A Creative Lifestyle Blog By Zoe-Lee Skelton

The Creative’s Guide to Starting a Small Business

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It’s the freedom that many of us dream of. Whether it’s being liberated from the confines of a 9 to 5 pattern, having a better work-life balance or eliminating a tiresome commute – many of us dream of using our creative skills to set up a small business. It could be the satisfaction of seeing an artistic vision come to life, or of building a company that operates by your personal ethics. Perhaps you’re just a dreamer with a sketchpad and a big idea. But where on earth do you get started running your own creative business? Well, it could be a lot easier than you think.

Figure Out a Business Plan

The best small businesses start up with a strong vision. You need to figure out exactly what product you are making, who it’s for and how you will spread the word before anything else. Don’t be put off by this – a business plan can be a creative thing in itself – just take a look at The Right-Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success. The plan will constitute your main ‘sell’ to investors, and keep you on track with your goals clearly in mind. Use it as a place to define what your business will stand for, and what needs you’ll help to meet for people. You should review the plan regularly as the company develops, Keeping the end in sight is important when you’re first starting out.

Choose a Name

Coming up with a name for your creative venture is the fun part, but it can also be surprisingly hard. What best expresses you and the change you want to make in the world? Picking something concise and memorable can help your marketing efforts later down the line. Remember to check on Companies House and Google to be sure that it’s not taken by another company before falling in love with something. It’s also worth thinking about the social media handles you want to use and seeing if these are also free. As social media is a great zero-to-low-cost marketing tool for small businesses, this can be critical.

Find a Source of Investment

Most businesses require some start-up funds – but in the case of running your own small creative company, they are usually fairly minimal. List out all the equipment that you will need to get started to work out how much capital you need. Then find a source – a lot of people with small outlays can use savings, or ask friends and family for a small loan. If you’re a homeowner, you may also be able to look at homeowner loans, which is better for your credit rating than an unsecured loan from the bank. Or you can turn to crowdfunding if you have an idea that you think will appeal to a lot of people.

Create an Online Presence

Word of mouth and online recommendations are definitely the way a small creative business without a big advertising budget can get noticed. Setting up a website or blog to speak about your intentions is a lovely organic way of creating a platform you can then introduce your products from. Similarly, curating a beautiful Instagram feed or finding and joining relevant Twitter parties can really spread the word about it. Think laterally about how you can use your products. If you have beautiful illustrations, will you offer them as prints, greetings cards, t-shirts, phone covers? Social media can be useful for getting opinions before investing in getting a product created.

But don’t forget about online market places such as Etsy, Folksy, Red Bubble and Society6. These are all places you can sell your wares and will almost immediately introduce you to millions of engaged shoppers. I currently have an Etsy store for my accessories side project and have found it to be extremely useful at getting my products seen and making sales!

Reach Out to Other Creatives

The best part of launching a small business is the community. So get to know other, like-minded creatives and see where it takes you. You could find a mentor or a collaborator, or just get some genius tips to help you along the way. Reach out to people operating in related areas – if you are a writer, could you pair with a small graphic designer to create something unique? There are always areas where small businesses can help each other out, gain exposure and save on costs – another area where your creating thinking skills can help!

Sort Out Your Tax

It’s essential not to get stung in the future by not having set your tax arrangements up properly, so start off on the right note by registering with HMRC as a sole trader. You aren’t required to have a separate business account at this stage, but its advisable to keep good records. There’s lots of free invoicing software that you can use, even from your smartphone, so keep a clear record of any income.

Enjoy embracing your creative freedoms and fulfilling your potential!

 

*This is a collaborative post

Filed Under: Art

3 Reasons to Embrace Houseplants

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When it comes to having a home as ecologically friendly, emotionally uplifting, and close to nature as viably possible, houseplants are an indispensable part of the equation.

Whether you go for a looming Areca indoor palm or a modest bunch of potted lilies on the mantelpiece, there are an incredible array of benefits to welcome some foliage into your home.

Here’s a quick look at a few of them.

They purify the air

Everyone knows that plants breathe in CO2 and breath out oxygen. This, in itself, can contribute to the air in your home feeling fresher and more rejuvenating.

The story doesn’t end there, however. Not by a long shot. In addition to clearing CO2, houseplants also have the ability to tackle and neutralise a wide range of other pollutants commonly found in stagnant air pockets around the home.

In fact, you might be surprised to learn that NASA (yes, that NASA) has conducted extensive research on indoor plants for just that reason, in the form of the NASA Clean Air Study. The results of which demonstrate that houseplants can be effective in removing, among other things, contaminants such as benzene and formaldehyde from the air.

The top most effective plants in the study, for the purpose of air purification, were; (1) Garden Mum, (2) Spider Plant, (3) Dracaena, (4) Ficus, (5) Peace Lily.

The only thing you need to be mindful of is that some plants generate more moisture than others. In order to prevent an unexpected mould problem, be selective about which plants you place where. Rooms with good heating systems in place, such as those available from https://www.bathroomtakeaway.co.uk/heating/towel-rails/electric-towel-rails, are the best candidates for the most rainforest-like bits of undergrowth.

They boost your mood

The health benefits of plants are by no means restricted to their ability to purify the air. They can also have a tremendously positive effect on the mental and emotional wellbeing of anyone in the vicinity.

Studies have shown that even just being able to see a tree through the window of a hospital recovery room results in faster recovery times and better mood outcomes for patients.

And while the exact reasons for this phenomenon are unclear, there’s something undeniably life-affirming about having a living part of mother nature nearby at any given time, as a reminder that we’re connected to the tides and beauty of the natural world around us.

