delivered, etc, etc, etc. Once a few more of those things are sorted out, it will begin to feel more real - I hope!

Anyway, it's a milestone in the development of the business - it's an official start date!

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 16 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (3hrs 15mins)

2.Resize logo ready for use on Facebook page and similar places. (15mins)

Short day today, as I worked so many hours yesterday...

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 15 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (5hrs 35mins)
2. Hand in NEIS forms to Centrelink and collect lovely new business cards! (1hr 55mins)
3. Business profit growth seminar. (5hrs 30mins)

Well, the last was proof that I need to start trusting my instincts more... The old 'if it seems too good to be true' AND 'I think I've been here before' combine to mean that I shouldn't have bothered. I'm sure that others there got something from it - certainly some must have, as they signed up for the training being offered - but it really didn't do anything for me... Oh well... Hopefully I'll start learning to listen to my gut feelings...

It's only time...

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 14 Oct

Well, officially this is the last day of being in business without actually officially being in business. Tomorrow we are official - I take the forms down to Centrelink and see what they say about us being on NEIS instead of Centrelink support... Wish us luck!

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (4hrs 15mins)

Well, that's actually broken up into 1hr 20mins of determining that I was right - my initial proposed backend will not do what I want to happen - so that's no good. The rest of the time was spent working out what the other options were and reading through the information on the next most suitable option - still a couple of questions, but no show stoppers, so far...!

2. See whether there is any free accounting software that will do the required accounting and get us through until we can afford one of the commercial software products (QuickBooks, MYOB, etc) if required. (1hr 45mins)
Probably have a candidate - ideally need something that can run on more than the Windows platform as we have PCs and servers running other operating systems.

Seems an alright effort for the day. Tomorrow is another day! Carpe diem... :-)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 13 Oct

Well, actually it's yesterday's work, because I went out last night and got back too late to do the approximately daily update... life happens!

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (2hrs 55mins)

Well, the investigation continues. It's possible that this process may still work - more research to be done. My partner and I have a plan for getting it running with the correct version on here, IF I can determine that one of the processes that is required can actually occur... So that's today's task (if I can get motivated - having a hard time of that this morning).

2. General business organisation - send out invoice (for my partner), pay insurance premium, pay other bills, check out ING Business Optimiser account requirements, investigate Google Analytics, follow up on request for website access and logo. (3hrs)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 12 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (6hrs 55mins)

Well, after a lot of work, it looks like this is not going to be the final choice. I've had two attempts at getting this backend working - once on Windows and once on Linux - with no success.

Probably go back to the list of options tomorrow and start over - oh well... Just annoying.

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 10 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (4hrs 50mins)

Now I have a virtual machine with Xubuntu set up on my laptop, and some of the requirements for the proposed architecture - setup to continue Sunday. Then I can start prototyping and see whether this process will actually work!

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 9 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (7hrs 55mins)
2. Send invoice to customer. (10mins)
3. Read marketing information and similar. (1hr 30mins)

Well, the good news for today is that I think I've got the basic architecture for CRM v3 sorted - with one issue, that may or may not be a deal breaker...

I'm trying to get Ubuntu set up as either a dual-boot or VM on my laptop, so that I can start prototyping, but not having much luck yet. Trying to download and burn the latest Ubuntu so that I can test - the CDs we have here are not loading at the moment.

So, by early next week I should know whether the proposed model is going to work or whether I need to start all over again.

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 8 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3 - although today's research is really on the part that will deliver the software via browser, but still part of the development research process. (4hrs 40mins)
2. Respond to email request from customer - follow up to yesterday's site visit. (5mins)

Well, yesterday's bike ride (and its dampness) seems to have given me a case of the sniffles and a clogged head. So unfortunately I wasn't able to do as much reading about the pieces for v3 as I had planned - hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 7 Oct

1. Pick up 20 business cards each - the rest are being printed and laminated. (20mins)
2. Site visit - mostly happy customer. (2hrs 15mins)
3. Update record of market survey results. (15mins)
4. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (40mins)
5. Networking - face to face! First monthly networking meeting as part of the NEIS support. (3hrs 20mins)

It was interesting, as this is the first networking stuff that Dave's done, combined with a presentation by a guy who does video production etc, which was interesting as well. Anyway, as per usual, I did most of the required talking and Dave did most of the talking to people afterwards... It's OK - the balance will work itself out. Handed out some business cards and collected some others.

