Instructor Newsletter 23rd August 2012

 

Another week flies past as I find myself penning the newsletter. Events over the last 7 days have seriously challenged me, and as I always like to write about what’s current and on my mind so you have the full nitty gritty here!

Today’s newsletter is all about what do you do if you get sick or injured and unable to teach or train your customers. Have you actually given it any thought and put systems in place? If not read on…….

I asked all of my mentoring group to write articles on ideas on this subject to get as many takes and views on it as possible. This is such an important topic and one that is rarely discussed, so here it is in this week’s newsletter.

I would LOVE to get your feedback on this topic today so, as always you can tweet/Facebook or email me on the usual contact details.

 

 

What happens if you get sick, ill or injured by Rachel Holmes

I’ve just had the week that we self employed Instructors dread. A banging headache behind my eyes that wouldn’t go away resulting in a swift trip to the Opticians.

As I’ve been shortsighted all of my life and wear contacts and glasses, I know my optician pretty well; she reported a drop of 4 points in vision, she couldn’t see anything untoward but there clearly was a problem. Pop back Saturday where she would do a retest and then they would refer me to eye casualty. I carried on teaching, working, driving etc even auditioned for a new Gok Wan Show on Channel 4, but my vision was getting worse. I got my Monday classes covered and headed to eye casualty. More examinations and lots of bright lights shined into my eyes and after more tests and examinations there was talk of brain scans and MS…

Me?……. Absolutely no way, there’s nothing wrong with me, I’m strong as an ox, and never have anything wrong with me and I’m too busy to be ill.

By Wednesday I was back to hospital to see an eye specialist who confirmed a detached retina in my left eye and tiny holes in the right retina resulting in an operation the following day. It was that quick.

It was a rough operation and traumatic and I woke up looking like I’ve been 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. Both eyes had been operated on and I felt battered.

No training, No driving, No exercises, No teaching and lots of rest. The eyes need time to heal. I’ve been confined to barracks for the last week.

8 years ago I was teaching 30 odd classes a week and if this had happened then I would have been totally snookered, and instead of being able to rest, relax and heal I would have been beside myself with worry and stress about class cover, no income, canceling workshops, when was I going to be able to get back to class etc etc.

Now, I definitely don’t want to be the voice of doom. But, let this be a lesson to all of us. You just don’t know, health wise what’s around the corner. Something totally, unexpected and out of your control could stop you bang in your tracks.

Its a week on and Im mending slowly but its been so frustrating and painful but Im getting .

Creating Multiple Income Streams for Your Business

There are so many ways you can create multiple income streams from different sources . This is CRUCIAL as a self employed person or one mad band. You need to get systems in place, revenue streams coming in from different areas so if one aspect of your business is affected you will still earn and profit from another stream.

In 2012 there are a lot of options open to you. I bet everyone reading this all like the sound of passive income and creating additional revenue streams, but I bet not many of you have actually created it as yet? Everyone says they are going to do it…not many people actually pull it out of the bag.

Check List

Everything on this list is not an option for the self employed Fitness Professional it’s a MUST HAVE 🙂

1.A professional website that you update and has a shop and holds your database.
2.Every single customer’s contact details on a database.
3.Home workouts that you sell on your website to your customers or give away if you have to cancel.
4.A suitable cover Instructor on speed dial for every class you teach.
5.A “manual” detailing the classes you teach, how you teach them, the intensity, choreography style etc to email to a potential cover instructor to prep then at the last minute.

Simple Multiple Income Streams that All Fitpros should be creating.

Start building a family of products TODAY.

1.Create a DVD and sell it on your website and in class.
2.Create a membership section of your website for a monthly fee.
Write an ebook.
3.Create an audio/mp3 – relaxation/motivational/walking or running workout to sell on your website.
4.Create an online course aimed at your customers and specialist niche.

I hope this gives you some food for thought and inspires you to build these simple systems right away.

Tweet me @RachelHolmes

Are you thinking about Fitness Business Coaching?

My next course begins 10th September

Click here for all of the details

How to build Successful Community Classes

Yesterday I launched a new webinar package: How to Build Successful Community Classes and I was overwhelmed by the response.

