Author: Rachel

Batching Work Tasks: Why Themed Workdays Work

What Batching Work Tasks Actually Does

I used to try and cram any marketing into spare afternoons when I felt like it. I have discovered that my brain works best in the mornings. So any activities that don’t require creative thinking I do after lunch. Trying to come up with captivating social media posts when you’re not mentally on is not a recipe for success.

Now you may have read from me that I recommend themed work days. By that I don’t mean dressing up 😀. Instead batching work tasks to particular days to give you the time and space in your schedule to do specific jobs.

My recommendation of themed work days came from discovering the concept of Marketing Monday. This was absolute gold for me.

I am increasingly getting more introverted as I age, so I absolutely love starting my week with a no-client day. As I don’t love doing social media posts, having a day in which to just concentrate on doing those posts without anything else competing for my brain is a life saver. I would do a week’s worth of posts in that one day.

Then I had the realisation that I really needed to put more time into planning and doing more entrepreneurial work on my landscape business, not just working in it.

The Three Roles You Need to Wear

There are differing ‘hats’ or roles that we need to wear as business owners, especially as sole traders.

There is the role when we are the ones actually creating the product or service. This is often the inspiration for going into business in the first place. We may know how to build wonderful furniture or are great at party planning so we decide to go into business due having this knowledge and skill.

Operating solely in this role limits us to working IN our business. Working IN it is doing all the jobs necessary to bring in money. This is the design, measuring sites etc, the actual doing of the job.

The next hat or role necessary is that of Administrator. This role enables the wonderful furniture to be sold, invoiced, packaged and transported. It means the party planning business is advertised, quoted and invoiced. Without this role, money doesn’t flow in.

But for a business to flourish and grow, there is one other hat. That of the Entrepreneur. In his book The E-Myth, Michael Gerber refers to this person as the Visionary also.

This is working ON the business, not just IN it.

This role involves thinking of the big picture. Like where do I want this business to go, what are my goals, dreams and aspirations for this business. If you don’t spend any time and energy here, your business can continue to bring in money but there may not be growth, or even responding to events when necessary (think 2020).

How My Marketing Monday Evolved

Realising this, that while I need to work IN my business, I also need to work ON my business is when Marketing Monday morphed into something bigger.

Not only would I do the week’s social posts, but now I set aside some time to think about where I wanted this business to go. My husband would join me and we would spend 10 mins or so giving God the leadership in our business. We called it Marketing, Prayer and Planning.

We would meet for coffee at the beginning of our working day after seeing the kids off to school. Before any discussion re our schedules, we would pray and ask for guidance about this business’s possibilities. Then we would look over our diaries for the week and see what existing jobs we already had booked in. We’d discuss if we could fill any new landscaping jobs, check the weather etc. and contact clients to see if those days suited them. Once we sorted our weekly schedules, we would then talk about marketing, specifically what worked and what we needed to change. We also would chat about opportunities we could look into and ways we could advertise our business that we hadn’t done before.

Why Task-Switching Drains Your Energy

The research on task-switching is clear. Interruptions destroy focus and drain mental energy in a big way. And as mothers and busy women we are constantly getting interrupted and pulled in different directions. This damages our output. This is why themed work days work so well. They give you the ability to keep your focus on one thing until it is done. That’s the benefit of batching tasks. When you batch similar tasks, eg marketing and planning, or accounts and stock levels you give yourself the opportunity to stay in flow.

This isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s essential if you want to actually run your business with time to spare instead of just keeping it alive. Not only will your work be of a better quality, you will be so much more efficient with and in your time.

We often don’t have that much time to spare. So to do what we need to do at a more efficient rate is highly important and has huge impacts on our stress levels and our capacity to operate our own business.

How to Design Your Own Themed Workday

Have a look at your week. See if there is a day that is better suited for different tasks. As mentioned, I personally love starting my week with a no client day. Not only do I get on top of my marketing which can cause low level anxiety at the back of my brain if it doesn’t get done, but with the planning and prayer brought in, I get a great grip on my week and that bodes well for the rest of it.

As I get older I am learning more about myself and what works best for me. My creative brain is wonderful in the morning but after lunch, not so much. So I decided to only see clients after lunch as answering questions and going through landscape plans didn’t require creative thinking. I was just responding to questions. This was massive for me. Any design I did, I did in the mornings. Setting this rule – batching my creative work to the mornings and seeing clients in the afternoons has also made a massive impact on how I feel about working on my business.

Discover What Works For You

You’ll find that specific days lend well to being at home and concentrating on your admin etc. Once you factor in everything else, you will discover the right days (even just a morning or afternoon) for specific business tasks.

This frees up times to concentrate on other tasks and your brain will thank you.

Themed work days are just one piece. In my blog How to Structure Your Day when Running a Business from Home I cover 4 other productivity suggestions that work alongside batching your days.

Systems like themed workdays are how you actually make things happen. But they only work if you’re focused on the right things first. My free class shows you why most women approach starting backwards – and what to do instead. You’ll finish knowing exactly where to focus your energy and your concrete next step.

Sign up here.

July 22, 2026
How Much Money Do You Really Need to Start a Business?

Blooming Beautiful: Starting a Business With Almost No Money

When I was thinking about starting my first business, Blooming Beautiful, we were living with my parents. We had an 8 month old and my husband was at university getting his post graduate teaching diploma.

We did not have much spare money to invest in starting a business.

Through Blooming Beautiful I sold secondhand maternity clothes on behalf of other women.

My costs were:

Logo – mum helped me design it (free – outline of me pregnant with Ruby).

Advertisements -I printed them at the local Warehouse Stationery ($6 for ream of paper plus 10c a sheet for 4 ads each sheet).

I placed the ads at places like Plunket, kindergartens, and daycare centers (Free).

