Month: March 2025

We all feel energised as the days get longer and the sun comes out. And if you’ve ever thought about working for yourself, why not use this positivity to make it happen?

In this blog, we look at the benefits of working for yourself and what support there is to help you.

Why should you choose working for yourself?

There are loads of great reasons to set up on your own. We meet a lot of business owners and we’ve learned that each one has a specific reason that made them decide to run their own business.

Flexibility

Many business owners found that being tied down to a nine-to-five schedule just didn’t work for them. Some wanted to enjoy more time with their children (they grow up so quick!), while others had caring responsibilities for family members. Others wanted to have time for hobbies and interests – there’s more to life than work!

Values

Another big group of self-employed people are those who have a clear set of values that they didn’t feel the corporate world embodied. They love their sector, but they recognised independence would offer them more of a chance to share their skills in the way that felt right to them.

Challenge

Other people simply love a challenge! Working for yourself is full of challenges, but the knowledge that you are behind every one of your business’s achievements is exceptionally satisfying. If you’re stuck in a rut and not taking your best self to work every day, it could be time to do it differently.

Working for yourself – what do you need?
Budget

Start by working out your budget. Obviously, you will need to consider business costs – remember that even home-based businesses will need a website and hosting. You also need to work out personal expenses. Look at your monthly outgoings like mortgage repayments and car finance, and work out what you need to earn to cover them.

Business plan

Your business plan maps out what you offer and how you will grow. It’s an important document – you will need to show it to the bank if you apply for a business loan. And if you want to connect with investors or form a partnership, the other people involved will want to see it.

Registration for self-assessment

You need to register for self-assessment so you pay the right tax on the amount your business has earned.

Record keeping

Businesses need to record their income and outgoings, as well as customer and client information, and details of products and services. You might think you’ll remember but trust us, you won’t (sorry!). You will also need to provide financial records to HMRC so these need to be accurate and accessible.

Support for new businesses

Fortunately, there is loads of support out there. From online guides to writing business plans to plain English guides to registering your business, any new entrepreneur can find what they need to get started on the UK government website.

Fill your skills gaps with outsourcing

If you love the idea of starting your own business but you’re worried about financial records, tax and invoicing, you’re not alone. In our experience of supporting business owners, we’ve seen that finance is the number one area of difficulty. Not feeling confident about finance means maths (yikes!), getting to grips with invoicing software, praying you’re doing your tax return properly and having to admit you’re not actually Alan Sugar.

But it doesn’t have to be scary. The good news is that you can outsource almost anything you don’t know how to do yourself. Finance, tax and admin are some of Get Ahead’s most popular services, with our admin assistants, accountants and bookkeepers all on hand to provide what you need quickly and accurately.

Get Ahead also supports businesses with writing business plans, as well as creating websites and managing social media – all great ways to get your business out there.

If it’s time you started working for yourself, remember that Get Ahead are here to help. All our services are fully flexible and we don’t tie you into long contracts. Whether you need just a few hours’ support to get you started, or monthly help with invoice reconciliation, our virtual experts are ready to meet your needs. Check out our site to find out more, or follow us on social media.

Self-care isn’t selfish – 4 self-care tips for business owners

While we all know that self-care isn’t selfish, it can be very difficult to put the maxim into practice. While we know we should take care of ourselves, we don’t prioritise ourselves as often as we should, even when our lives and work start to suffer. Whether we’re busy with other responsibilities or just feel guilty about it, many of us feel we don’t have time for self-care.

Fortunately, help is at hand! For this blog, we caught up with Virtual Assistant Rachel who has some great ideas for freeing up time and being good to ourselves.

Over to Rachel…

Why is self-care for business owners important?

Rachel: When you work on your own, as many business owners do, it’s very easy to slip into bad habits of eating badly and not taking breaks, stopping you from being your best self. In turn, this can reduce your productivity and adversely impact your business. However, when we look after ourselves, we look after our businesses too. When we see how much our businesses benefit after we’ve had break, and how much better we feel for making healthy choices, we always wonder why we aren’t kinder to ourselves!

In my experience as a VA, one of the biggest ways that I’ve helped business owners is to allow them to take time out for themselves. When you manage your time well, and outsource the tasks that make you feel stressed, you’ll work more effectively. In turn, this can help you to reach your business goals and reap the rewards of your hard work.

What are your top self-care tips for business owners?
  1. Make time

Rachel: The first one is to make more time for yourself. Only when you’ve got time to think can you evaluate how you’re using what time you have.  Time is one of the few things you can never get back…but you can maximise the way you use it.

There are a number of ways to create time in your day! Recognise when you’re no longer being productive. Be honest – if you’re closing a spreadsheet to check your social media, you’re no longer working effectively. Instead of scrolling TikTok, why not use your break to do a YouTube yoga session or walk round the block?

Even if you’re a workaholic, you still need to take breaks. Outsourcing is your friend – check out the Get Ahead quiz to see what jobs are robbing you of your time and getting in the way of self-care. These are the jobs you could delegate to someone else, giving you some free time for yourself. It’s a worthwhile investment, believe me – everyone is more productive after a break.

  1. Fit in regular self-care

Rachel: Once you know you can find more hours in your week, decide how you will use them and stick to it. Choose a time from your new, calmer diary and enrol on an adult learning course or make a regular date with a friend to exercise together. If your colleagues and family get to know your new timetable, they’re less likely to interrupt it. You might find it easier to stick to a new self-care regime if you have a class or a friend relying on you; going it alone is pure self-discipline.

  1. Don’t stress about setbacks

Rachel: Don’t stop caring for yourself just because illness or a tight deadline got in the way of your regular timetable. If you’re having an exceptional week, there are still quick exercises you can do to restore yourself. You could take a moment of mindfulness at your desk, focusing on each of the five senses in turn to ground you in the present moment instead of worrying about the next step. Take a moment of fresh air or try a relaxing breathing exercise – find what works for you and add it to your toolkit.

  1. See the wider benefits

Rachel: When you’re feeling more in control of your time, you’ll start to feel like you can control other areas of your life too. I’m sure you know that when we’re stressed, we often eat badly and have difficulty sleeping. We snap at our families and don’t always make the right decisions. But when we reduce that stress through better time management, we can change all of those negatives into positives. The result is a healthy, happy, productive time both at work and in our personal lives.

Virtual PA services – self-care isn’t selfish

If Rachel’s wise words have got you thinking about how you could improve your self-care, Get Ahead would love to hear from you. In addition to virtual PA services to free up your time, our experienced team can also provide support with marketing, HR, recruitment, finance and more. Follow us on LinkedIn to learn more about us or contact your local regional director to get started.