Ive loaded it with tons of information on how I built a large community class business, including venues ideas, marketing and PR, What classes to teach, Hot Niches for untapped markets

Click here for all of the information

”Never give up” by Tanya Oliver

Today I find that most of us tend to stress out when an unfortunate event happens or we fall of ill health! Some people have action plans in place & some of us don’t. What I also find from talking to other instructors is that we worry because we think that no one can teach our classes as well as we can or shall I re phrase that and say, FACT, that the people who come to our classes, come because they like you and you’re style, so we tend to end up stressing if something happens to us that causes us to be unable to teach and we worry about our clients, do you agree with me?
In life we have many hurdles to jump over life can be hard and testing at times. Sometimes it’s unfair but the true fact is what I always say ”you can’t change an unfortunate event but what you can do is figure out the solution to the problem”.
Recently sadly to say, I had a nasty fall ended up in A&E and unfortunately damaged my knee, currently I am walking with the aid of crutches and don’t yet know the extent to the damage! Being a personal trainer yep this is my worst nightmare. I mean what if it’s damaged that bad I can’t teach again! Because I run my own business and am self employed this truly was hard to cope with.

My first thoughts were,
What about my clients?
What about my classes & clubs?
What am I going to do?
Will I manage to get cover?
I’m going to lose money?
What if I’m off for a while my clients might find somewhere else to go

The true fact is I can’t change what’s happened all I can do is get on with it, overcome it and persevere and start making an action plan. The end of the day I truly believe in just taking a step back assessing the situation and figuring out an action plan is the only way forward.
I also realise that in this industry what we need to always remember is that it’s a people business and your true followers will be more concerned on you getting yourself sorted out and back to good health. Whilst they might find somewhere else to go for the time you’re recovering, when you’re back you’re followers will be right back there with you and if you were to lose a few, you know you can do it build up the class again, you agree with me right?
At this present time with my injury from my accident I’m so pleased all of my work isn’t just personal training and running a variety of classes. I still have bills to pay and still need a steady flow of income which is why I am so pleased that I have online products and courses. So whilst I can’t go out and teach at the minute I can push my clients towards working with me online.
I must admit creating Make The Change Online is my best coaching course so far! Basically I work closely together with my clients, working on the client’s mindset & commitment into boosting their confidence, self belief & strive the client forward to empowerment. The client & I work on many aspects of their life so that they can become successful at their goals & aspirations. My programme is not a diet. My programme is based on cognitive behavioural therapy and is packed with all the tools that the client could possibly need to train into regaining their self belief, self regulation, confidence and control which will then have an influence on their mind, wellbeing and a healthy lifestyle.
My programme is about habit building and the implementation to install good habits. Habit patterns work in the brain & the programme is designed to explore this and implements tasks and strategies to re-wire the brain.
Not only do we implement cognitive behavioural therapy and habit changes but my programme is also an education course and runs over a period of 12 weeks. Along changing people’s lives the programme educates the reasons behind everything and to teach the client a full understanding on how to deal with their hormones & their body responses. This then has an effect on their nutrition and training.
This online product is delivered weekly by online recorded webinars where the client will receive 1 webinar per week for the duration on 12 weeks and also a 1 to 1 call fortnightly.
The benefits from having online passive income

Leverage your time
Flexibility
Increase your income
Client Retention
Results

Running online programmes are systemised and run efficiently with minimal effort. It will automate your business freeing up more time to work on other projects or simply spend as you see well, more time to relax and recover from any sudden health problems where you suddenly have to stop teaching. You will be able to work very few hours whilst still earning great money.

Whilst the information and the tools are given to the client online you will also receive great client satisfaction & loyalty is built & developed throughout online programme/product and will retain your clients and grow your business at the same time.

My top tips to creating your own online programme or product would be,

Consider brand identity when building online income
Make your product your own let it represent you and your business
Make it totally unique to anything that is around on the market
Ensure what you create for your target market has high demand

In life we may all at some point experience a sudden health problem, accident or injury it may give us the urge to give in and quit, but don’t give in whatever your business goal is in life, if you do this it could become a habit!
The fact is that whatever setbacks you have use it to find a strategy and figure out the right action to take and let it make you stronger and more determined.
The more you have in place the less you will have to worry if something uncontrollable happens, knowing you will still have other income streams saves you a lot of worry and stress in the long run!
A lot of people out there never reach their business goal because they quit, the saying here in Sunderland is ”If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”. Whatever the situation push yourself out of your comfort zone and go beyond what you think you’re capable of.
So you see what I’m saying right? Working on your own business is all about perseverance and learning. By persevering in pursuing your business goals you are building a great lifelong habit.
Keep this thought with you, have a cracking day
Tanya x x x
http://www.lifestylefitness.org.uk/index.html
http://www.facebook.com/tanya.olivergrieves
Tweets by tolivergrieves