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 6 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (2hrs 40mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (1hr 5mins)
3. Organise for the printing of business cards, including getting quotes from local printers. (1hr)

Today's Centrelink - Tues 6 Oct

Pretty good run today. I thought that it'd take longer, as we had to hand in our completed Job Seeker diaries - I wasn't sure if it would be a case of handing them in and them being reviewed later, or that they'd be reviewed while we wait - turns out that it gets reviewed as part of the interview, but didn't take too long...

So an hour door to door, which is less than I expected.

And that has to be the second to last time - NEIS program from October 15th - yippee!

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 5 Oct

1. Catch up on recording of business email correspondence. (30mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (7hrs 25mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 4 Oct

Well, having taken Friday off to go out with a friend and see an exhibition, I get to work on Sunday instead... that's the way it goes when you work for yourself!

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (4hrs 45mins)

Not happy - can't install the next piece that I need to learn this database backend - it's really designed for Unix systems, and there's obviously some issue with the build on Windows... Argh....

Correspondence with the main guy who supports this, but still not working. Leaving it till tomorrow now.

Today's Centrelink - Sun 4 Oct

1hr 45mins to apply for the 10 jobs required for this fortnight.

Done - yippee!

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 1 Oct

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (4hrs 55mins)
2. SIGN NEIS AGREEMENT! Hand in paperwork to look our Job Provider know that this is happening and buy some equipment we need for the business. (1hr 50mins)

It's official, as of 15th October we are running a business with NEIS support for 12 months. The reality of this hasn't really hit yet. It's just 'a fact' in my head at this point in time, rather than a truth...hmmm... not sure if that's a distinction that people will understand, but it's right for me... Maybe next week it will feel like the truth.

Our contact at the Job provider asked whether it had gone quickly or not - which is actually a hard question to answer. In one way, it's flown by - weeks filled with classes and research and typing and so on... and in another, it seemed to take so long - at least partly because the classes finished and it's been a week and a half since we handed in the business plan for assessment. Not that things have stopped since then, but the 'formal' part of the process just came to an abrupt halt...

Anyway, now we get to make sure that we do the nitty gritty preparation work - getting the business cards that have been designed for us actually printed, setting up the back office properly, designing flyers for the technical support side of the business, setting up an answering machine, etc, etc, etc.

So stick around - the journey just got real!

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 30 Sep

1. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (30mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (4hrs 45mins)
3. Update record of market survey results. (5mins)

Sometimes life gets in the way of work - had some stuff to do this afternoon that prevented more work... Well, tomorrow is another day!

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 29 Sep

1. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (1hr 5mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (1hr)
3. Update record of market survey results. (10mins)
4. Investigate 2 possible ways of accessing the data. (1hr 15mins)

Bike ride this morning, so less work than usual - but I worked over the weekend, so it's ok.

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 28 Sep

1. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (45mins)
2. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (7hrs 45mins)

Yippee - might have found a back end that will work!

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 27 Sep

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (2hrs 25mins)

So far, all this has achieved is to remove options from the list of alternatives...

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 26 Sep

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (6hrs)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 25 Sep

1. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (6hrs 40mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (2hrs)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 24 Sep

1. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (50mins)
2. Continue scheduling for CRM v3 and for new product we're planning. (1hr 10mins)
3. Discussion with potential customer - follow on from some work I did earlier this year - could be good! (30mins)
4. Update record of market survey results. (20mins)
5. Investigate back end for CRM v3. (2hrs 25mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 23 Sep

1. Investigate the rules for creating a Facebook page. (1hr 5mins)
2. Reviewing mobile broadband options - think I've got it sorted out. (1hr 40mins)
3. Find and install free project scheduling software that is available on Windows, Mac and Linux. (2hrs 15mins)
4. Start scheduling for CRM v3 (although in actual fact there probably won't be a v2) - scary... (1hr 35mins)
5. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (45mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 22 Sep

1. Continue refining financials for business plan - or at least try! No response from trainer (he is flat out reviewing all our business plans...) so handed in the figures that are closest to what was requested. (1hr 5mins)
2. Hand in updated business plans. (20mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (1hr)
4. Reviewing mobile phone and mobile broadband options - VERY confusing! (3hrs 50mins)

Today's Centrelink - Tues 22 Sep

About 20mins to fill out the forms, ready to take in today.