They serve as a great ornamental feature

The global fascination with botany, of course, has at least as much to do with the fact that we like the way plants look as it does with the fact that we like the way they make us feel. With the incredible array of different types of houseplants available on the market — featuring every colour of the rainbow, every size, aroma, and shape of plant imaginable — there’s nothing to stop you finding the houseplant that’s a perfect aesthetic match for your own style sensibilities.

Houseplants, as well being a living health aid, are a natural, vibrant ornament, with the ability to set off any room and add a touch of vigour, or a dash of colour, to otherwise drab surroundings.

Sketchbook Tour: Skulls and Flowers

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I’ve realised that I rarely share any of my drawings on this blog. I tend to use Instagram to share art as it’s so much easier to capture the mood and compose what I’m currently working on. So for a change, I’ve uploaded some photos of finished / work in progress / unfinished drawings from my sketchbooks.

Here they are, unedited, rubbed out pencil markings and all.

Two skulls, 2016

Owl be watching you, 2015

Unfinished, from a still life photograph, 2017

Sheep skull with roses, unfinished, 2017

Kestrel skull, 5 minute sketch, 2017

 

I think I’ve been reluctant to share my work on the blog because the resolution is so much bigger than Instagram and I worry that every imperfection will be critiqued. But unless I do share these drawings here they’ll continue to be hidden within my sketchbook which is never my intention. I want to display my art to see how my skill changes and improves.

Sharing work is an important part of gathering feedback and I need to learn to not fear this.

 

Filed Under: Art

Tips For Making Your Dinner Party Perfect

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It’s now got to that time in the year where the nights are drawing in, and those cold winter evenings don’t make you want to venture out at all, so you start to think about entertaining yourself at home. And while there are plenty of box sets to get stuck into, why don’t you have a dinner party instead? It’s a great way to have friends over, it is fun, and of course, it is cheaper than your average night out by a long way! So here are some ideas to make your home a staging area for a fantastic dinner party.

Get The Basics Right

This has to be a priority, do you have guests that have specific dietary requirements. For example, are they allergic to nuts? It’s a good idea to check this before you make a meal with satay sauce, but also think about the cooking implements you have. It’s always handy to invest in a good quality non-stick frying pan; not least it won’t result in your food, and your guests’ food, having bits of black in their meal. People cannot get by without the basic cooking tools, and this will make life a lot easier, and less stressful, when you are trying to entertain while also cooking your meal.

Should You Splash Out?

Yes new furniture can be expensive, but if it’s for a purpose like a dinner party, you will end up using the furniture as much as possible, which is how you are going to save money over time by not going out socializing, having people over will be the new “going out” for you. There are suppliers like Corndell furniture who supply furniture of different sizes. It’s also a great way of giving your space a bit more style, but if there are issues when it comes to storing items, for example, if you just have things piling up everywhere, you may want to invest in a matching sideboard. It looks great, and it helps tidy items away.

Picking Your Guests

You may think that it’s a simple solution, but if you want an entertaining evening, not one that can be painful and boring, you’ve got to pick the right people who are a right match. If you want to have a good laugh, it can be very difficult in an intimate setting if there is one person who is somewhat awkward, or isn’t as integrated socially as others. While you can spend a lot of time focusing on the conversation to make it flow, it is something just to be aware of in case you are inviting people over that you don’t know particularly well.

The Small Touches Make Big Impacts

Think about the ambience, so things like music. Do you plan on having soft jazz or a more upbeat choice of music? The lighting is another thing to think about; if you have a dimmer switch this can help, but also are you planning on having candles instead of overhead lights to add to that more intimate setting? Also, if there are wine drinkers, you may want to think about pairing the wine with your choice of food. These are little things that will be remembered, and will inspire others to host their own dinner parties, and invite you over, which will save you a bit of money!

A dinner party is a great way to entertain, and it’s the great approach to making the most of a dining space.

 

Winter Hand Care With Defensil Dry Skin Rescue Serum

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Cracked knuckles? Scaling fingers? Dry skin that splits and bleeds? Yep, this is the state my hands are in most of the time thanks to my obsessive hand washing. And the cold weather only makes them worse if I don’t moisturise.

But recently, I’ve found that I can’t use any old moisturiser on my poor hands. Anything with alcohol makes my skin dryer. Sodium Laurel Sulfate is my new nemesis (if it’s in toothpaste my throat gets so sore) and toiletries with a long list of ingredients that I can’t pronounce tends to cause dry patches of skin anywhere they’re applied.

So whilst I’m not going to cut down the number of times I wash my hands during the day because GERMS and lackluster hygiene from those around me, I do need to increase the number of times I apply hand moisturiser. Especially now that the cold weather has set in.

I’ve recently tried out Defensil which has been developed in the Swiss Alps to combat extremely dry skin experienced by those living at high altitudes as well as for those who suffer from eczema. I tend to find that anything that’s been developed to moisturise skin that’s exposed to rugged conditions is usually pretty tough so I was keen to give this a go.

I’ve been using Defensil for a few weeks now and whilst I’m not going to say it’s a miracle cure, because any natural cream that I use on a regular basis keeps dryness under control, it has been soothing and quickly stopped dry skin spell turning into sores. AS LONG AS I’M STRINGENT WITH APPLYING IT.

The cream was created by Swiss scientists to help lock in moisture for winter skin prone to dryness and flaking, it contains a lot more natural ingredients than it does artificial, so I’m happy to continue using it. Doctors try to throw hydrocortisone creams at you as soon as you mention ‘dry skin’ which I’ve shied away from because they’re not safe for long term use.

However, efficacy trials against the standard hydrocortisone creams found that Defensil decreased skin sensitivity by almost 50% and skin dryness by 35% just 15 minutes after application. So if you’re looking to replace or cut down on your steroid cream, this could be an effective alternative.

If you’d like to try it, it’s available from the Skin Shop for £9.95