Liscard Business Centre Blog

More and more people are taking the oppurtunity to work from home. This may be to help look after the kids or due to a change in their employment status.

As technology increasingly allows not only home working, but more and more people to work self-employed. A lot more men now work from home.

A resent survey has discovered that there are now 4.3 million freelancers in the UK, a increase of 28% since 2007. An estimated 2.4 million began freelancing within the last 2 years.

A total of 36% of those surveyed cited wanting to be their own boss / doing what they loved, as their reason for turning to freelancing. Furthermore 67% claim technology and faster internet access as the main factor enabling their transition. Also 90% admit a better work / life balance from working from home and often save 8 hours a week previously commuting.

Most people in business are so busy working that they forget some basic rules when meeting new customers or contacts. I must admit body language is something I need to work on, having just been on a training day with the bca (business centre association).

Body language is non-verbal communication, consisting of posture, gestures, facial expressions and eye movements. We send and interpret signals subconsciously and research suggests human communication consists of 70% body language and only 30% spoken words.

Try a couple of these tips to help develop confident habits:

1    Don’t cross your arms or legs – You probably know that crossed arms make you seem defensive or guarded. This goes for your legs too.

2   Make eye contact, but don’t stare – make eye contact to make a better connection and ensure they are listening. Too much might unsettle people but no eye-contact will make you seem insecure or shifty.

3   Relax your shoulders – tension or nerves can easily result in tightness in your shoulders. Try to relax and try moving your shoulders to loosen them up a bit.

4   Nod when they are talking – nod once in a while to signal that you are listening. But don’t over do it and resemble a nodding dog.

5   Smile and laugh – relax, smile and laugh when someone says something funny. People will be more inclined to listen to you if you seem to be positive. Always smile when introduced to someone.

6   Don’t touch your face – or over your mouth while speaking as it might make you seem nervous and can be distracting to others. Personally I think it looks bad.

7   Keep your head up – Don’t keep your eyes on the ground, it might make you seem insecure and a bit lost. Keep your head up straight and your eyes towards the horizon.

8   Don’t fidget – Try to relax, slow down and focus your movements. Try to avoid tapping your fingers or foot. Breath deeply and speak clearly.

9   Lower your drink – don’t hold your drink in front of your chest. In fact try not to hold anything in front of you as it may appear guarded. Hold everything low or beside your leg if possible.

10   Don’t stand too close – Let people have there personal space

11   Keep a good attitude – last but not least, keep a positive, open and relaxed attitude. How you feel will come through in your body language and can make a major difference.

Don’t take too much money from the business. In other words – don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. You certainly won’t be relaxed if you experience a serious cash flow crisis.

Plan to earn less initially, from your business, than you would from a salaried position. Lots of self employed people work longer hours and have less holidays than people with normal careers. However, there are plenty of good times ahead if it all works to plan.

Your business website must include your address (office or virtual office address) and contact details, privacy policy, terms and conditions, exchange and refund policy, quality commitment and information about delivery and payment. Stock availability and pricing should be kept up to date and you must state how much VAT and post and packaging is payable per item.

To collect payments you need to include a shopping cart function, as well as a secure means by which customers can enter their card details when paying. Most website designers provide a shopping cart function and payment facility as part of their service. Online website-building packages do, too.

You also need a merchant account to collect payments. Providers such as PayPal are popular, but you should also enquire at your bank. You pay a service charge on each transaction, a set-up and monthly service fee.