sjsmith

+61-7-3348 4151

Beautiful watercolour prints from Australia

Unique Beautiful Fun

The Fun Factor

At the beginning of each year I like to do a little planning and think about what I want from the year ahead.  The things I think about are wide and varied - from holidays I'd like to take, to how much money I'd like to make (excluding that elusive lotto win!) to things I'd like to let go of. Read More


Muttley

Previous Blog 1 Feb thru to Mid July 2015

Spiritual Economics

I was lucky to have a week long break in Bali with some of my oldest friends a few years ago.  I've been to Bali before and I'm always amazed at how spiritual the whole place is.  Where we stay there are two temples within walking distance but there are little shrines and devotional spaces everywhere you turn.  Spirituality is part of the everyday.   Read More


Bali

Using your Tribe

One of the hard things about being in business for yourself is how isolating it can be.  Unless you push yourself to get out there and meet people it can be a lonely road.  It's vital that you find yourself a support group that can help.  You need different people for different things (though the good ones will often serve more than one purpose). My mum is a wonderful support but like most mums she thinks everything I make is wonderful.  (Thanks mum).   Read More


Know Yourself

When you work for a company you are usually subject to some sort of critical appraisal or performance evaluation. When you work for yourself it's not just that you don't have anyone to give you that performance check, but often, you're too busy for it.  That being said it is worth taking a good look at yourself as part of your routine business evaluation, whether you do that monthly, six monthly or annually.  This sounds easier than it really is.     Read More


Moffat Beach

Creative Confidence

There's always a certain amount of fear when you release a new product or service. Is it the right time, the right product, the right price?  Will your customers respond or will it fall flat? Even the most experienced business owner does not hit the right mark every time. A big part of any launch is having the confidence in your product or service. A few weeks ago I talked about knowing yourself and being able to give yourself an evaluation.     Read More


What Smart Girls Know

Its  easy to look at the success of others and imagine that they have it all together.  Confident people with clear direction and lots of drive can be so intimidating but, as anyone who’s been in business for a while knows, there’s some fundamental truths to remember when you need to keep your sanity.

It’s all personal!  If someone treats you badly and then says ‘It’s not personal, it’s just business’, then call bullshit.  All businesses are run by people.  It is people who decide on a corporate culture and the policies that they engage in.     Read More


No Worries

That good old Aussie saying, ‘No worries, she’ll be right mate!’  It’s really a variation on don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.  While it sounds great in theory it’s often much harder to put into practice.

When you're self employed the buck stops with you - for everything.  From deciding on a company logo and brand identity to what your policies are regarding payment terms - its all up to you.     Read More


The Professional List Maker

It's getting to the point where I might need a list of all my lists! I have always liked keeping a list but the act of writing the list is what's really important. Writing things down really helps me to remember them but, more than that, it also lets me clarify what's important. At the beginning of every week I write a long to-do-list with three columns. One for my cleaning company, one for my creative company and one for.     Read More


Getting Your Ducks In a Row

Last week I talked about my passion for lists and how I use them in my business. This week I'd like to explain a little about how you can conquer those big projects that sometimes feel overwhelming. You may be planning a new product or service line, changing the focus of your business or planning to move to new premises.  All of these things are major business changes that need a whole heap of things to fall into place to get you there.

    Read More


Good Friday

It's almost Easter and for anyone not of the Christian faith that may mean only a few extra public holidays and hot cross buns in the shops. And that's completely fine! We don't all have to think the same or even have the same beliefs to find joy in some of the same things. We don't even have to find in the joy same way.  I have a friend who adores her job and the challenges it brings and can't wait to get there every morning. Read More


April Fool's Day

Can you believe that we're already a quarter of the way through this year? I hope you've managed to make some progress with your hopes and dreams for the year.  If you haven't, there's no reason to panic and there's certainly no reason to be depressed. The great news is that we still have over three quarters of the year to go!  I recently went to a business networking event and was struck by the number of very serious business people I met. Read More


