Ealing Homebiz Apr2013

www.contactusealing.co.uk

April 2013 / Vol1 No1 FREE – PLEASE TAKE ONE

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Ealing Homebiz Handbook for local home-run businesses

What makes your home business tick?

Joanne Sumner independent consultant Arbonne International see page 10

Here’s another

Contactus

publication

I get a real buzz and satisfaction by helping people make choices that can either save them money or make them money Jose Rihan local distributor The Utility Warehouse see page 4

‘‘

‘‘

I’m doing something I love. If you don’t love what you do, you will be fighting yourself all the way

Ealing is the best area in London... It’s like a small village. I love living here, I love working here David McCaffrey business owner Belfrey Secure see page 8

• page 6 / Photo Album: the aromatherapist • page 15 / Home staging to party planning

www.oldactonianscricket.com

Fancy playing

c ricket this summer?

where colour matters

OLD ACTONIANS CRICKET CLUB

Graphic Design & Branding

Digital Print

is looking for new members

Home ground: Old Actonians Sports Club, Gunnersbury Drive Ealing W5 4LL

& Copying

Full Colour

Printing

Web

Design

• Four Saturday XIs & friendlies on Sundays (players welcome for all sides)

Old As Club Open Day: Sat 20th April 2013 from 2pm

• Ladies XI & thriving junior section

sales@expressprint.co.uk www.expressprint.co.uk

(beginners welcome)

• Top quality nets

(ready for 2013 season)

ebrat ng cel

30

• A sociable club, playing competitive cricket

160 Broadway, West Ealing London W13 0TL

(with added F.U.N.)

Contact: Clifford Pile 07999 929834 Email: oldactonianscricket@hitssports.co.uk Ladies contact: oldactoniansladies@gmail.com Visit our website: www.oldactonianscricket.com Follow us on Twitter: @OldAs_CC and @OldAsLadies

years

(020) 8567 8727

Find local shops you never knew existed

Contactus

Two new mini-magazines for Ealing

Booklet directory of Ealing businesses

Launch

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Featuring a different shopping parade in each issue, Contactus Ealing promotes the benefits of shopping locally.

Homebiz Ealing Contactus Ealing listings are also a nt ordablegpri quick way to find out about products Aff advertisin & services on your doorstep

We deliver leaflets across the whole of West London, concentrating on Ealing and its surroundings, door-to-door, hand-to-hand to the general public, and business-to-business.

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Lane ? Is she W5 p / Four start-ups • 4-7 Independ

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June 2013, featurin Northfie ld Avenue g W13

OK SO CALL ME A MUMP RENEU R

Esther Needle, home-off between ice mum, flits housewo and ‘work-wo rk rk’:

• page 14

A-Z of Ealing websites

Local business club listings: and Twitter, contact numbers web homepa and ge info

Getting Ealin • starts on page 8 in touch withg customers local trade rs

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Look for these A5-sized handbooks in your Ealing library Contactus Ealing: out in June and December Ealing Homebiz: out in April and September *made in Ealing, for Ealing*

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Ealing Homebiz Handbook for local home-run businesses

Ealing Homebiz offers a showcase for the kinds of businesses that are operated from home – e.g. life coaches, Get in touch with us: graphic designers, micro-industries.

Twitter: @ContactusEaling Email: info@contactusealing.co.uk Also in Ealing Homebiz: local information, columns & tips for homeworking Website: www.contactusealing.co.uk

Leaflet distribution is a great way of getting the message about your business or organisation across to your potential customers, and letting people know about what you have to offer.

This is especially useful if you do not have a high street address where people can find you easily.

We provide a totally exclusive service, tailor-made to suit your particular needs.

Let us help you to grow your business or organisation.

We are LetterboxLovers Leaflet Distribution 07927 711600

Website: www.letterboxlovers.com Email: info@letterboxlovers.co.uk

CONTENTS

Ealing Homebiz / April 2013 / Page 3

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Ealing Homebiz Want to see small business owners smile?

Say that you saw them in ‘Ealing Homebiz’

Inside

Your shop window to Ealing customers

The latest from local biz 4-5 – news for your home bills

– networking explosion – home spa treatments to try – where to meet like minds

What to expect...