Clothing Racks (secondhand $40 x 2)

Mannequin (secondhand $50 approx)

It was an incredibly inexpensive business to start. Mostly the cost of paper (advertisements and tags). The ‘store’ was a spare room in our house.

My admin was a school maths book. The cost of goods sold was so low. We referred to it as our cash cow.

Lioness: When the Costs Step Up

My second business was Lioness. This was quite a different business. I designed and produced breastfeeding tops. Our tag line was “breastfeeding in public privately”

I was pregnant with our second child, our son Jack when I started Lioness. (This is me modelling with Jack)

The costs with this business were much higher:

Design of patterns – I have a Certificate in Pattern Making and Garment Assembly (free)

Material – bought by the metre from a warehouse in South Auckland

Cost of cutting material – dependent on quantity

Cost of sewing tops – dependent on quantity

Postage

Packaging

Labels

Advertising – Magazines & newspaper

Child Expo – we had a stall

Clothing Label tag

Website design

Website hosting

Our income per item was greater with the tops than the maternity clothes but the cost of goods sold was greater also.

We were in a position to put more money in this business, but each time, my personal comfort level was to always and only put in money that we could afford to lose, or if we lost it, our home life wasn’t in jeopardy at all.

Initially with Lioness we started with a smaller run, so limited material costs. I cut the first lot out myself although we still sent them to a professional seamstress.

We did some free giveaways to promote the business. I joined a radio giveaway to talk about it on the radio.

We sold these 2 businesses when we bought our first home and moved south of Auckland to Cambridge.

Once Upon A Garden: Investing in Setup, Keeping Running Costs Low

We had 2 more children in Cambridge and when my youngest was 3, I started thinking of another business. This time was different again. I retrained as a Landscape Designer and Once Upon A Garden Landscape Design was born.

For the fuller story read my blog: Your First Business Idea Doesn’t Have to Be Forever

I invested in this business more than my previous ones. (Approximate Figures)

SET UP COSTS

Retraining – Diploma of Landscape Design ($2500)

TurboCAD Software ($400)

Laptop (already had but have upgraded over the years)

Graphic Designer for Logo and Letterhead – $800

Vehicle Signage ($300)

T-shirts/Sweatshirt branded ($700)

Business cards and promotional material ($300)

ONGOING COSTS

Once the foundational costs were purchased, the costs of goods sold was very minimal.

Each design incurred a draft cost ($10)

Cardboard Tube packaging ($11)

Costs of final printing ($30-100)

Thank you chocolates and a card ($10)

With Once Upon A Garden, a deposit is paid from the client at the start of each job which well and truly covered any costs incurred by me, so the cost of goods sold with this one was very low.

The setup was higher here but they were one off costs and ongoing this business is very cheap to run.

So How Much Money Do You Need to Start a Business?

Depends on the business. For my first 2 businesses, I didn’t need cards but for some reason I thought I would for Once Upon A Garden. So I ordered a thousand. Turns out, my clients find me on social media etc. and when they find me , they don’t need a business card. (I still have a fair amount in my business cupboard in the garage).

We can easily assume we know what each business needs but I have learnt that is not always the case.

With Blooming Beautiful I advertised with physical photocopied homemade ads. Lioness was in magazines and newspapers and the radio. Once Upon A Garden is via social media and we have a website. Each one has different needs.

Ways to Keep Startup Costs Down

There are ways to lower the cost of a lot of items. Design your own logo on Canva, use an online printing business for your cards etc. and funnily enough check what you actually need before getting it. You can do your own bookkeeping, via Excel spreadsheets. I do all my accounts, get them as ready as possible then hand them to my accountant who usually spends just a couple of hours checking things. A lot of equipment can be bought secondhand then upgraded as and when you grow.

There are times to be lean and there are times to invest. Initially I did everything myself and only did free courses and learnt the slow way for sure.

And then when I was able, I bought the smaller courses and eventually bought the larger ones to buy time and someone else’s expertise.

So there is a time to be lean and when the situation allows, a time to seek help.

My One Rule for Investing in a Business

My approach with our finances for starting each business has stayed the same. Only invest money that we could live without. This relieved me of a lot of stress when starting these businesses. And when the opportunity arose as the business grew, I could invest more. This has worked wonderfully for us. Admittedly, Tim was working full time so my businesses never had to carry us financially, and I know that is a huge advantage. My recommendation would be to consider what your ‘can afford to lose’ amount is and start there.

And another starter low cost move is to watch my free class. I walk you through my Entry to Exit Blueprint and we go deeper into WHY you want to be in business. It’s 30 minutes, and true to everything in this post, it costs nothing. Sign up here.

July 16, 2026
The Best Business Advice I Ever Got Was From a McCafé Manager

Some of the best business advice I have ever received was from a manager at McCafé.

Running your own business as a mum of young kids will look every sort of way. For me, for a while, it was with 2 small kids in a sunless cottage, operating 2 businesses out of the spare room. Things weren’t going well.

Two businesses, two kids, one shady cottage

It was at mum and dad’s I started my entrepreneurial journey. Initially starting Blooming Beautiful, where I sold second hand maternity clothes on behalf of others. Then Lioness, where I designed and made breastfeeding tops so women could “breastfeed in public privately”.

After a year or so of living with my parents (plus a brother and his wife) we rented a small 3 bedroom cottage on the wrong side of a hill in Glenfield. I discovered how important the sun is to me and think I experienced mild depression.

At this stage in our married lives we only had one car which Tim would leave with me as I had the kids. Jack wasn’t sleeping much longer than 40 mins at a time during the day. I was still running both businesses from the spare room in this little shady house with 2 small kids.

Tim would bike 7km through busy Auckland morning traffic to get to his job as a teacher and then back again uphill all the way.