30 is the new 60 by Michelle Jones

For those of you who follow Rachel on twitter and facebook you will see recently she sparked a few debates and awareness of 30 minute classes. There’s some of us out there like myself who added this style to their programme a few years ago and some fit pros still debating will the customer get value for money and a good content.

I added this type of session for two reasons. One to give my regular hardcore customers a more intense session, to help retain that type of customer as you all know it can be frustrating for regulars when we go back to basics for newbie’s and this client group also gets there own class. Two, more than ever now peoples time is precious, us included, we just don’t have spare time with our manic lifestyle, kids, jobs, houses etc so I wanted to create a class where people spent less time but still got amazing results if not better. For me now I do 2 classes in one hour, that’s more clients and double the income in that time.

Everyone has a NICHE, a class we love teaching and for me it’s the circuit style class. What I did was rebrand my session to circuit30 extreme. This also re-motivated me as I got to do the more intense style circuits such as tabata protocols and accumulators and using more advanced exercises, your regulars just love a challenge.

3 years ago it was hard to change customers mindset that they could train just as hard in 30 minutes then doing a one hour class or for some doing back to back classes, I gave free sessions and kept plugging at the marketing and now I have an extreme brand with the following class type under that umbrella Punch extreme, Abs Extreme, Kettlebell extreme, and vipr extreme.

September is fast approaching and we are all looking for something new and fresh. But why create something different when you can just adapt your current NICHE like I did with HIIT in mind. Make 30 the new 60…. Less is more!

Would love your feedback

Chelle

Twitter: @chellejones315
FB: facebook.com/chellejonesfitness

Top 5 business tips for FitPros
By Claire Mockridge
Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert

Hi there C2Goers,

As you know, I teach just 9-10 classes a week, with the majority of those being Ante/Postnatal sessions. I carved out my niche very early on in my fitness industry career. If you haven’t found your specialism and don’t know what your USP (unique selling point) is yet, don’t worry – there’s always time to let this develop.

I’ve been self-employed for some time now, and today, I’m sharing my top 5 business tips that have helped my company survive and thrive:

Ask clients to pay upfront – A must when dealing with the client groups I attract. You may have a very successful pay as you go business, and I’d like to say “well done” to you! There will be times though, when numbers on your supposedly busy class will plummet and there goes your profit for the evening. All of my classes are run on a pay upfront basis. Yes, all of them.

Set firm but fair terms and conditions – If you don’t set terms and conditions or have a clear refund policy, people will use you as their doormat. Harsh, but true.

Passive income stream – If you want to be teaching your classes until you’re 70+, then you might as well skim right on by to the next point here. If, however, you don’t want to teach forever, setting up a successful online business/passive income stream is vital. I love making money whilst I sleep. You can too.

Build your brand – Get your name and your brand out there. People need to know about you before they buy into you. Simples. Here’s something Theo Paphitis from Dragons Den, said to me: “You’re never going to get very far in small business if you’re shy.”. I think there’s a lot of truth in that statement.

Reward yourself – It’s really important that you reward yourself after all of that hard work otherwise you’ll reach burnout. When was the last time you took time off, just for you? I take quite a lot of leave each year, in fact I’m in Belgium as you’re reading this (sampling chocolates and beer – LOL!).

And there you have it! My top 5 tips for working in business.

For details of my Pre/Postnatal Marketing Manuals and dates for my next “Bridging the Gap” Pre/Postnatal Exercise & Marketing Workshop connect with me here:

Closed Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/clairemockridge/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/clairemockridge1
Twitter: www.twitter.com/clairemockridge
Blog: http://clairemockridge.wordpress.com/

Bye for now.

