Love from, Florence Grace

It's the 1st of June today, which means that two years ago today, I officially launched my business- my magazine, Love from... magazine . I can not  believe that it's been two years! Two whole years since I held that first published copy of Issue 1 in my hands and thought, this is it. This is what I want to do. Of course, in my head I had my doubts- who doesn't when they're setting up their own business? And so it seems like a huge  deal to have reached this two year milestone.  I can't lie and tell you that it's been a smooth, easy journey. It hasn't. I've been so busy trying to grow and evolve the magazine that I've had to pour in more money than I was often making, I've altered the price up and down, the page numbers, the layout, I've taken on writers, lost some then taken on more, I've lost endless hours of sleep pouring over page layouts and I've stressed over printing faults and late delivery... ...yet here I am. Two ...

This last week I have felt majorly deflated about my business. My business being, my magazine, Love from...  I absolutely love  running my own magazine. I love putting the pages together, interviewing people who deserve to be put in the spotlight, getting together with my writers and deciding who should be our cover star and, best of all, holding the finished product in my hands. Its an amazing feeling.  But at the moment, none of that really seems...well. Worth it.  Let's start with the first issue, the biggest issue of all; money. I don't make any  money from my magazine. In fact, it cost me just shy of £400 to produce one of the issue previously, and while not all issues are that expensive to produce, you get the gist of how much I'm spending. Add in the fact that there are no adverts in the magazine as of yet and that I give away the magazine for free  plus have to pay for stamps and envelopes and you can only imagine how much m...

 Feeling great. I'm running my own business. I'm my own boss. I'm awesome. Go me. Damn it's hard being my own boss. So much to do. Let me watch another episode of Gossip Girl first. Yay! Someone has bought something! Money in the bank like ch-ching biatch! I'm so rich right now. Ugh my expenses are way more than my profit. Can I claim the money back for excessive wifi usage??? Why is nothing going right? I should be the next Zuckerburg right now omg. UGH I JUST WANT TO GIVE UP. Give me a job in retail any day of the week. Sits in horrible slump for the next week. Because honestly, what's the point? I'm going to end up penniless, homeless and alone.  OOH something good has happened. Cue positive email, something being bought or some great customer feedback etc. YAY. All is well again. And repeat.  Love from, Florence Grace Like this? Why not try... 10 things you...

Working from home has it's major advantages- but it's not all sunshine and rainbows ! I have a few jobs, so I currently work part time from home, running Love from... magazine and as a freelance journalist, and then I work part time in nurseries and at my local Topshop. I love the balance I have, but sometimes there are days when I wished I worked fully out of the house and days where I wished I worked fully from home, and very often I'm also hit with "you're so lucky getting to work from home!"- so I thought I'd share the pro's and con's of working from home with you!  PRO'S. - You can have lie in's, it doesn't matter when you wake up and start working because you're your own boss! - Similarly, you can stay up as late as you like, working through the night if you choose because, again, you have no set time to wake up in the morning. - You can work from your bed- amazing, right? - You can cuddle your...

Nowadays it's easier than ever to try and start your own business. Everyday people create online stores selling easily designed goods thanks to sites such as Vista Print, where you can bulk buy unique products and personalise them with ease for a pretty decent rate. Of course, not all businesses survive, because whilst it's easier than ever to start a business, it hasn't really got any easier to run one. I run a business myself, my magazine "Love from...", and I can tell you it is far  from easy. People never understand the situation you're in as an entrepreneur, so I've compiled a list to help you out. Show this to anyone who questions your motives or just "doesn't get it". Here's 10 things you'll only know if you're an entrepreneur.  1) You don't always get to quit your job straight away. Whilst you want your job to be your main career and your main source of income, it's definitely not always possible for...