One way I coped was by putting both kids in the double pram (absolute life saver!) and walk up along the ridge (finally in the sun) along to McCafé at a nearby mall.

Walking there put the kids to sleep and if timed correctly I could get a coffee in and walk back before they woke up.

The best business advice, from a McCafé manager

One day I had made it along the ridge and went through the doors to McCafé. To my devastation I saw I had gone in the wrong doors and was greeted with a set of stairs!!

I must have looked exhausted as the manager came down to help me carry the double pram up. Having to exit and go around the building to the ramp entrance was well too much for me.

The manager brought me my coffee and then went on to give me this wonderful piece of advice. I have since offered it to many others, and it was a huge game changer for me.

Write down EVERYTHING that is bothering you. Just free write. Anything at all. The flowers that need to be thrown out, the summer shoes out when it’s winter, the calendar you don’t like, the cracked cup, the business courses you’ve bought that you can’t remember, the house needs a vacuum, you’re so tired etc

At that time, the standouts on my list were how exhausted I was, and that Jack didn’t sleep.

Once you have everything out of your brain, then put it aside. Just leave it. And when you are in a better mental state, come back and look at each item individually and objectively come up with a plan.

My plan was:

I was exhausted = I bought some great supplements and started eating more protein

Jack wasn’t sleeping = I took him to a baby cranial massage.

Still using it 20 years later

I am still doing this over 20 years later.

Earlier in the year I was finding myself overwhelmed by the various business and life stresses on me so I took a large piece of paper and wrote all the things that were bothering me.

does my overlocker need to be fixed or thrown out?

I need to design my website.

start writing blogs,

start a newsletter,

get rid of indoor plants that are dying,

clean the windows,

Fix link to FB community page,

All the online business courses I had bought

I stuck it on my office wall and could literally feel the stress leaving me now it was out of my head.

When I had time I would choose one and deal with it.

I numbered the online courses in the order to do them and have gone through 7 so far.

I bought WordPress for dummies and designed the website.

You are reading my 10th blog.

I still have some indoor plants that are not surviving my care and I finally cleaned the windows yesterday.

This applies to business, life and a combo. I find by writing it all down it relieves the mental pressure in my brain and then I can objectively come up with a solution for each issue.

Think you don’t have room to start a business?

Even if you aren’t yet in business and instead are wanting to start one but not sure if you have the mental capacity, this works. Write everything down that is bothering you. You might find that half of what is bothering you can be binned, delegated or fixed in 10 mins and suddenly there’s now more room for business than you thought.

A random manager in McCafé gave me this pearl of wisdom and I am now giving it to you. Try it. Grab some paper (I like large and visual on the wall of the office but the fridge also works) and list everything you can think of.

Then if you are still thinking of starting a business, add my free class to your list, then cross it off tonight. It’s 30 mins and you can listen/watch while you cook dinner. Sign up here.

July 6, 2026
Your First Business Idea Doesn’t Have to Be Forever

I have started 3 businesses. I sold the first 2 because the reasons I started them were no longer relevant.

It’s a freeing realisation that you don’t have to have a business for any longer than you want to.

So don’t think you need to go into starting a business feeling that this is your one and only, and it’s this one forever.

Your situation will change and so your business needs will change alongside them.

Why I started my first business

I started my first business Blooming Beautiful when Ruby was around 8 months old because watching her grow turned out not to be as riveting as I had thought.

In Blooming Beautiful I sold secondhand maternity clothes on behalf of other women. I was pregnant with my second child. My life was trying to find maternity clothes that looked good and were affordable.

So this business was super relevant to me. I related to every woman coming through my door whether they were buying or selling their clothes.

Blooming Beautiful was started because I was a bit bored. I loved staying at home with Ruby but that alone wasn’t enough. So I started a business for mental stimulation.

(I wrote more about the WHY behind starting a business here)

After a while, I had set it up and it was running smoothly. We were doing well. Only I found myself wanting more of a creative challenge. Then I saw a friend wearing a breastfeeding top. I had a certificate in Pattern Making and Garment Assembly so I decided to design some breastfeeding tops myself and make them for the NZ market. It was perfect to meet that creative need of mine. So Lioness was born. We sold these tops in both retail shops and through our own website.

So now, we had Ruby and Jack (3 and 1). We had just bought our first home and were about to move 2 hours south from Auckland to Cambridge.

When your first business idea has run its course

By that stage, the reasons I started both businesses weren’t there any more. I was no longer bored and instead of giving me mental stimulation and a creative challenge, these businesses were now stressing me out.

A while before we moved, I received a shipment of breastfeeding tops from the seamstress. These were meant to go to a retail shop and I was looking at them, thinking something was off. I realised that the colourways were wrong. They had been cut with the arm colour as the body and vice versa.

I can still remember where I was sitting and the feeling. I broke out in a full body sweat, closed my eyes and thought “I don’t need this”.

These were businesses I chose to create and they were now wrecking my day! I felt like I was on a moving train that I no longer wanted to be on.

It wasn’t till I spoke with a life coach that I realised selling the businesses was an option.

The reasons I started the businesses were no longer relevant so perhaps I didn’t need to keep them anymore.

This was a wonderfully freeing realisation. If the businesses no longer worked for me, I could let them go. And instead of just stopping, why not try and sell them?

So I did.

It was obvious in the end, how past their use-by-date those businesses had become for me. The joy and mental relief I felt once they no longer belonged to me indicated the timing was right.

Why selling was the right call

We moved to Cambridge with our 2 young children. Having sold both Blooming Beautiful and Lioness, mentally, I was free to just think of our new place (first home owning and all the things that come with that) and our young family and it was just wonderful.