Claire Mockridge
Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert

Do you have a safety net? By Paula Denvir

My inspiration for this week’s article has been taken from one of my clients who unfortunately was involved in a nasty cycling accident through no fault of her own. Her bike simply skidded out whilst going downhill on some oil on the road. I am very proud to report that she is on the mend, still smiling and looking forward to getting back in the saddle.
But this made me question 2 things –
What happens if this was to happen to you as a Fit pro?
Do you take precautions when doing outdoor pursuits?
Ok you’re not well can’t teach, had an accident, do you have cover in place? What happens to your classes, clients?? From my own personal experience this happened to me last year after being in a car accident, I had to have 10 weeks off – not good when recently opened a Studio ?
I didn’t have a safety net in place, strategy of what to do, I simply hadn’t thought about it. It’s so important to network with other local instructors to help out with class cover in times of need and I’m sure they would do the same.
The importance of building an online income stream is also paramount as you simply don’t know what is round the corner.
Do you take precautions when doing activities outside your normal realms of being a Fit Pro, our body is our job?
A few years ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about water skiing, rock jumping, go carting but since my accident and the responsibilities I have now I feel differently or is it an age thing!
I’m still undecided on whether to still go for my new road bike or get new set golf clubs?? Hmm decisions, decisions ………
Be happy, accident and injury free!
Best wishes.
Paula ?
Golf Fitness Specialist
http://www.facebook.com/groups/194734340657108/
www.healthywellbeings.com

Jayne Nicholls

Just last week during ”coffee with Bobby Cappuccio” (which by the way you should try to catch every Friday as he is an amazing coach) he mentioned the grief that his friend experienced when injuring her knee. Not because she was a big cry baby, but the immediate impact on her body and her business sent her into panic mode. In that 1 second she considered no work, no income, no momentum. I completely understand this and indeed have experienced it on a few occasions and like I said to Bobby I don’t go skiing, walk under ladders or cross on green, I live a pretty careful life in order to stay in business BUT sometimes things are out of our control and we have to lay back. When I first had to have an operation I just looked at the doctor and said no, I can’t fit it in, to which he laughed and said ”you have to”. Let’s face it things go wrong and we have to deal with it, luckily I have a fantastic hospital who let me schedule in over Christmas plus I was allowed to drink wine immediately after, in fact from what I can remember it was a great year end.

However the point of all this is that we are way too talented , skilled and hard working to keep suffering the stress of no pay when we are on holiday, ill or simply need a little break. After all we give and give and sometimes taking is ultimately important. So a few years ago I started working on schemes to make some money for instructors passively and ethically. I had meetings with Fit Flop, created the plan for us all to retail in our classes and with clients (which they loved), I recruited a team of #1 trainers and then just at the end, they pulled out. Suffice to say I will not be invited to any of the Fit Flop Christmas parties and I urge you all to wear the M&S version in protest to their total lake of respect but hey ,hum I take us very seriously and that was just rude.

So lesson learned I then kept my ventures closer to home and contemplated projects that could not fail, which is when ”GXT Mentors” was born and instructors came on board selling what they do well to their frontline class members and new instructors – our motto ”you can do what I do”. So many were giving away their gold standard knowledge for free, so I simply turned this gift into a business, we now have help from Active IQ and you the instructor can earn per client by mentoring and coaching new talent. My second venture came to me in the form of Nic Jarvis who is a lovely, lovely man and one that I made a point of meeting 2 years earlier. He told me that he was involved with Herbalife one day out of the blue and I am ashamed to say that I laughed. Ever inquisitive, he coached me for 3 months, teaching me the ins and outs of this 30 year old multi billion company and I gave him such a hard time. On my first meeting I arrived as Nic (millionaire team member) jumped on stage to tell his story and his plans. I listened to so many people talk about how they were making a passive income from health and wellness while working as accountants, builders, you name it.

By 3pm, I had decided that I was in. Everything you need to do this well, I have at my fingertips and so do you – large groups, influence and more so a desire for us to tell our story. I was using the product as a healthy breakfast which has turned my world around and I am not ashamed to say that £500 to £1500 extra a month is just the ticket, don’t you agree?

So that was then and this is now, I have a new team and we are doing it slowly but surely our way. I am promoted daily, I have a product based website that cost me £40, I meet so many new people and I am loving it. Last week my boyfriend told me that I had never looked more beautiful in all the time he has known me (and no it was not a night stand and he was not under the influence). Perhaps it’s because of my new wellness regime or perhaps it’s because I can breathe for the first time in my career.