Muttley

The Greatness Of Others

It can be really intimidating sometimes when you meet someone in your field that seems much more successful than you.  It's hard not to make comparisons and find yourself coming up short. Even if the person involved is lovely, it can be difficult not to have a pang of envy but, you really shouldn't. Nobody, and I mean nobody, starts out successful!  Everybody has to tread their own path and make their own mistakes.  Instead of feeling the tug of the green-eyed monster Read More


Seeing the Upside

After being self employed for nearly twenty years I've taken a few knocks since I started.  One client cancelled a job without warning and with a great deal of money owing.  It took two years, a truck load of cash and a lot of tears to finally see some of what they owed and then the little gain was wiped out in legal fees. There were a lot of  big lessons learnt from that but boy, were they hard ones.  Firstly, make sure you document everything. If there are changes to a contract or prices put it in writing. Read More


Macy

Out With The Old

I'm about to change my business!  I'm moving away from large scale florals and textiles to watercolour prints - like those that are featured weekly on my blog.  The reason is simple - I can no longer hold a paint brush or a crochet hook for very long and this makes producing items for sale impossible.  Four years ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I didn't tell anyone but close friends and family at first. Denial played a big part in that as well as not wanting to talk about illness (yuk - boring!). Read More


Macy

Everyday Glories

When you're running a business the to-do list is never finished. There's always something else to do. When you're continually focused on what's next it can be easy to forget about taking some appreciation for the everyday things.  People always talk about stopping to smell the roses and there's something to be said for being able to do this in business as well as in life in general. Read More


Macy

When You're in a Rut

During the last few weeks I've talked about finding the joy in the everyday and how to feel the love for your business.  Maybe I've jinxed myself because since then I've been hit with a big case of the blahs.  Normally, I find writing my blog to be pretty easy and straight-forward as well as enjoyable.  I pick my topic and off I go.  Rambling down the page until I feel like I've said what I want.  Then I go back and trim out all the bits that I don't need (there's always lots of that!), I find some images I like, have a final proofread and save the document ready for publishing. Read More


Macy

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

If you read last weeks blog you'll know I was struggling to write and, I threatened that if the drought continued you would only have pictures this week! Read More


Macy

Swimming with Mermaids

Running a business can be serious business. You can't turn up to a deliver a sales pitch or meet a new client and behave like a joker. That's not to say that it can't be fun. There's nothing wrong with letting your joy and enthusiasm shine.  In fact you definitely want people to feel your passion for your business - it's one of the great things about working with small businesses and their owners. Read More


Macy

Contradicting Yourself

A lot of small business owners are solopreneurs or operate with a very small number of staff. That's great for keeping your finger on the pulse as to what's happening with your business but, it also means that you're usually juggling more than one role. You might be the receptionist at one point during the day, the IT department at another time, the social media strategist, design and production team and, maybe even, the boss. Read More


Macy

Where Inspiration Lives

I have often had people ask me where I get my inspiration from. I find this a hard question to answer because it can come from virtually anywhere. When I'm taking photos I can't help but be inspired by where I live.  Around Brisbane's Bayside is so beautiful. The changing colours of the water and the sky, the serenity of Moreton Bay., even my local neighbourhood is lovely.  The changing plants and colours as the seasons change, the local parks, the sunset from my front garden! But I don't even have to leave the house to be inspired Read More


Macy

Simplify

There's a lot to do when you run a business but have you ever thought about whether you need to do all the things you do?  When we first started in business I used to spend countless hours doing budgets and forecasts.  Laying them out on huge spreadsheets and making sure I left room for the countless changes that would affect the results I was trying to predict.  I don't do that anymore.  None of it. The only thing I do is set up a cashflow spreadsheet. I have a pretty good idea when each of our customers is going to pay as they're now all long term Read More


Macy

In It For The Long Haul

I've talked before about how long I've been self -employed (nearly twenty years) and after a recent conversation someone said 'You'd probably never want to work for anyone else now!' That's probably true. After twenty years you get used to the ups and downs of being your own boss. The joy (and sometimes stress) of taking the big decisions and setting up your work life to suit yourself.