It’s such a freeing realisation to know you don’t have to have a business for any longer than you want to.

My advice would be, I wouldn’t worry about where your business is going long term, or even where the one you’re still thinking of might end up. We don’t know how our situations will change, but just know that as things do change, you are able to adjust, or even sell your business alongside those situations.

Businesses have seasons too. I am in an interesting season with my 3rd business, Once Upon A Garden Landscape Design. I am working through what I now want it to look like and which areas we might reduce and where we want to build etc.

So if the fear of picking wrong is what’s holding you back, let it go. Your first business doesn’t have to be your forever business, it just has to be the right one for the season you’re in. And the way you find that? You start with your why. That’s exactly where my free class begins. I walk you through getting clear on the reason you want to start, because that’s the part that holds everything else up. Come and join me.

June 24, 2026
When to Push Through or Delegate in Your Business

How do you know when to push through or delegate?

The Moment It All Went Wrong

My very first quote chat as a landscape designer was an absolute disaster. I had met the couple at netball and was heading to their new build in the country and we would be having a walk around their property. I was planning on impressing them with some innovative ideas, then emailing them a quote, getting a yes and landing my first paying client.

It did not go like this.

It was an overcast day, so no sun out and I wasn’t clear which way was north (in the southern hemisphere, north facing is gold).

They lived on a farm and said that any fences could be moved out or new fences put in. So there were no boundaries to work with.

I was floundering badly.

I did not get the job.

That day is seared in my memory.

But instead of quitting, I now google map for north before each new client visit. Before going in, I get an idea of the place as much as possible before going in.

I have learnt to ask questions when I am unsure of what to suggest and to just admit when I don’t know a plant instead of pretending.

This discomfort was a signal I needed to stretch and grow, not run and hide. This pushing through is how Once Upon A Garden was built.

Discomfort Is a Signal, Not a Verdict

My disaster of a day felt like the end of Once Upon A Garden. It wasn’t. It was a signal – clear, bright and loud – pointing at the two options ahead of me.

Road One: The Growth Edge

Firstly, I could use it as an amazing indication of the areas I needed to improve or grow into. How to prepare for a quote chat. That designing without boundaries is genuinely hard. To start with questions about how they want to live in the space, because this dictates the size and layout.

The day left me drained and discouraged but that was due to my inexperience and not knowing what I didn’t know. Now I knew more about what I didn’t know.

That day was uncomfortable because I had never done it before. I had thought about it and planned for it but never actually walked someone’s property with them while trying to come up with design ideas on the spot, in a muddy paddock with no fences and no sun.

And the next quote chat wasn’t nearly as bad. I didn’t make the same mistakes that’s for sure.

Sometimes we convince ourselves that avoidance is necessary or strategic – someone else can do this better than us etc., but this is just our brains trying to keep us safe and in the familiar.

Here’s a way to tell the difference between being on the edge of growth or being genuinely drained:

Ask yourself this: if money and time were no object, would I still want this off my plate? Or do I just not want to feel the fear?

Road Two: The Genuine Drain

In this instance, the drain came from my lack of preparedness, not the activity itself. That’s the tell: if something drains you because you haven’t learned it yet, that’s a growth edge, not a task to pass on.

But some activities in business you don’t need to grow into. The side ones – admin, social media posting, FB ads, accounts etc. These can take your time but they don’t actually need you.

Cleaning my bathrooms was one of these. The truth was, I wasn’t getting to them as often as I would have liked and this was stressing me. From an idea I first pinched from Lorraine Murphy’s Remarkability, I decided I would rather spend my time earning more money, so for 3 years I hired my daughters to clean the bathrooms. It was wonderful. They got some spare money and I got the job done very regularly and removed that back of the mind stress.

The gut-check is this: is this draining me when I do it, or because I don’t? A task you keep avoiding can sit there generating guilt just as surely as one that flattens you when you finish it. Either way, if it’s not where only you add value, and it’s not essential to your business growing, it’s a candidate for getting off your plate. (If the whole business drains you like that, it’s a different problem – you might be in the wrong business, and I’ve written about finding the right one for you here.)

Four Ways to Get It Off Your Plate

There are 4 moves you can make here. You may be able to eliminate it (do you need to be part of that networking team?), automate it (set up email templates or a standing online order), delegate it or add it to your wish list for your dream team.

Maybe you’re not in a financial position to have a FB ads team (alas I am not as yet) but keeping that list is pretty cool – it subconsciously keeps you on the lookout for someone who may be able to help down the line.

Knowing When to Push Through or Delegate

The skill isn’t avoiding discomfort. It’s knowing when to push through or delegate.

Starting your own business will definitely bring feelings of discomfort. But I find the challenge and learning here exciting and inspiring. I love the growth that has come along with starting my various businesses. I am choosing to learn on purpose.

If you are willing to look at your discomfort, and choose to grow within it, start with my free class. It’s a low commitment start, only 30 mins. Save your spot in the free class.

June 19, 2026
How to Choose a Business Idea That Actually Fits Your Life
I was talking to a friend the other day who would love to start her own business. She wants to be free to travel while also being able to bring in an income.

So this got me thinking on how to choose a business idea that’s right for you .

My story: choosing a business, twice

I sold my first 2 businesses when we moved from Auckland to Cambridge. We had Ruby 4, and Jack 2, and they kept me busy enough mentally to not need my own business as mental stimulation. Once in Cambridge, we had Bella and then Maggie. When Maggie was 3, I found myself quite organically, just thinking of businesses again. Previous to that, starting another business would have been well beyond me.

What I learned from my first two businesses

My first 2 businesses offered products. In Blooming Beautiful we sold secondhand maternity clothes on behalf of others. So I needed a full room to be available for the stock and then each client would have that room as a changing shed. I booked individual appointments at home for this business.