Probably 1hr 15mins to take the forms to Centrelink and hand them in - we try not to go at lunchtime, but sometimes it can't be avoided...

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 21 Sep

1. Trip to Centrelink to get forms filled out for NEIS, then meeting at Box Hill TAFE to determine whether business plan needs updating before sign off (including travel time). (3hrs 20mins)

This actually went really well. We didn't really spend long in the queue at Centrelink and then once we got to the head of the line, it only took a few minutes for the form to be filled out. Then we went to Box Hill and had lunch and relaxed, then headed up to TAFE.

Much to Dave's delight, the only thing that needs to change on the business plan is to lower the sales forecasts, so that the financials are less optimistic (I don't think they were overly optimistic, but I don't mind planning lower and overachieving). So, do that today, hand it in tomorrow, fix up the insurance and we should be good to go!

2. Email insurance broker to accept quotation - must be in place for NEIS to start. (10mins)
3. Refine financials for business plan - or at least try! Emailed trainer for assistance. (1hr 25mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 20 Sep

1. Fill out the forms needed for our NEIS sign up tomorrow. (45mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (1hr)

Today's Centrelink - Sun 20 Sep

2hrs 30mins to apply for the 10 jobs required for this fortnight.

Done - yippee!

Saturday's relaxation

Well, there was no work done yesterday, Saturday 19 Sep.

We had a bbq to celebrate that our business plans were all handed in on Friday - all the NEIS group were invited, but the weather was a bit damp and grey, so only a few of us turned up. But we still had a good, fun time! And we got to meet a few partners, which was good too.

Could have done a bit of work before or after, but I figured enough time had gone into this during the week, so a day off was well deserved.

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 18 Sep

1. Work on business plan - collect all required appendices etc - print it all out! (4hrs 10mins)
2. Hand in business plan! Yippee! (1hr)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (1hr)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 17 Sep

1. Trip to meet Insurance Planner to discuss Key Man insurance for the business (including travel time). (3hrs)
2. Register partnership for ABN and TFN. (45mins)
Not really happy about this. Got to the end and got a message that the ATO had to check stuff and the normal time for this is 28 days! How??? What question did I answer wrong? When I did the personal one, it popped up with the ABN when the Submit button was pressed - why is this different?
Now to see whether this stops us starting the business on 1st Oct!
3. Work on business plan - or at least many of the supporting documents! (2hrs 50mins)
4. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (55mins)

OK - should probably do more of this... but sooooo tired...

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 16 Sep

1. NEIS training course - 8.25am to 3.35pm less 1 hour for lunch and one 10 min break (including travel time). (6hrs)
2. Answer a query from old company. (20 mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (1hr 50mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 15 Sep

1. NEIS training course - 8.15am to 3.20pm less 1/2 hour for lunch and one 10 min break (including travel time). (6hrs 25mins)
2. Work on business plan. (15mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 14 Sep

1. NEIS training course - 8.25am to 2.20pm less 1 hour for lunch and one 10 min break (including travel time). (4hrs 45mins)
2. Work on business plan. (3hrs 45mins)
3. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (15mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 13 Sep

1. Networking - follow up on posts and queries. (YouTube took forever to download little videos...!) (3hrs 55mins)
2. Work on business plan. (55mins)
3. Send email required - follow up on site visit. (20 mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 12 Sep

1. Work on business plan. (1hr 30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 11 Sep

1. NEIS training course - 8.15am to 3.30pm less 1 hour for lunch, one 20 min break and one 10 min break (including travel time). (5hrs 45mins)
2. Networking - follow up on posts and queries (1hr 50mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 10 Sep