6

The big issue

8

– a visit to the aromatherapist

Business finder

See page(s)

Belfrey Secure 9 Divine Souls 5 Express Print 2 Fabulous Women 5 House-in-Order 15 Letterbox Lovers 2 Old Actonians Cricket Club 2 Spa Maroc 14 Symbiosis Aromatherapy 6, 7 The Athena Network 11, 12, 13 The Training Pack 14 The Utility Warehouse 4 Trish Pead Party Staging 15 Urban Retreat at Home 5

– work-from-home safety – Ealing Homebiz Survey results

Three businesses?!

– Jo Sumner explains how

10

From Morocco with love 14 – handmade skin remedies

Alice in Wonderland

15

– party planning with a fun theme Next ‘Ealing Homebiz’ issue: September 2013

Congrats, your start-up is all set up, so...

Are you ready to show off your business?

Yes – I would like to advertise my

business in Ealing Homebiz magazine This size advertisement suits my marketing budget (please tick): c 1/4 page £50

My name: Business name: URL: www.

Phone: Twitter: @

c 1/2 page £100

c full page £200

c Back page £400

Get in touch with me right away so I can supply you with the information you need for my ad c Please invoice me [OR] c I’ll pay you now (cash/cheque)

Signature:

Advertising booking deadline for September 2013 issue of ‘Ealing Homebiz’ is 31 July

Hello Welcome to another new Contactus publication – this time, ‘Ealing Homebiz’ is all about businesses run from home rather than from dedicated office premises.

Start-ups, sole traders, micro-industries. Or graphic designers, musicians, inventors. Quite often mothers.

Not necessarily earning a fortune but still deserving of lots of exposure. Without a high street window to entice passing customers, these businesses can sometimes struggle to thrive. That’s why ‘Ealing Homebiz’ is here: to act as your shop window so that people in Ealing can see you... and become your customers.

All the best, Carlene Bender Editor-publisher, Contactus magazines Web: www.contactusealing.co.uk Email: info@contactusealing.co.uk Twitter: @ContactusEaling Tel: 07960392677 If you would like to advertise with us, our next publication is ‘Contactus Ealing’, due out in June 2013. Special invitation to Northfields W13 businesses.

Booking deadline: 31 April 2013

‘Contactus Ealing’ & ‘Ealing Homebiz’ Content, design & layout: Carlene Bender Distribution: 3000 copies Printed at: Express Print Ltd Produced in Ealing, for Ealing

Page 4 / Ealing Homebiz / April 2013

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Save on bills; earn cash too

G

ood news for customers of home utilities provider the Utility Warehouse – you can now add a mobile phone, with no upfront payment, to your chosen list of services.

Local distributor, Jose Rihan, was happy to report the news from the Utility Warehouse annual conference last month.

There are now five services on offer to householders looking to switch from the big providers and save money on their home bills: gas, electricity, broadband, mobile, and home phone.

“It makes it so much easier for the customer,” Jose says.

“All their utilities with one company, and all their bills on one sheet of paper.”

Customers who could only

take three services previously can now, by adding a mobile phone, bump it up to four, and qualify for the Utility Warehouse “Gold Status”, which carries even more discounts.

Jose adds that, “There are all sorts of added benefits, such as savings on insurance, £200 to help you switch, and there’s the wonderful CashBack card for shopping discounts. Plus you get me: a local person to deal with.”

Part of the reason why the Utility Warehouse, with nearly 450,000 customers since 1997, can offer guaranteed savings on home bills is because it is run by “referral marketing”. So, not only can you save money, but if you become a local distributor, you can earn money too.

Jose Rihan: ‘If you want to earn extra money, become a Utility Warehouse distributor’

Jose, who has been spreading the word about the Utility Warehouse for three years now – and earning a steady commission for doing so – is looking to build her West London team: “If you want to earn extra money for your pension, holiday home, or children’s education, then this is the route to take.”

See advertisement (this page)

Distributors Wanted Run your own business without the usual risks… and help people save money!

• choose your own hours • full training and support • up-front bonuses

• earn a second income

• on-going commission

• no stock to carry

Find out more!