I wasn’t holding any in stock here as the clothes still belonged to my sellers but it took up physical space.

With Lioness, we sold breastfeeding tops. So we were holding stock that was either ready to go to a retailer or for orders coming in via our website. Here we needed physical space and we had money held in existing stock and also keeping money aside for future material ordering and production, not to mention, packaging etc.

Choosing a business idea the third time around

This time, I had 4 children aged 3-10 and as I was thinking of starting another business, things were different. I wanted to earn some extra money and use my brain for something other than meal planning and housework.

So when deciding which business to start, straight away there were restrictions in place.

I found that having these parameters actually helped weed out any business ideas that weren’t suitable for our needs at the time.

Also dispositionally, I am creative, I am efficient and I love to make things better. I am good at problem solving and I get great pleasure in taking an irritating issue and working out how to make it better.

So my list of non-negotiables looked like this:
1. Being able to be home with my young children ( had 3 at school, 1 still at home)
2. I wanted a service not a product due to lack of physical space and not wanting money held in stock
3. Something creative that satisfied my personality
4. I was willing to retrain but had limited hours available
5. I needed very flexible hours as my kids could get sick and need time off school – and I wanted work I could still do with them sick beside me.
6. I would be working from home
The moment it clicked: my landscape design story

Then one day I was visiting my cousin, and they had had a landscape design plan drawn up for them. And I remember thinking “what a waste of money!” I come from strong DIY parents, they did everything themselves, so the mentality of paying someone to tell you what to plant seemed odd.

Anyway, we both had our own homes. They were following their plan as they had the time and the money. As the weeks passed, their place just blossomed. It looked so good. They were planting the right trees, shrubs and groundcovers. The gardens were interesting and looked fabulous.

My garden on the other hand was a different story. I was buying random, unnamed cheap plants from the dairy. And guess what? These unidentified plants grew way too big for where I planted them. I put gardens in, then realised that area was shady and nothing would grow.

Comparing the 2 gardens, my cousin and I concluded that hers looked like the botanical gardens and mine like a cheap playcentre.

I could now see the benefit of having a professional landscape plan drawn up and then being able to implement the plan ourselves.

So I looked into retraining as a landscape designer. I found a reputable qualification that I could do over 18 months online!

This ticked all the boxes.

How to choose a business idea that fits your life

When you are wondering what business to build, start by writing your list of boxes that need to be ticked.

Begin with Essentials, then Ideals and lastly Hopefullys.

You saw my list above, now grab a piece of paper and make yours.

ESSENTIALS & NON-NEGOTIABLES – these are the deal breakers. No compromises here.

Where do you want to be working?

Do you, like me, need to be working from home (clothing repairs, proof reading, ironing)?

Or are you ok needing to be out (dog walking, care taking, garden maintenance) ?

Are you wanting to provide a product (bespoke birthday cakes, handmade candles, jewellery) or a service (window cleaning, dog grooming, bookkeeping)?

How much time do you realistically have and how flexible do you need to be?

Can you work school hours only, or evenings?

Could you still get it done with a sick child home on the couch, or does it tie you to set appointment times?

Are you willing to retrain? If so, how much time and money are you happy to spend?

What can you realistically invest to get started?

Do you want money tied up in stock, or not?

IDEALS – you’d love to have these, but if you can’t it’s not the end of the world.

Do you want this to be a creative endeavour?

Would you love to work with people or prefer to be on your own?

Do you want this to grow into something bigger or keep to just you?

Do you want to use skills you already have, or learn something completely new?

HOPEFULLYS -this the cream on top. Dream big here

Do you want to be able to travel while working?

Could this one day replace your wage, or even become the family’s main income?

Need some ideas to run through your list? Take a look at my 7 Low Cost Businesses to Start from Home and Service Businesses Ideas for Women to start with skills you already have, then see which ones tick your boxes

Your list won’t look like mine, and that’s the point

My friend’s list and yours will look very different from mine.

My friend’s top priority is earning while she travels. Mine was being home with my kids. Yours might be to never leave the house in winter. Different priorities, different lists, but the exercise is the same.

Your next step

Once your list is made, I have something further for you to consider. Watch my free class here on the very first step when considering starting a business. It’s 30 mins long. Keep your paper with you because you’ll want to take notes.
June 10, 2026
Fear of Starting a Business? You Just Have to Start

So often the fear of starting a business comes from comparing ourselves to others. Where we are versus where they are. This stops us moving forward. I have had my own business for over 20 years now and still compare myself. When I see some of my fellow business owner friends succeeding in any area that I find daunting (social media), I come up short.

The Comparison Trap

It is so easy to compare ourselves and imagine we are less than and this imagining can keep us in the same place for years. We envisage others in a place further advanced from us and growing into where they are is scary so we stay in place. This comparison and the resulting hindering fear is our brain keeping us in our comfort zone. Our brain likes ‘safe’ and that means familiar. Stepping into unfamiliar territory can be terrifying. When I first started videoing myself for FB ads it was pretty nerve wracking but I tell myself, I want this business to work. Other people are doing it. So why can’t I?

A Family of Starters

I come from a family of business starters. When I was young, my parents had a friend who was working as a carpet cleaner for a company. He would have to use his car and petrol to drive all over Auckland, giving quotes and then he would get a percentage of the profits from paying customers.

My parents saw this, how their friend did all the work yet received such a small portion of the profits and thought, why not cut out the middle man?

So, they invested in a carpet cleaning machine. My brothers and I would draw pictures of dad and the machine that they would use for their marketing.

They ran this business right into the middle of my teens. After that, they did familiarization tours for foreigners considering moving to New Zealand, then mum created forestry maps for my uncle’s Forestry business while dad worked on those same hills culling goats. They eventually settled on creating vinyl cut signs for cars, shop windows and boats.