1. Customer site visit to address issues - including travel. (3hrs)
I'm very happy about this - this customer is going to buy more hours!
2. Catching up on small business networking and other networking info - FINALLY a 5 min video that explains enough about Twitter and why business should use it for me to understand! (3hrs)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 9 Sep

1. NEIS training course - 8.25am to 4.55pm less 1 hour for lunch and one 20 min break (including travel time). (7hrs 10mins)
2. Work on customer system investigation. (30mins)
3. Work on business plan - well, at least send out a few more notifications on the market survey... (30mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 8 Sep

1. NEIS training course - 8.15am to 12.35pm less one 20 min break (including travel time). (4hrs)
Short day today as our trainer had a presentation sprung on him at the last minute.
2. Catch up on recording of business email correspondence. (40mins)
3. Work on customer system investigation. (2hrs 30mins)
This sounds good. But in actual fact I can't charge the customer for all of this time. It's at least partly because the laptop wasn't capable of checking the whole system at once - it took me three tries before I got the design into small enough pieces for my setup to cope with it... I expected this part to take an hour, so I really can't charge them for more than that... Oh well...

Today's Centrelink - Tues 8 Sep

Dream run today - pulled up on the motorbike, one person ahead of us in the queue, quick response from the woman who processed our forms (who now recognises us!) and out again. Probably 15 mins tops from pulling up to leaving again - a win!

Today's Centrelink - Mon 7 Sep

About twenty mins to add up the hours Dave's done this fortnight and then finish filling in the forms.

Today's work on/in the business - Mon 7 Sep

1. NEIS training course - 8.15am to 4.20pm less 1 hour for lunch and one 20 min break (including travel time). (6hrs 45mins)
2. Work on business plan. (1hr)

Today's work on/in the business - Sun 6 Sep

1. Draw up floor plan and calculate floor space dedicated to business. (1hr)

Today's Centrelink - Sat 5 Sep

5mins to fill in as much of the Centrelink form for this fortnight as is possible at the moment. Now just to find out how many hours Dave's worked this fortnight...

Today's work on/in the business - Sat 5 Sep

Well, today I wasn't going to do much work - lots of work during the week, so probably no need to do too much over the weekend. So I did an hour and a half of reviewing the business plan - so far, so good. Then I looked at a couple of emails, including one that is about networking - the kind where you meet people and see whether you can help them or they can help you, not the IT connecting computers kind... Mostly because networking events should be part of the promotional plan, which goes with the business plan. Well - it turns out that there were a LOT of links on that email, which is probably good - BUT then there's a list of the networking groups around Aus, so I needed to review that... Only opened 15 of those, which might be relevant - the others were too expensive! Then actually linked through to the first one, which seems reasonable - join up to that one - have to set up a profile and think about keywords and stuff.... Well, all of that has taken about 3 hours! At least some of it was actually useful - but really, today was supposed to be a slack day!!!

1. Work on business plan. (1hrs 30mins)
2. Review networking options and plans. (3hrs or so)

Today's Centrelink - Fri 4 Sep

25mins to apply for the last 3 jobs required for this fortnight.

Done - yippee!

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 4 Sep

1. Send emails asking specific contacts to participate in the marketing survey. (55mins)
2. Sort out selection of logo and email designer with details of text and logo to go on business cards. (15mins)

(An easy day - no sleep last night, but got out for a ride - so exercise and social activity was the focus of today!)

Market research

Below is a link to the market research survey for my business. It gives more detail on what the business will do and has some questions that will be used to drive the direction the business takes. Please follow the link and participate if you have something useful to contribute.

Click Here to take survey

Thank you.
Kathy

Today's Centrelink - Thurs 3 Sep

25mins to apply for 3 more of the 10 jobs required this fortnight. (Seek was responding more quickly tonight!)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 3 Sep

1. Work on business plan. (3hrs 30mins)
2. In to TAFE to discuss business plan with trainers (including travel time). (2hrs)
Fortunately, the outcome of the meeting is that the business plan is on track - nice to know!