That then got me to thinking what it really takes to be working for yourself for that length of time. Read More


Macy

Bold and Strong

When you first start in business you're keenly aware of how little you know.  Everybody else seems more experienced, more knowledgeable, more confident and definitely more successful.  As women I think we're also prone to downplaying our fabulousness. We don't want to appear too pushy or conceited and we certainly don't want to be seem to be bragging. All of this combines so that many businesswomen end up hiding their shining lights under a bushel. Read More


Macy

Mountain Climbing

There's an old saying 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.' It's easy to dismiss old sayings as trite and hackneyed but they're old because their meaning remains relevant over time.  And that's the case with this one.  Even if you've been in business for a while sometimes the amount of things to do can seem overwhelming but, there's a simple way to overcome this - just do the next thing! Take the next step,  Read More


Macy

Applause Please

I've talked a bit recently about finding the joy in your work and taking the time to celebrate the good moments but have you really got a way in which you mark and celebrate the milestones and achievements of your business? Every year we celebrate our birthday. We mark another year on earth, we may have cake, have drinks, gather with friends and family or even have a party. For milestone birthdays we may take a trip or have a really big party.  We do these things in celebration and commemoration  Read More


Macy

What really Matters

It's been a really strange few weeks. I was lucky enough to spend the last few weeks overseas visiting family and friends. Which was lovely, and hard. Lovely because we get to see each other all too rarely and hard because some of them are sick. The thing that struck me time and time again was that all of the things that really matter are often the things we take for granted. Having a laugh with people that you love and that love you back, the joy of good health, just catching up with a cup of tea, having a chat with people who know all of your messy history. Read More


Macy

Where I Blog

One of the best tools I ever bought for my business was an iPad. I was reluctant to get one at first, believing that it was just a larger version of my iPhone.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  

There are many times when I will use the iPad more than I use my desktop iMac.  The main reason for this is portability. If I'm having a hard time with Rheumatoid Arthritis I can stay in bed and use it to check mail, edit photos and prints and, even write blogs.  If I'm stiffening up at the end of the day I can prop myself on the couch and work from there.  I can make and schedule Facebook posts or organise images for Instagram.  Read More


Macy

Dealing with the Grumps

After returning from holiday I've been hit with a bad case of the grumps. While some of it can be attributed to post-holiday blues, some of it is due to some stressful family issues like illness, some is due to work pressure and, some of it is due to lack of sleep.  

It doesn't matter what type of business you have there are going to be times when things are challenging.  Sometimes it's the business itself and sometimes it's from external factors.  I always get a bit stressed at the end of the financial year. Many of the things that need to be done are only done once a year so Read More


Macy

Business Spring Cleaning

Now that July is over and all of the end of financial year jobs are done (in Australia anyway), it's the time of year when I start to get that feeling of needing to have a good clean out.  As well as archiving and tax returns there's a lot of analysing and planning to do.

August is the perfect time to look not just how you ran things in the last financial year but, how you ran things full stop.  Of course it's important to run the numbers.  How were your sales, your outgoings and your profits?

Where they more or less than over the same period the year before.  Did you have any major unforeseen expenditure?  Do you need to adjust your cashflow budgets for the coming year?  Can you give yourself a pay rise going forward?  Read More


Macy

Weathering the Storm

It doesn't matter how organised you are or how professionally you run your business there are going to be times when things don't go as planned.  It may be that you forget a vital payment, miss a deadline or something goes awry with a staff member.  How things have been messed up is important to note so that you can look at whether you need to change your procedures to ensure the mistake is not repeated.But what's equally important is that you have a good procedure to deal with any problems.  

We have a no blame policy for accidents so that if something happens staff will report it without  Read More


Macy