With this background, starting my own business wasn’t that big of a deal.

You just start.

I had a friend tell me she thought it was really brave to start my own business and it wasn’t something she could do. Due to my upbringing, owning your own business was never a big deal, if mum and dad could, then we could too. Both my brothers have had their own businesses too.

Starting Your Business Without Financial Fear

I remember talking with mum about a friend who started his own business and straight away had expensive cards printed, hired a graphic designer, and racked up costs before he had a single customer. I don’t think the business did well, and he had created debt from day one.

Mum and dad’s approach, and the one I have adopted, is to start minimally. Not meaning don’t buy what you need, but don’t buy what you don’t need.

My thought has always been to only spend money that is ok to lose. Meaning if the business goes belly up or never makes a dime, our family has not been put in jeopardy.

Removing the financial stress has taken away a lot of the fear of starting a business. Even now, I am aware of how much I am willing to spend on courses. I do invest when necessary – I have spent thousands on retraining and courses and I fully believe we need to be prepared to spend money to grow. But for my stress levels and peace of mind I only spend within our means.

Some elements in business we may find easy. Like I love learning new things. 2025 was a year of massive learning for me. I taught myself things I never imagined I could: course creation, AI, funnels, email automations, Pinterest strategy, website building, and starting a blog! My not knowing something doesn’t scare me the way it used to. I have proven to myself that I can figure almost anything out.

The Fear of Being Seen

But the fear of being seen is a different story. That’s in its own category. Something I have to remind myself is good enough is fine. Perfect doesn’t exist on social media and waiting for it means you’ll never start. When I have put things out there and they are less than ideal, that’s ok. I can do hard things. That includes videoing myself and posting it on social media.

Your First Steps

I so love having my own business and all the learning, experiences, growth, money, and freedom that comes with it. I want to encourage any woman who wants to do this for herself.

This is what my course Your First Steps is about.

Just starting.

Just take the first step and then the next one.

My free class covers the very first step when considering starting your own business and it’s one most women haven’t thought of, but it will shape everything that comes after.

It’s free and it takes about 30 mins.

Sign up here.

May 31, 2026
You’re Already More Qualified Than You Think (Service Business Ideas for Women)

Service Business Ideas for Women Who Already Have the Skills

I have spoken to women looking for service business ideas, wanting to bring in some extra money but they are just not sure of what they could offer. Starting a business can bring up thoughts of having to have a product and employing someone. This is not true.

The simplest way to start is to have a look at what you already know. Don’t worry about finding a product to sell. Sell your own skills and you do have them. You just may not recognize them yet.

Often we believe that what comes easy to us, comes easy to everyone else as well.

This is not the case. I tell my kids, we all have different brains and skills. Therefore what you can do, can very likely be just what someone else is needing.

Why a Service Business?

A service business is different from a product business. My business Lioness was a product business. We sold breastfeeding tops that I had designed and made. With a product, we had a good amount of money held up in stock and also had the physical product to store, package, send off etc. There is none of that in a service business. In a service business, you are the product – and that changes everything.

When my youngest was 3, I was ready for a new business – and with four kids and absolutely no room for boxes, a product was off the table!

So I decided on Landscape Design. I wanted a service with minimal outlay. I did need to retrain but the potential income far outweighed the cost of doing so. And the way I structure my payments – a deposit upfront, and full payment before final documents are printed – means my costs only happen after I’ve been paid. That’s a very comfortable place to be.

Service businesses are great if you don’t have a lot of money to invest. My approach has always been to start with money you could afford to lose. No investors, no debt, no financial pressure hanging over you before you’ve even begun.

As you are the product, all you need initially is money for marketing and with social media being what it is, you can likely advertise for free on community pages, or depending on your service at schools etc.

The Skills You Already Have

Here are some service business ideas to consider :

Tutoring

I tutored my neighbours child maths while my baby daughter slept. She was being home schooled for health reasons so a couple times a week, we would have a maths class.

This could also be done online if you don’t want to be restricted to your area. That would reduce travel time. You could charge more for in person tutoring. Or keep it all online if you’d rather not go to people’s houses. All subjects can be tutored. Art, history, maths, science, english, cooking. If you know a language, you could offer conversation classes. The options are endless.

You would need a laptop with zoom, latest curriculum for that subject perhaps. Overall, the outlay for this one is minimal.

You could market in homeschooling communities, at your local school during term time, as well as extra support before exams, even the adult education market.

Landscape Consultations

I am a Landscape Designer. I have a diploma, but I was with a friend recently and have often thought she could do Landscape Consults. All her gardens are interesting, well designed, and especially not boring.

Consults are wonderful in that they are just your time and thoughts with the goal of providing people inspiration and ideas they could implement. People are paying for your ideas. I spend the time writing and drawing ideas with plant suggestions and then leave the notes with them.

If you are creative and can think outside the box when it comes to design, this may be for you. If you have some gardens of your own to start marketing with, then go for it. You could offer free consults for friends in order to get some reviews, and some before and after photos. Often people just need fresh eyes on their property, someone who isn’t stuck in the way things have always been done.

Organization/decluttering

You don’t need a qualification for this, just the right disposition. I love decluttering. It is not hard for me at all. There are of course people that struggle with this, and would love someone to come alongside them and talk them through their stuff.

A sensitive personality may be needed here as people might need some gentle persuasion to aid their letting go.

In terms of supplies, some large plastic bags or boxes are about all you need. You could offer to take things to thrift shops yourself, which is a lovely added touch. And if you want to take it further, you could move into storage solutions and closet design.

All of these services can be advertised locally and for free – community Facebook pages, a flyer at the supermarket or school, word of mouth. You don’t need a big budget to get started.