Jose Rihan 07899 792778 joserihan@uwclub.net moneyeveryday.co.uk

Home Phone D13L

Mobile

Internet

Gas

Electricity

Earn a seco incom nd your e in spar time e

HOMEBIZ NEWS

Ealing Homebiz / April 2013 / Page 5

NETWORK IN EALING

Fab and flourishing It seems that nearly every week there’s another Fabulous Women group starting up somewhere else in London.

Recently the small business networking group’s buzzing success in Ealing – due in no small part to the charisma of life coach and author Carole Ann Rice, who leads the group – started the trend for more groups in West London.

In the last month alone, new groups started in Chiswick and Hounslow/Brentford, with imminent launches

set for Uxbridge and Notting Hill Gate.

Regional manager for Fabulous Women London, Kirsten Brown (at centre in Ealing pic above), says, “This is a truly fabulous community with a very different feel to it.

“The first group only started in April last year so for it to have grown now to nearly 50 groups in less than a year shows that there is a real desire for this type of networking.” www.fabulous-women.co.uk

Get glam for spring Caroline Carter, mobile beauty therapist for Urban Retreat at Home spa experiences, is excited about the salon’s three newest pamper treatments – the GlamGlow Facial, Pure Lochside Body Treatments, and the Meder Wrinkle Corrective Programme.

“We are getting great Caroline Carter: feedback on our new treatments,” ‘We are getting great feedback...’ says Caroline, rushing off to another client’s home appointment somewhere in Ealing. “GlamGlow is definitely the must-have product at the moment!”

If forced to choose her favourite from among the three treatments, she would go for the Pure Lochside Luxury Highland massage using the ‘calm and soothe’ body balm.

“The combination of essential oils and relaxing massage techniques really do transport you away from all stresses,” she says. “Also, having a massage at home has to be the best way to end the day!”

Contact: Caroline.Carter@urbanretreat.co.uk 07733 323 386

!!

Here are some of the networking groups in Ealing.

• Fabulous Women First Friday of every month Contact: Kirsten Brown @Fab_Women • Athena (Ealing) Network Third Tuesday of every month Contact: Jo Sumner @AthenaWLondon • The Best of Ealing Every six weeks Contact: Hazel Hutchinson @TheBestofEaling • Ealing Chamber of Commerce Connect4Lunch Contact: Yolanda Cogan @EalingChamber • 4N Ealing Business Breakfast Contact: Emma Renton @4N_Ealing If we missed out your networking group, please email details to info@contactusealing.co.uk

DIVINE SOULS www.divinesouls.co.uk

Divine souls provides a unique holistic healing service blending together techniques of Reiki, colour therapy and crystal healing. Healing sessions work to restore energy balance within the body, helping to ease physical, emotional and mental stress. Book your session now suneet@divinesouls.co.uk 07772 816 175 !

Holistic healing

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Bring this advert to receive 10% off your first session.

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Page 6 / Ealing Homebiz / April 2013

HOME BUSINESS

What to expect on a visit to the...

Aromatherapist Leila Denison-Pender – Symbiosis Aromatherapy Ealing W5

“I am amazed by how effective essential oils can be for everyday ailments, and also for more subtle, emotional issues” 1

2

4

1. Leila welcomes you to her home, and you go upstairs to the treatment room.

2. Before settling you down on the massage table, she conducts a thorough consultation.

3. Then she chooses the most appropriate plant extracts (essential oils) that apply to your needs. For example, thyme, tea tree or ravintsara can help ward off infections.

4. She mixes the massage blend.

5. You’ll also be able to take home some wonderful smelling products.

Continued...

3

5

HOME BUSINESS

6

Ealing Homebiz / April 2013 / Page 7

7

8

“Essential oils are applied in most cases via massage.

Inhalation is another method of absorption” Continues...

6. Pre-mixed products.

7. Leila is a member of the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA) and of the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) 8. See our mini-video of Leila giving Dominic “the giggles”: ‘http://tinyurl.com/symbiosis aromatherapy’.

9. Leila mixes an anti-anxiety inhaler for ‘Ealing Homebiz’ 10. Leave with a warm glow.

See advertisement [this page]

9

10

Page 8 / Ealing Homebiz / April 2013

HOME ISSUES

Working safely from home

I

t is just before 10am and I am walking up South Ealing Road looking for an open café to have a business meeting with a new client. I’m lucky that the person I’m due to meet is sympathetic to the search, because he too is a home-run business. This is a regular part of our work day: trying to find somewhere suitable to meet.

