I'm really not a cold climate person but I do love the cooler months for one reason - pulling out my winter classics and revamping the wardrobe with the addition of some new season pieces. Actually, I am pretty partial to a glass of vino rosso in front of a raging fire so better make it two reasons!

I do love the simplicity of summer - I have made dresses in all lengths my summer staple. If I had to pick a favorite season it would definitely be summer - you can't go past the fact that it takes 5 seconds to throw on a dress and you're done, it's a no brainer. I do however love dressing for the cooler months as you can pull together a smarter, more polished style. Oh, and let's not forget the fabulous array of winter accessories, scarves, hats, and gloves that enable a real sense of individuality to shine, I just love it!

 

In my last post I explained why I started my own business and mentioned I would expand upon the lessons learnt from Red Ribbon Gifts. Today I will share some of those with you.

It's a little cliche but my small business has taught me to trust my instincts. If you think something is a bit dodge then it probably is. Often you are dealing with outsourced "experts" who can easily take advantage of you. Do your research then do some more. Lean their language so they can't walk all over you. Back yourself and never be afraid to ask a silly question.

You do need to do lots of research before taking the plunge into the world of small business however you need to draw the line somewhere. You will never really know if your big idea is going to become a big success if you never give it a go. So, arm yourself with adequate knowledge, put your floaties on and dive in. Trust me, it's sink or swim baby.

When I really sit back and think what else I have learnt - patience comes to mind.  Many (successful) small business owners and corporate types advised me before I started this gig that it would take a good couple of years before I made any money. At the time I was like, yeah whatever, bring it own. But when you are actually living that out, it can seem like forever. Especially if you work part time like I do to support yourself and/or family whilst your business grows, it's going to take even longer. So be patient!

When I reflect on the last couple of years it feels like I have been going for twice as long. Your own business can become all consuming which can make you feel like you have been working a lot harder and longer than you really have. As with everything in life, balance is essential. The easiest way to find work / life balance is to get organised. That may mean you first of all need to tidy and organise your work environment. When you have a handle on that it's time to organise your time. Which brings me to my next point.

One of the best lessons I learnt I learnt from my husband who lucky for me is a financial planner and has a great mind for business. That lesson was to set out a road map for my business by establishing my goals and how I was going to achieve them. I call it 90 day planning. Initially we sat down and I set out my 3 year goals for the business which we broke down into 12 month goals and then quarterly goals. Every quarter I evaluate what I have achieved and what I haven't. I then look at what I need to do over the next 90 days to achieve my 12 monthly goals. I break my tasks down into those that are "business as usual" such as bookkeeping or my monthly newsletter and "project" such as expanding a particular product range. I set out these tasks into my daily diary. Taking the time to do this every 90 days reinvigorates and motivates me to strive towards success.

Speaking of success, I want to make the final point that failure of your business does not mean you are a failure as a person. There are so many variables that can affect your business, some things are just way out of your control. You can count yourself a success just for having the balls to take the plunge into the world of small business ownership.

Feel free to comment on any valuable lessons you have learned from starting your own small business or comment on those above!

Sometimes I sit and wonder how the hell I got myself into the business of running a small business. I can't believe I actually took the plunge and turned our pipe dream into a reality. I say "our" pipe dream as the original idea for this business was actually my husband's.

We were living in a reginal NSW at the time in a town I totally despised - it's only saving grace was the fact that it was an hour away from my home town and my (compared to the yokel locals) nice and normal friends and family. I'm sure the majority of the town's inhabitants lead very happy lives, it just did nothing for me at the time. The only reason we were there was for my husband's work. It was a compromise - we had to do our time and then we could move to beautiful Brisvegas.

Whilst living in "Yokelsville" my husband found it really hard to find birthday gifts for me that I would a) like and b) use. I would like to think that I am an easy going kinda gal who would be the happy recipient of anything her desperate husband gave her but I'm pretty sure husband would tell you differently. To be fair, it was slim pickings in Yokesville and I guess I was never going to be happy with a cheap bottle of Eau De Pharmacie Locale. Yikes, as if!

So Husband (who is annoyingly gifted in the intelligence department - seriously I'm not sure if I've won an argument in five years, not that I would ever tell him that) decided that there had to be an easier way for guys to get their hands on a decent gift for their lady friend, especially those living in regional areas. Bing! Online gift store. Problem solved. The more husband talked about this great idea the more intrigued I became.

I was studying externally at the time so had plenty of time to look into this life saver for men that was going to change my life. The more research I did into the online business, the more convinced I became it was a good idea. I was never deluded, I knew it was going to take a lot of hard work. Several successful people told me that it was going to take at least two years before I could even think about making money. I was fine with that. Bring it on small business world. But until you actually delve into a venture, you never really know what it's going to take.

We decided that if after a couple of years it wasn't working we would cut our losses and move on.  Fast forward a couple of years and I am still here. It's been a hell of a ride and there have been several lessons learned along the way. Next time I will share some of those lessons with you.

Photo courtey of Neezygfx

New Deal For Purchase Of Calvin Klein

What has been whispered behind closed doors for some time has now emerged as one of the largest fashion mergers in memory.

PVH Corporation, owners of labels including Kenneth Cole, Calvin Klein and Arrow has announced it is adding Tommy Hilfiger to its impressive portfolio.

And they only had to pay around $3 billion for the privilege.

Click here to read more

All That Is Grunge Is Gold Again

If you were ever looking for proof that fashion trends come back again eventually, it can be seen in the recent resurgence of 'slacker chic' on catwalks around the world.

While the style may be grunge, there is a more elegant twist on it this time around as the functional, minimalist street style makes a comeback.