Finding Your Own Service Business Idea

When you are looking for a business to start, look at what you want and what you can do. Start a list. Do you want to leave the house or work entirely online? Are you happy going into other people’s homes? Do you want to work with kids or adults? Are you open to retraining or do you want to start immediately with what you already know?

Your answers will point you in the right direction.

If any of these service business ideas resonate, you might enjoy my blog on 7 low cost business ideas here. Either way, my free class is a great next step. In just 30 minutes it will help you get clear on what you actually want from a business of your own. And it’s free. Sign up here.

May 20, 2026
Working For Yourself: Why 8 Hours Beats 20 For Someone Else

The Hobby Business I Was Ignoring

In 2019, just before covid hit, I was applying for jobs as an Architectural Technician. I had been treating my business Once Upon A Garden Landscape Design as a hobby for years, never seriously considering working for myself as a real option. Not giving it any love or attention. Very random marketing and next to no social media presence. When I did work, I was charging about $60 an hour, so even after tax, that was still a very healthy hourly rate.

I had recently completed a Diploma of Architectural Technology. The starting rate for this role could be around minimum wage, approximately $25/hr. in NZ at the time. This was pretty shocking to me especially when you compare it to the hourly rate I could bring in with landscape design. With still having 4 kids at home, I had decided I didn’t want to work fulltime.

When Covid Closed the Door on Job Hunting

Then covid hit and any job opportunities dried up alongside it.

The thought came to me to compare the options in front of me:

Continue to look for work as an architectural technician at $25/yr, earning approximately $26,000 a year before tax.

Or – could I boost work on Once Upon A Garden with the goal of bringing in a similar amount, and still retain the flexible lifestyle I wanted?

So the goal was to meet what I could earn part time as an Architectural Technician. This was 26k a year before tax. Dividing 26k by $60/hr. came to 433 hours a year. That’s about 8.5hrs a week. The same income as working 20 hours a week for someone else , without the travel costs, the rigid hours and the boss.

A very doable option.

Why Working For Yourself Pays More Than You Think

The year before this decision OUAG brought in $3700 Net Profit.

When you work for yourself, Net Profit is what is left over after you have taken out all legitimate expenses. If you work for somebody else you get taxed on your take-home pay and still have to cover travel costs and work expenses yourself. Working for yourself means you get taxed after expenses – things like work-related travel, phone, internet and in my case, a portion of my mortgage interest, rates and insurance. This is huge.

At this point I wasn’t putting any meaningful energy into the business. I had been studying, and life was full on. Once Upon A Garden was firmly on the sideline.

The Numbers That Changed Everything

But I now had the goal of 25k.

This type of challenge invigorates me. I find I respond well to a tricky spot and having to figure a way out of it. I get inspired to look at an issue from different angles and think, what can we do here? How can we help ourselves here?

In 2020, OUAG brought in $17,300 Net Profit.

Bear in mind, some of the expenses being deducted were ones we would have spent anyway. We claimed a portion of our mortgage interest, phone, internet, rates etc. because our office is at home. This made the actual benefit to us even higher.

In 2021 OUAG brought in $19500!!!!!

During lockdown I worked on my systems and made things more efficient. I created a plant database which continues to save me hours of time with every single client.

Over this time, my husband wasn’t able to work due to covid regulations so we created a property services role within Once Upon A Garden. One-off garden maintenance, weeding, odd jobs – the things people don’t want to do themselves.

How cool that this hobby business, which was only ever meant to provide bonus money, could now support our whole family and give work to my husband.

Working For Yourself Gives You Options a Job Never Can

The thing I love most about working for yourself is that you have options. You have a container within which you are able to pivot, adjust, play with and make suit you.

I can’t emphasize this enough. So many people I know are not happy with their working situations but feel they can’t do anything about it.

I realise I am in a hugely privileged position. Tim’s income covered our bills, which meant I was able to stay home with our kids and start a low cost business without financial pressure. I am not ignorant of the fact that not everyone has the luxury.

If you are reading this and are in a situation where you do need to keep working for now, keep reading. There may be something you can start on the side that could eventually give you what you need. My free class is only 30 minutes and a great place to start.

What Happened When I Actually Showed Up For My Business

Anyway back to the rise of Once Upon A Garden!

In 2022 we hit $41,600

In 2023, OUAG brought in $51,000!!!

Crazy stuff. It was jumping at an alarming rate.

Job Security When Working For Yourself vs Employment

Recently, I heard of a number of women who had been in their workplace for over 10 years – no complaints, doing their jobs well – and then new management came in. There was a need to cut costs and with very little notice these women were told, just before Christmas, that their jobs were gone.

Some of them were in shock. You can feel like there is job security in employment but in reality that is a myth, as recent world events have shown us.

One of the women was in the fortunate position of owning a farm with her husband. She responded to this redundancy with plans to create a glamping and Airbnb set up – in essence, creating her own business. It isn’t job security in the traditional sense. But there is real security in relying on yourself. Being able to pivot when needed is powerful. It beats being at the mercy of decisions completely out of your control.

I am not sure how the other ladies responded but it would be a horrible feeling – that lack of control over your own future.

I spoke to another woman still employed there, and she said a number of her colleagues were now anxious their department would be next.

My response every time I hear stories like this is the same – I am so glad that a portion of my income is reliant on me.

If no one wants their gardens landscaped, we can mow lawns, do weeding, and find another way.

There is never full control – we can’t dictate the market – but being entirely at the mercy of a boss and fully reliant on someone else just doesn’t sit well with me.