As home-run businesses, we are both aware of the dangers of holding meetings at our homes (see box, below).

Luckily Nevin’s is already open and we spread our files open on the table while our hot drinks teeter at the corners.

David McCaffrey owns Belfrey Secure locksmiths, operated from his home on Ealing Road. Being in the security business, he agrees that for start-ups and sole traders who don’t have business premises, safety while working from home should be a major concern.

Who’s watching your clients come and go? specific tools of the trade such as massage tables, jewellery stocks and implements, cooking utensils and gadgets.

Not to mention the worry that if someone breaks in to steal your work equipment there’s nothing to stop them grabbing a handful of your children’s games consoles or the family heirloom mantelpiece clock.

Advance planning David insists that “it might be a cliché, but prevention is

Property protection This applies to personal safety as well as protecting your equipment from burglaries: computers, smartphones and printers, plus more

Reasons to be careful • Beware of someone watching the comings and goings of people and parcels at your residence. A thief may realise you’re running a business, and plan a break-in in the hope of making off with your cashbox, or worse – your computer and other valuables.

• A thief may also pose as a client, or work with someone posing as a client, to gain access to your home. The 2011 Ealing riots showed that criminals have fewer scruples about targetting businesses; there is the notion that we have “big insurance” to cover a loss via burglary.

• The majority of home workers in Ealing are women, and we have to be careful of our personal security, especially if we are home alone.

“A thief may pose as a client to gain access to your home” always better”, and shares an anecdote about a company he’s recently supplied with new locks and security gates.

“It was a web development company, a home start-up.

Obviously they had a lot of electrical equipment.

Some people will be forward-thinking and will get a professional in to make sure the home business is secure. This company was reactionary, unfortunately. We ended up putting in security gates and extra locks, but only after the robbery.”

Meeting unfamiliar clients at your home feels inappropriate and is best avoided, which leaves many small home-traders at a loose end – and searching for quiet cafes and meeting rooms around town.

According to this month’s ‘Ealing Homebiz’ “Quick questionnaire” of 20 networking home businessers (18 women and two men), 12 said they were “comfortable” letting a client know that they worked from home. Two respondents weren’t, and four

HOME ISSUES

Ealing Homebiz / April 2013 / Page 9

KEEP SAFE

So how do we manage David McCaffrey: these problems? Here ‘Make sure the home business are some options to is secure’ consider: • Protect your home address: get a Post Office box (prices start from £126 for six months), or use MailBoxes Etc (new outlet open on Springbridge Road, W5) • Meet clients at a café, library or local hotspot.

Or in one of Ealing’s famous green spaces. would only admit it “under “Walking meetings” are the certain conditions”. new power-ups, excellent for But when asked “if you could have business premises, would brainstorming, according to www.walkingforhealth.org.uk you want it?”, more than half (‘Walking the Way to Health of the respondents replied Initiative’). “yes”. This may be related to • Use a work hub – look the number one “problem with out in September’s issue of home businessing”, as the ‘Ealing Homebiz’ for news on a majority (9) complained about the difficulty of meeting clients: coworking hub being set up “lack of professionalism”, “can’t in West Ealing.

Participate in bring clients in” and “lack of their feasibility waiting area” being some of

study: email the comments. (Remaining Jelena, Beth, problems centred around Kitu and David at coping with distractions, westealinghub@ isolation, and housework). gmail.com.

See Survey results [below]

THE E.H. SURVEY Maybe No 15% Yes 40% 45%

1. If you have just moved into a new property, change the locks.

Someone else may have a set of keys. Even if you’re sure the previous owners have given you all copies of their keys, their former cleaner, or gardener, or neighbour, may still have keys, and can enter your property without breaking in, which then leaves your insurance invalid.

2. Similarly, if you’ve had to dismiss an employee, even if you remain on good terms, it’s wise to change the locks.

3. Are the locks on your doors adequate to your insurance; are they British Standard? If in doubt, call David on 077 4371 1850 – a free home security check is available to all readers of ‘Ealing Homebiz’.