If you have any questions on ‘GXT Mentors’ or GXT Wellness and Weight Loss please email jayne@groupxtrining.com

Vikki Scovell’s Musings

I wish that you could see where I am sitting writing this. I am shaded from the intense Mediterranean sun by a faded bamboo roof. To the edges of my vision smoky mountains rise up from the hazy horizon, and stretched out before me is just sea, sea, sea (starts humming La Mare in head). Never mind fifty shades of Grey; this is a hundred shades of blue, except more interesting and better written. I honestly don’t know what to do with myself it is so perfect and still. I can just hear the waves teasing the rocks on the beach below, the mandatory crickets beating a rhythm in the olive groves which spill down the hill side towards the sea, and the children having the time of their life in the pool on the next terrace above my little white cube of a house. My pad for the next two weeks is snuggled into the hillside overlooking the sea; everything is white, clean and spare, almost monastic in its simplicity. And my friends, it is found down a series of stone steps, away from the main house, and away from where the children are staying, I am ON MY OWN with the sea and the sky; a perfect home for a writer. The auditory landscape is as beautiful as the visual one; we are talking BLISS.
I arrived yesterday at nine in the evening; it was breath-taking forging through the unusually high winds and choppy waves from Athens towards the rocky horizon, then rounding the headland and cruising into the most lovely and unexpected jewel of a harbor from the vantage of a high-sided Greek-Island ferry. We spotted the faithful Land Rover Snow Drop (sister to my Landy Bluebell) in which I have navigated as (traumatized) co-pilot, terrifying welsh hill tracks in thick snow and ice. Hundreds of miles away, here she was, parked up on the brink of the blue, gleaming in the rose-coloured evening light, stuffed full of the waving arms and excited faces of our beloved friends. We drove back to the house, chatting and hugging children, holding hands and saying how much we had missed each other. My gal Louise mentioned that she had basically been driving people around for the last 6 weeks, and that it was quite tiring. Without hesitation, I offered to drive Snow Drop anywhere, any time, and that there was nothing I would rather do. I immediately rescinded this offer the instant we approached the ‘road’ down to the house. No Oxford English Dictionary definition of ‘road’ would cover it. Firstly to get into the ‘road’ one must perform a 4-point turn on an EXTREME camber (if you have never driven a long-wheel-base Landy, they have the turning circle of a Double Decker Bus), then the already ropey track turns into rocks and dust, but ladies and gentlemen, not JUST rocks and dust, but the aforementioned being only-just Land Rover width, and precariously balanced on a winding precipice looking straight down steep cliffs towards rocks and sea. I instinctively grasp for my St Christopher, which I haven’t worn for 25 years, but actually really WANT right now. My gal Lou takes this track at a speed which makes me almost pray out loud whilst trying to cross myself and genuflect at the same time for good measure (God and I have not been on speaking terms for a long, long time so he may have been surprised to hear from me). When we reach the house I have a serious muscle strain from performing extreme imaginary breaking. I decide not to leave the house for next two weeks in case I have to experience this again. 30 minutes later, I am experiencing it again, but in reverse; back up the hill, but with some REALLY hairy cliff-edge 7-point turns to get Snow-Drop facing the right direction. Lou shouts to one of the kids in the back, can you see me back? You’re fine, they shout back nonchalantly, followed a micro-second later, by STOP! This time however, after a missed night’s sleep and a couple of glasses of cold white wine, I am more resigned to my fate. I have instantly rewound to my formative years in the Med; que sera sera, everyone has to go some time, why not with a belly full of good local wine, and a decent view of the sea? However even an imaginary St Christopher works; we make it with no auto-disasters to the Taverna, for Greek salad (surely ALL salads served in Greece will be Greek), roquette and parmesan, stuffed aubergines (can I just mention that my spell-check keeps auto-correcting aubergines to Aborigines’ which is both impolite, NOT vegetarian and far too-filling), Tsatsiki just like my Greek friends make and nothing at all to do with what Mr Tescos makes, and fitness chums I’m afraid to say the yummiest garlic bread and white wine in the world (and all vegetarian- there is a Greek God after all). Then, after a walk back through the port to the car it was back home to a sleepy chat under the beautiful stars, and bed. I’m not sure how it happened, but I woke up at 2:30 the next afternoon…….. in heaven.