Today's Centrelink - Wed 2 Sep

45mins to apply for 4 of the 10 jobs required this fortnight.

(The Seek website includes a lot of jobs, but runs really slowly...)

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 2 Sep

1. Work on business plan. (5hrs 30mins)
2. Networking evening (0 mins). Unfortunately, I got caught up in working on the business plan and missed the networking evening. I realised that it was on at the time it finished - rather too late to turn up!

Today's work on/in the business - Tues 1 Sep

1. Work on business plan. (6hrs 30mins)

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)

Today's work on/in the business - Fri 31 July

1. Box Hill TAFE's NEIS information session, which turned out to be one on one. It was supposed to be two people, but the other one didn't turn up. A different person did, but it was quickly established that he wasn't eligible for the program, so then there was only me. (1hr 15mins)
2. Programming (3hrs)
3. Finish reading NEIS information brochure (20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 30 July

1. Appointment with employment people (part of the Centrelink requirements) - can look into NEIS (New Enterprise Incentive Scheme) for business planning/mentoring (1hr)
2. Find details of Box Hill TAFE's NEIS interview process and book in for tomorrow (15mins)
3. Programming (2hrs)

Issues/thoughts about changing from an employee to running your own business

I am finding it really difficult to accept that I am no longer 'just a developer/designer' - that running your own business means you (possibly collectively, but each business owner bears some responsibility for all of these things) are involved in:
strategic planning for the business,
marketing,
sales,
creation of brochures and other collateral,
finance/budgeting,
taxation issues/documentation,
costing,
purchasing,
invoicing,
debt collection,
keeping up with information about competitors,
keeping up with information about your business area,
website design,
training for 'staff',
(for a software company) design, development, testing plus documentation and training, installation and ongoing support,

and I'm sure there are other things that should be added to this list that I can't think of at the moment...

On some days, this whole process has been totally overwhelming, leading to doubts about my/our ability to do this, as you would expect. I have no secret for getting through these times - just understanding that this will happen and to be ready for it. Note that anyone going down this path needs a good support network - not necessarily related to your business, but you really need people that you can talk to other than business partner(s) - this outlet is vital.

And somewhere in amongst all that you still need to spend time being yourself - outside the business - which is something that I'm struggling with myself right now. I keep telling people that the next stage of the process will allow me to slow down a bit and that my friends will then see me - and each time, there's something else that needs to be done. It also doesn't help that it's winter here and the weather hasn't exactly encouraged getting outside - but really, that's just an excuse. So tomorrow (unless it's truly blowing a gale) I WILL get out and go for a bike ride - and on Saturday I WILL see some friends!

Time spent creating our product

Firstly, for the sake of my sanity I am not going to even THINK about trying to estimate how many hours I have spent on the software so far... that could well be too disheartening. However, the basic details are:
I started the process of designing it on April 6 2009,
the design document, which was created in tandem with writing the software itself, went through 18 iterations - so far,
at least 4 other people have been involved in reviewing the design and making suggestions,
the first saleable (is that even a real word?) version of the product was available on about June 25 2009,
our website was first put up on about May 1 2009, went through a serious revamp for June 17 2009 and needs review again when the new logo is finalised and the planned additions to the website are implemented,
determining a reasonable costing model was a full time job for about 10 days - finding costings for competitor products (and checking which really were competitor products and which were not really competing for our potential customers) was the largest part of that time,
the web browser accessible version (which will be easier to sell) has been started about 2 months before it was planned for - which is great - but is still estimated to be 3 months of work,
a trainer has reviewed the online Help documentation for the software,
testing is progressing,
brochures have been created along with a PowerPoint presentation for the product,
a couple of videos are being scripted and then need recording,
the product has been presented to two Business Consultancy firms and one potential customer,
word of mouth is starting to spread the information that the product exists,
we have a (very) basic business plan and marketing plan, but both need fleshing out,
we have no real documentation processes for the business yet - receipts are being kept but not recorded, invoices are sent and cross checked when payments appear, but this needs more structure,
oh dear - some of that is the business rather than the product - but at least it gives some idea on what has been involved so far.