See our mini-video of David sharing some advice at: tinyurl.com/EalingHomebiz-Belfrey

YOUR LOCAL, TRUSTED AND VETTED LOCKSMITHS

Top problems with Would you want business premises? home working: “not appropriate for meetings” “clients can’t stop by” “lack of professionalism” “housework tends to come first” 1" “negative attitude from clients” 2" “keeping regular hours” 3" “cost of insurance” 4" “lack of office 5" space” “distractions”

Belfrey Secure’s top tips for working safely from home:

• • • •

24 hour service Burglary prevention and repairs UPVC door and window locks Grilles and security bars

• • • •

Safes supplied and fitted Insurance approved locks Garage or Outbuildings secured No call out charge

1" 2"

*** Senior Citizen discount 10% off total bill ***

3"

** Loyalty Discounts and Incentives **

Problems with home 0"businessing 2" 4" comments) 6" 8" (31

10"

“IT’S NOT FULLY SECURE UNTIL IT’S BELFREY SECURE”

meeting clients (9)

Find out more at -

www.belfreysecure.co.uk

distractions (7)

Email us -

info@belfreysecure.co.uk

isolation (3) housework (6) other (6)

Series1"

Call David on -

07743 711 850

Follow us -

@BelfreySecure

Page 10 / Ealing Homebiz / April 2013

GUEST COLUMN

How does she do it?

Jo Sumner’s top tips for running multiple small businesses from home

H

i, my name’s Joanne Sumner and I’m a local business woman running three businesses from home: A yoga and holistic therapy studio on the Hanwell/ Northfields border (www.joannesumner.com), a network to support female business women and entrepreneurs in West London (www. theathenanetwork. co.uk/JoanneSumner) and a growing business with Arbonne International (www. joannesumnerglobal. myarbonne.co.uk).

Carlene asked me to share how it’s possible to juggle the businesses with a home and social life without losing my sanity or my sense of humour! So here are my top tips and observations...

1. Do something you love.

This has to be the most important tip because if you don’t love what you do, you will be fighting yourself all the way. People ask me how I motivate myself to do so much, and my answer is I don’t have to. Because I’ve been lucky enough to choose three things I love, I love to do them.

When help is needed 2. Get organised. This makes me smile. If you want to run multiple businesses – or have a business around your work or family – then getting organised is a must. Either you do it yourself or you get an assistant to help. Make sure you have a dedicated space

“You have to be the master of your business not the servant”

Joanne Sumner (far right): ‘Work out what you’re good at and outsource the rest’

which is business only (even if it is only a corner of a room) and get it as physically useful for you as possible. Thereafter, two particular things I’d recommend are: (i) look at what you can systemise, so that processes that are repeated are automated where possible; (ii) block out time for the important proactive work so that you don’t get sucked into firefighting, checking email, and being reactive. You have to be the master of your business not the servant – so you decide when and how much time you spend on creating products, accounting, sales and marketing, building relationships, and so on.

3. Find the right support.

One of the greatest challenges

of running a small home business is that you will need to develop such a wide range of skills. You will need to keep your books, develop your products or services, promote and deliver them; you will become graphic and web designer, social media expert, and diva of administration and sales.

My advice is work out what you are good at, and outsource the rest.

4. Be kind to yourself.

You absolutely will make mistakes. Rather than being afraid of that, welcome it. We can learn from mistakes and improve ourselves and our offerings. If you don’t try, you won’t succeed. If you try and fail, pick yourself up, learn everything you can from the situation, and MOVE ON! Take time away 5. Find a balance. Make time for some of what you love that is not business related.

What gives you energy?

What soothes or uplifts you?

It doesn’t matter what it is, it matters that you make time for it every week. I have a massage every two weeks, take lunches with friends during working hours, take long walks. Ealing has so much to offer in this regard, we’re incredibly lucky!

Carlene asked me how I can get away with working a 4.5 day week. I ask, how could I get away with not doing so?

That’s when I really would lose my sense of humour and/or my sanity!