Where You Put Your Attention, Growth Follows

Have you heard the saying, where we put our attention, attraction happens? I don’t fully understand the mechanics behind it, but in my experience, giving Once Upon A Garden more love, made it grow. The marketing efforts made sense – more visibility, more clients. But I also believe that going through my systems, creating tools, and showing up consistently for this business sent a signal. To myself, and maybe to the universe, that I was taking this seriously. That I believed in it.

If you’re looking for inspiration on what that business could be, I’ve put together a list of 7 low cost businesses you could start right now.

Could This Be You?

Maybe you have something sitting on the side right now. A skill, a service, an idea you’ve been treating as a hobby. What would happen if you decided to take it seriously? If my neglected little landscape business could do this, I genuinely believe most businesses can.

If the idea of creating your own opportunities appeals to you, here’s where to start.

My free class walks you through the one foundational thing you need to know before you do anything else – the thing that makes sure your business works for your life, not the other way around.

It’s just 30 minutes – and it might be the most useful 30 minutes you spend this week. Sign up here.

May 18, 2026
How to Structure Your Day When You’re Running a Business From Home

The Life I Knew I Didn’t Want

If you’re thinking about running a business from home, one of the first things you’ll need to figure out is how to actually structure your day.

But first, let me tell you about my very first job…

When I was 14 I got a job for the school holidays working full time sorting files for my parents’ friends’ business. I’d catch the bus into the city, walk 20 minutes through downtown Auckland to their small electrical business, and sort files all day. There had been a fire and everything needed cleaning and refiling.

I started dreading going to bed at night because it meant waking up and doing it all again. A sad state for a 14 year old.

That was when I decided full time work was not for me. (Ironically, I also declared I would never work for myself either – but that’s a story for another blog.)

I’ve had a few full time jobs since then. Some I loved. Some bored me to tears. And some had my whole being internally screaming “I do not want to live like this” while my brain worked overtime trying to figure a way out.

It’s Your Life. You Get a Say

I read somewhere that couples spend enormous amounts of time and energy preparing for the wedding but very little preparing for their life after it. That idea stuck with me and it’s the premise behind Your Handpicked Life. It’s your life. You get to have a say in how it turns out.

Running my own business from home has given me that say. We decided early on, one of us would stay home with the kids. Starting my own business afforded me the opportunity to still contribute to the family finances, and as our kids grew, enabled me to stay at home during all their teen years.

5 Tips for Running a Business From Home

If you’re ready to start building that kind of flexibility into your own life, here are five tips for structuring your days when you’re running a business from home.

Avoid task switching

This one has a massive mental impact and I don’t think we talk about it enough.

For years I watched my husband start a task and just… keep going until it was finished. Meanwhile I’d been interrupted by kids and life so many times that jumping around felt normal. I’ll be honest – I resented his focus a little.

But here’s the thing: just because you’re at home doesn’t mean housework needs to be slotted in between everything. Finish your work task first. Then hang the washing, make a coffee, take a break. Then come back to work.

The mental cost of switching back and forth is real. Every time you stop and restart, it takes effort to get back into flow – and that adds up across a day. Protect your focus like it’s your most valuable resource, because when you’re building a business from home, it genuinely is.

Stick to set hours

Honestly? This one I still struggle with.

I tried starting at 9am after the school drop, but once I added morning exercise and a prayer call with a friend, my husband is home for morning tea at 10.30 and I feel like I’ve barely started. Not great for motivation.

So my real advice here is to experiment and find what actually works for your life. Maybe that’s getting up early and doing an hour before the kids wake up. Maybe it’s during nap time, or after bedtime if you still have energy. There’s no right or wrong – just more or less efficient for you personally.

What I have figured out is where my energy goes. I’m sharper in the mornings so I protect that time for thinking work – writing, planning, creating. Client interviews happen after lunch when I don’t need to be at my creative best. I’ve also learned that too much time with people drains me, so I cap myself at one client interview per day. Two in a day and I’m horizontal on the couch all evening.

Know your energy, protect it, and build your hours around that.

Create themed workdays

Taking the previous tip one step further – once you know your energy patterns, you can start theming whole days around them.

For me, knowing that people can drain my energy meant Mondays became a no-client day. Marketing Monday was born – content, posting, admin, planning the week ahead. Starting my week at home, on my own terms, sets me up well for everything else.

If you’re naturally social and love people, your version might look completely different – maybe Monday is your client day and Friday is your admin day. The specifics don’t matter. What matters is that each day has a purpose, so you’re not making a hundred small decisions about what to work on next.

Batch similar tasks together

This one is gold when you actually do it. Sitting down and knocking out 10 Pinterest pins in one session, then not having to touch it for a week? That’s the kind of efficiency that makes a real difference.

I used to log every expense and payment as it came in. It only took five minutes each time, but it meant constantly opening and closing spreadsheets, filing receipts, checking my bank account. Now I have a drawer for things to be actioned and a set time in the week to deal with all of it at once. I open the accounts once, sort everything, close it off. Done.

Go through all the tasks in your business and group the similar ones together. Then slot them into your week based on your energy levels. Paying bills and logging income doesn’t require much brain power, so that happens late afternoon. It saves both time and mental energy.

Use a time tracker

This one is less about productivity in general and more about getting through the tasks you’d rather avoid.

Set a timer, put your head down, and just do the thing. Knowing there’s a cup of tea waiting at the end makes the grind more bearable than you’d think.

It’s a simple tactic but an effective one. And if you find yourself dreading the same task week after week, that’s useful information – it might be time to offload it. Hire an accountant, outsource your bookkeeping, find a VA for admin. Your time and energy are better spent on the parts of your business only you can do.

These tips are useful whether you’re already running your business or still in the planning stage. Either way, knowing how you’ll structure your days before you start running a business from home is half the battle.

If you’re still in the thinking stage, come to my free class first. It’s the clearest starting point I know.

May 4, 2026