Click here to read more

New Fashion Site Added To Mediaite's Growing Empire

Dan Abrams has expanded into the fashion news realm with the launch of the latest site in his Mediaite group.

Styleite is the Mediaite family’s venture into fashion journalism, with a little edge and pop culture stirred in. The site covers all the latest industry news and combines fashion analysis with the latest news.

Click here to read more

Well hello there. My name is Kate and this is my first blog entry. I'm a little intimidated - I don't like being judged. What if someone actually reads this? If someone actually reads this then they will judge me and that's intimidating. It could, I suppose, be a fantastic form of therapy. It could also cost me years on the couch. The things one will do for their small business!

So why am I doing this? I started my online business a couple of years ago and apparently this should help out with my Google rankings as well as the obvious, assist in the promotion of my business.
Honest? Yes. Stick around, there will be more of that.

It won't all be shameless promotion of my business - way too boring - I will mix things up along the way. A little about me and a little about the things I love - my family, friends, food, fashion and whatever else just so happens to grab my attention at the time.

I figure it's best to kick start this thing with a little background info. It's tempting to paint a completely different picture - a more glamorous jazzed up version of me but there's the honesty factor. Couldn't do it, or more accurately, I couldn't do it for long. So we are running with the less glamorous, jazzed down version - me!

I'm in my late 20s staring down the barrel of my 30s. When I was a kid I used to imagine myself as a powerful business type, sporting a killer suit in the style of Balmain (who knew power shoulders would come full circle?) and driving a flashy car. That didn't really pan out but I think all I really wanted as a kid was to improve on the standard of living that my parents had. No disrespect to my parents. They did a great job. They both worked full time and bloody hard, in fact they still do. I just think most generations aspire to a greater level than the previous generation. Whether it's a greater level of wealth or a greater level of spiritual understanding I think we always want more. It's our driving force.

I could bang on about my childhood and adolescence but it was pretty stock standard and to be honest (again) I mostly like nutshell versions. Give me the detail not the drama. My nutshell goes a little something like this . . .

One of four kids, country town. I liked school. I was no genius but I could and did work hard. My school friends are still some of my closest. I went to Uni on and off over the years changing courses a couple of times. I still have a few subjects to go to finish my Communications degree. I will finish it. I have traveled mostly throughout Europe and the UK. I have worked hard in different industries. I never really knew what I wanted to do. Sometimes I think I still don't know. All I knew was that I wanted to work for myself. And that's what I'm doing. So that's pretty cool.

When you are searching for the perfect birthday presents for women, there are a number of questions that you can ask yourself to make the process easier.

The answers to these questions will help you narrow down your choices so instead of being frustrated and lost for inspiration, you'll have a target group of gift ideas to work with and then you'll simply be able to make your choice from this selection of gifts.

So what are these questions?

Well the first one is financial - how much are you willing to spend? You need to be realistic here - if you don't have the money to spend on expensive jewellery, don't torture yourself into trying to find her a birthday present that you can't afford to buy.

Instead focus on finding something of high quality within your own price range.

The second question is 'What hints has she dropped lately?' or possibly 'What has she broken lately (accidentally of course)'.

If you can think of something she mentioned being interested in, or if you know there is something she desperately needs then this is always a good place to start.

If you can't remember hearing her mention anything, maybe ask a friend or a family member if they know of anything she might like for her birthday..

The third question has to do with her interests - what does she do for fun, what are her hobbies or interests, what does she have a passion for?

Thinking about her interests can get the ball rolling for you in terms of coming up with some great ideas for birthday presents for women.

Maybe she loves her fashion and is always looking for some unique accessories to match her outfits. If so you will want to consider such  things as designer handbags, or maybe some crystal earrings.

Or she could be more of an outdoors person who loves adventurous activities.

In this case you may want to look at a gift certificate from one of the adventure websites like Red Balloon Gifts, or Total Experience.

So hopefully these tips will help get your creative juices started as you continue to search for unique birthday presents for women.

In the end you can't really go wrong if you've at least put some thought into and found her a gift that you thought she'd really appreciate.

There has been plenty of coverage in the media over the past week or so about online security and scams.

The techniques, strategies and technologies being used by these scammers are becoming more sophisticated making it increasingly difficult to detect the real deal from the scam.

I just thought I'd list a couple of email scams that I or my friends have come across in recent times in the hope that they can help you identify potential problems before it is too late.

Common Email Scams

In the past these were fairly easy to detect - the obvious ones were the email from someone in Nigeria telling you that you had inherited a bucket load of money and just needed to confirm some details and the money would be all yours.

However over the past few months a new form of email scam has become common and it leverages off of some recognised brands like UPS and Facebook.

The two that I've heard of are related to these particular organisations, but the scam is the same so it would apply equally to emails from any official sounding person from a recognised company.

The one from UPS states that they were unable to deliver a parcel to your house as you were away, and attached is a zip file that contains your tracking number so that you can pick the item up.

The second is an email from facebook saying for security reasons they had to reset your password and they have sent you a new one...in a zip file.

Sensing a theme here?

Be very wary of any email from a brand name business that has an attached zip file. This zip file could contain anything, but it is common for it to contain a program that attaches itself to your computer and becomes very hard to get rid of.

The cunning thing about this particular program is that it is actually a fake security program and continually alerts you to security problems on your computer. To 'fix' these problems you need to buy the 'full version' of their software.

The pop-ups are regular and annoying and the sales page for the software looks very convincing so I could imagine people paying the thirty or forty dollars to get rid of their security problems.

Of course then they have your credit card details and its game over.

So don't open any zip files unless you know who the file is from. especially avoid those from brand name businesses - there's no way they would send you this type of file so delete them straight away.

If you read this and you've come across any similar scams feel free to list them below.