What could the Athena Network mean for you

CONNECTIONS COLLABORATION LIKE MINDS MOTIVATING RESULTS SHARING CAMARADERIE INSPIRE COMMUNITY SAFE SAFE COLLABORATION BUSINESS SHARING ENERGISING NURTURING

POSSIBILITIES

IDEAS

POSSIBILITIES INSPIRE NURTURING

FUN NURTURING

OPPORTUNITIES SUCCESS

POSITIVE

COMMUNITY

INSPIRING MOTIVATING IDEAS

CLIENTS

RESULTS

WOMEN

COMMUNITY

OPPORTUNITIES

REFERRALS

SUCCESS ENERGISING

RESULTS

IDEAS

WOMEN

SAFE

SUPPORT

MOTIVATING CAMARADERIE

CLIENTS

IDEAS

SUCCESS

SHARING

SUPPORT

GROWTH RESULTS CONNECTIONS

FUN

CONNECTIONS

GROWTH CLIENTS BUSINESS POSITIVE WOMEN INFORMATIVE SUPPORT FUN REFERRALS BUSINESS POSITIVE INVIGORATING

FUN

GROWTH

COLLABORATION

INSPIRING

IDEAS

REFERRALS

INFORMATIVE

Here are some of the women in our Ealing Athena Network Sara McCracken Business lawyer ViaLegal

“Practical and flexible legal assistance and support for managers, directors and owners responsible for the management of legal risk and issues in their business”

m: 07717 714913 e: sara.mccracken@vialegal.co.uk www.vialegal.co.uk

Sarah Bennett Accountant Bennett & Co.

“We are a family-run, friendly and proactive practice which provides accountancy, tax and bookkeeping services” t: 020 8567 3236 e: sarah@bennettandcompany.co.uk www.bennettandcompany.co.uk

Nicola Gaughan Photographer Iconic Creative

“Capture your precious memories through quality, relaxed, informal, professional photography” m: 07753 413005 e: info@iconiccreative.co.uk www.iconiccreative.co.uk

Shereen Presky Virtual PA Mulberry B

“Clients hire Shereen in the knowledge that they will be able to focus their energies on building their own businesses whilst Shereen focuses on the tasks m: 07809 667548 at hand” e: shereen@mulberryb.co.uk www.mulberryb.co.uk

Ruth McCarthy Think It Through

“I’m a great advocate for our ability to break through stalemate and create new solutions for ourselves when given the chance, the time and the undivided attention of m: 07776 242005 another person” e: ruth_mccarthy@btinternet.com www.thinkitthrough.co.uk

Damaris Wollen Rosen Method Bodywork

“Rosen Method seeks to liberate our capacity to experience more of ourselves – to move more easily, to breathe more easily – to express our creativity, pain, joy and love more m: 07976 414246 openly. Essentially e: damariswollen@mac.com to be more fully alive” www.rosenmethod.co.uk

Carlene Bender

Print advertising entrepreneur Contactus Publishing “We put out two local magazines: Contactus Ealing and Ealing Homebiz, designed to promote all types of Ealing business, and to help shoppers find products and services right m: 07960 392677 on their doorstep” e: info@contactusealing.co.uk www.contactusealing.co.uk

Esther Newall

Counselling, psychotherapy & personal development “I am a UKCP-registered psychotherapist, counsellor and transactional analyst. I offer 1-to1 psychotherapy and counselling and also personal development m: 07932 116171 coaching” e: esther@psychotherapyinealing.co.uk http://psychotherapyinealing.co.uk

Maddie Cunnane Graphic designer MLC Design

“From logos, corporate identity and literature, to flyers, posters and wedding invitations, I make it stand out with a bespoke design” m: 07956 495208 e: maddie@mlcdesign.co.uk www.mlcdesign.co.uk

Leila Denison-Pender

Aromatherapy Symbiosis Aromatherapy “We offer bespoke aromatherapy massage treatments in Ealing, using the principles of traditional Chinese medicine to identify areas of physical or emotional imbalances, and m: 07814 659323 select essential e: ldp@symbiosisaromatherapy.com oils accordingly” www.symbiosisaromatherapy.com

Clare Weeks

Interior designer My-Studio “My-Studio specialises in contemporary residential interior design. We help folks who put design first, share a strong sense of style, but don’t know how to get t: 020 3294 6679 there themselves” e: clare@my-studio.co http://theluxeminimalist.wordpress.com

