Fix minor appointments around the major ones

Most of us will allocate certain days to making sales calls. There is a lot of good sense in this in that it allows us to focus our mind in a particular direction and to keep it there.
 
When we sit down and plan the day there will be particular people we really want to see and there will be others that we would like to see.
 
Our time management advisors will suggest we plan the calls along a route that makes for the least amount of driving; reducing wasted time and unnecessary petrol costs. This is good advice as far as it goes. However, we need to ensure that by being efficient, we don’t stop ourselves being effective.
 
You should always book the appointments that are most important first of all. The last thing you want is to have set up the morning appointments in a neat orderly fashion, only to find your top priority customer can’t see you in the afternoon.
 
By all means make the route as efficient as possible, but don’t let your drive for efficiency steer you off course

Top 5 Networking Benefits

1: Lead generation

It’s a fact! Networking done correctly generates business leads – enough said

2: Help and advice

A group of like minded people with various skills will ALWAYS find better solutions to challenges than one individual

3: Education

A great way to learn new techniques, gain knowledge and improve your business skills

4: Confidence building

The best way to get good at anything is to keep doing it. Networking regularly is one of the best ways to gain confidence.......everyone is on your side!

5: Companionship

Business can be a lonely place, especially for small business owners. Sharing quality time with others in the same situation as you will make you feel part of a team. 

Sew - Who is Cheating? 

Deezynes Embroidery & Printing is Individual - treating all customers as Individuals too.

Minimum quantity ONE.

Deezynes works with those looking for Personalised Garments such as a Gift/Memento, including Hen/Stag celebrations along with Businesses, Clubs, Schools and Teams.  Equestrian and Pet Clothing.

This is a recent, but oh so typical a conversation

Q. So what is your business? 

A. Embroidery (with a smile)

Q. So what does that involve?  Flowers on pillowcases and stuff?  

A. (they were interested), if that is the customers request, then yes.  Most of my work is for businesses, teams, work and schoolwear. I have commercial machines and . . . .  (I am yet to finish this line, ever!)

Reply: “Oh that’s cheating!”

Just like all self-employed, my business is an extension of my family.  My pride for this ‘family member’ is no different to that of a child or a favourite pet.   So why do I become so irritated when my ‘cheating’ with this ‘family member’ is brought up, again . . . ?

Yes my machines work hard, but ‘we’ are a Partnership.  I, or more often my customer, will choose the design, the colour/shade of threads, the garments and where – and how – ‘we’ will stitch.

To create a new logo or design - This can be a simple customer-drawn ‘suggestion, a jpeg image via email or just a photocopy.  It is very common for me to scan an item of clothing already being worn to reproduce!   Equine/Canine ‘portraits’ from photographs are particularly popular.

The quality of the original is unimportant as I will re-draw the whole design - this is particularly useful if changes are required from the original.  This is where I can consider the colour changes, the order areas are to be sewn, adjust the density of those embroidered areas depending on the thickness of the fabric to be decorated and the size(s) required.

So now we’re ready to ‘send’ the design to the machine.  Before we can see ‘our’ creation, we need to select the thread colours and ensure there is sufficient bobbin (underneath) thread.

The machine also needs instruction as to which size frame has been selected and which colour is on each spool and consequently thread-up relevant needles with any colour changes. 

Now it is time to ‘frame up’ a piece of scrap fabric – for the most accurate results as similar as possible to the chosen garment fabric, along with the correct weight stabiliser.  Stabiliser is placed to the back of the fabric to be embroidered to keep it, well, stabilised!   Then just place the frame in the machine and let the machine do the ‘cheating’ sorry, sewing! 

On completion of this ‘test’ piece depending on the results, it is either back to the ‘drawing board’ as further editing/tweaking is required and further sew-throughs, or if happy with the results, a copy is sent to the customer for approval. 

As soon as the “OK” has been received then ‘we’ commence the commission.

Most customers choose garments from the Deezynes on-line catalogue, some supply their own.  Particularly, if it involves a specialist sports product.

For repeat orders the hard work is done, all designs are kept on file for future use and/or editing.

In most embroidery cases the answer is “Yes” – just ask!

A couple of things to remember this time of year when it comes to cutting your hedges 

Firstly we are still within the nesting season and whilst it is not an offence to cut hedges and trees during this period it is an offence to intentionally damage or destroy a nest that is habited or one that is actively being built , nesting ends the end of August so please be aware and help preserve our wild bird numbers 

Secondly a little tip with regards to cutting conifers during the hot spells , my advice is wait until evening time or an overcast day if you cut in the searing heat your hedge is likely to go brown fairly quickly 

Networking Meetings – ‘What a load of rubbish’.

When you start your own business it seems that everyone suddenly wants a piece of you.
Almost every person you speak to has a nephew that builds websites.

Papers and magazines are desperately interested in you advertising through them.
Charities want your products or time.
Business card companies email you six times a day.
And then there are those Networking groups that you must join…and it all costs money you don’t have.

Networking meetings were about as high on my list of priorities as planned root canal surgery, after all it’s basically paying to have a chat isn't it?

Well, Miss Smarty Pants, that’s where you were wrong.

It took me about two years to join a local business club and now I’m kicking myself that it wasn’t earlier.
I got chatting to a local Gym owner at Christmas dinner and he explained how the support had helped him through his early years of business. It really opened my eyes to how much I had been struggling with various aspects of self-employment alone and suddenly somebody understood.
We shared geography and customers and those are the keys to really understanding pricing and local attitudes to start-up businesses.

I recently suffered a set-back that threw my confidence out of the window completely. My plan was to honour the bookings that I had and make plans to shut down.
I’d had a good go, but ultimately I just had to realise I just wasn’t any good at working for myself.

Then came another one of those networking meetings….
This time with a speaker so inspirational I realised that actually we all feel like that every now and again.
We all work for nothing sometimes.
We all have a completely empty bank account sometimes.
We all miss important time with our families.
But, we all have the seed of an idea that can work, it really can, you just have to dig deep and go for it.

So I've started digging - and it’s thanks to CAP Business Clubs that I am.

There will be clubs along similar lines in your area. Have a look around. You WILL get work from it. You WILL help other people with your knowledge and contacts and you WILL suddenly have a team of people on your side, helping through the rough days.

Networking turns out not to be so rubbish after all.