Natalie Gardiner

Leaflet distribution Letterbox Lovers “We provide a completely tailor-made service, so the advertising material is delivered to the appropriate areas, at the appropriate time. We concentrate on reliability and making sure the m: 07927 711600 leaflets get delivered” e: info@letterboxlovers.co.uk www.letterboxlovers.com

Michelle Finnigan

Osteopath Zest Osteopathic Healthcare “Zest Osteopathic Healthcare is a home-based clinic which offers a relaxed and friendly approach to osteopathy and massage” m: 07759 484655 e: zestosteopathy@gmail.com www.west-london-osteopathy.co.uk

Professional vacancies in Ealing Athena Network include: • driving instructor • jeweller • insurance provider • estate agent • event organiser

• florist • caterer • gifts and crafts • language tutor • music teacher

Page 14 / Ealing Homebiz / April 2013

HOMEBIZ FEATURE

Spa Maroc: ‘all made with love’ that she suffered from facial acne as an adult.

She credits her own handmade, organic, argan-oil anti-age remedies with the transformation in her skin. “I have chosen the best raw materials in my products. You can see the difference from the first time you apply it – it is all made with love,” she says.

Hania started Spa Maroc in 2009, building on beauty and wellbeing knowledge she gained in her native Morocco.

She now plans to expand her home business by returning to her former training in physiotherapy.

Hania Aouad: ‘People don’t expect it to be so hard to work from home’

H

ania Aouad is a walking advert for her Spa Maroc range of skin care products. With a face shining like a 1980s teen magazine model (remember when they were asked ‘what makeup wouldn’t you dare leave the house without’, and they answered ‘moisturiser’, just to show off how naturally beautiful they were?), it is hard to believe

Are you sending the right marketing messages to the right people, at the right time?

The smartest businesses have a marketing plan which defines strategy and tactics to keep existing customers and win new ones. If you don’t yet have a marketing plan we can help. ‘My Marketing Plan’ is available in three versions depending how much help you need.

Visit www.thetrainingpack.co.uk/products for more information or call Glenda Shawley on 020 8991 2767 now and take the first step to joining the smartest businesses.

“You have to feel the fear and do it anyway,” she says of her business ventures, run from her home in Ealing Common.

“When I started I couldn’t speak English. Every day I’m doing something a bit better; taking another step forward.”

Highlighting the downsides of homeworking, Hania explains that: “People don’t expect it to be so hard to work from home.

I began to suffer from isolation after two years. Networking really helped with that.”

And while she would love to open a shop one day, she does realise that, “for a start-up, working from home is the best way. You can’t afford a shop, you can keep your job, and once the business is settled, then you can quit your job.

“Also it’s hard these days to find a job so this is the advantage of doing your own business.

“You wouldn’t start a business if you didn’t have a passion for it, so belief like that will make it happen.”

See spa-marocshop.com

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Magazines about Ealing businesses

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HOMEBIZ FEATURE

Ealing Homebiz / April 2013 / Page 15

House & party

Q&A Trish Pead: House-in-Order & Party Staging Hello Trish, what’s new at House-in-Order?

Finally, estate agents are recommending House-in-Order to their clients. They recognise that a professionally staged property really stands out from the others on the market and that they sell much quicker and often for more money. We make small stylistic changes in the presentation of a property, in a way that highlights all its positive aspects, which is key to a quick and successful sale.

Now you’re staging parties?

The Party Staging side of things started when a client asked me to stage her house for a Winter Wonderland

party over Christmas. It looked amazing and a person who went to that party asked me to do a James Bond theme party at New Year.

Do you do any other themes?

I was asked to plan a birthday party for a seven year old and Alice in Wonderland became the theme. My creative side was able to go into overdrive and the props were fantastic [See advertisement below]. It was a huge success and I’m now promoting the Alice theme for spring and summer.

I’ve always loved to theme my own parties – even my wedding 15 years ago had a medieval theme!

BEFORE: This West London living room awaits a House-in-Order makeover

AFTER: A few key changes makes such a difference...

See www.house-in-order.co.uk

Themed

Contact:

Trish Pead

Party

07785 922 424 trish@house-in-order.co.uk www.house-in-order.co.uk

Staging

“your dream party come true”

Photos from the “Alice in Wonderland” theme

Next issue of Contactus: June 2013: Northfields W13 Advertising deadline: 31 April

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