Rewind, 48 hours. I’m in the grey misty Welsh hill-top weather. I have a thousand things to do and if anyone asks me, I’m actually not looking forward to coming away. I am worrying about work I haven’t done, missing boot camp, getting fat and wobbly on holiday, being away for the two weeks before September launches, and having no internet. At the root of all of my anxiety is getting the car to Heathrow in the middle of the night when she has broken down twice in the last week, then a plane, bus and ferry with two tired kids and no husband-shaped security blanket. I am the world’s most reluctant flyer and ferries are absent from my list of preferred forms of transport. In the past I have meekly done exactly what my ex-husby who is a seasoned and relaxed traveler says, but have never been this far on my own with children. My anxiety levels have been hugely elevated since my horrible accident; you may remember, I begged the paramedics not to put me in the helicopter because I hate flying so much, and the trauma of being so badly injured and meeting my mortality/vulnerability face to face, has still not left me even after two and a half years. I am not the person I was. At this point, haring it down a dark motorway in a broken car, jumping onto a metal box which goes REALLY fast, but also in the AIR and over the SEA, then into another metal box which banks it around hair pin bends with extremely un-British driving skills, before the piece de resistance; a high-sided floating box crammed full of people, cars and lorries, crossing the most notorious and dangerous stretch of water in the Aegean Sea; OK I know I am pathetic, but these things simply make me SWEAT. Anyway, back at home I also had to get my chickens to a friends house, so a friend came over and we got the coop into the back of Bluebell and out again on the other side. When you move chooks, they need to stay in for the first day or so that they can get their bearings and come home to roost. Alas, as we carried the coop over to where it needed to be the bottom fell out, dumping my poor girls unceremoniously onto the floor in an unknown field. They scooted for cover, deserted and disappeared. Crap; not a good start. I pride myself on looking after my animals properly, and so losing them in this manner was a bit of a blow. However, I had a plane to catch and there was nothing I could do but leave the coop with food and water and pray that they would find it at bed time.
Anyway. The car journey was fine, the plane was a biggie and 100% less hair-raising than the propeller ones I usually get, which I find terrifying. The bus was easy to find and dropped us at a glistening harbor where we camped out in the Taverna until the exciting and dramatic ferry ride out to the island. No problems, nothing to worry about, all good fun; even the turbulence made us giggle, and there was something deeply thrilling about the noise, roll and busyness of the boat in spite of the high winds and wild waves. It is utterly ridiculous the energy which I expended in worrying and stressing about getting away. I feel a complete fool. I am having the time of my life, and as for not working; actually I need a rest, to do very little, to spend time with my children and people who I love. I am sat finishing this under the shade by the pool, watching the younger kids make up dance routine, whilst the older ones read on sun loungers. I have promised to walk them down the hill side to the beach as soon as I have finished typing, for a swim in the sea. Then this evening we will find an internet café to get this to you.
I suppose the point of this one is; stop worrying, don’t let silly anxieties balloon out of proportion, and just get on with it. I’m sure that if travel and flying don’t phase you at all, you will think I’m barking mad to worry about going on holiday, and obviously I am because it has been no stress at all, but sometimes I let my worries get the better of me. When I get like that I try to involve myself with planing for the thing that is stressing me out, on this occasion I browsed for the 14 best travel pillows for airplanes and settled on a brand for me and the kids. You might have other things that distress you; changing career direction, striking out alone, letting a relationship go, ditching unprofitable classes, or starting a new venture. Imagine that I had simply given up, not made the effort, worried too much about taking time off; then I wouldn’t be here in paradise. Take the leap of faith my friends; whatever it is that is worrying you, it isn’t as bad as you think. I am already promising myself that I will never get my bikini bottoms in a twist again about things which I am perfectly capable of dealing with. When you are self-employed it is always a bit stressful to take time off; and there is so much to get on with at this time of the year. Actually my productivity had dropped off the radar because I was due some R’n’R, and keeping going with the kids around was a losing battle, so letting that pressure slide has been this right choice. Now we are all here together, I’m hoping for some inspiration to write, overlooking the sea from my little white box of a house, drawing from the light and beauty like countless other writers before me here in the Greek Islands. Other than that, I’m just going to relax, enjoy and chill. It’s time to stop being such a worry bag, let my anxieties drift off into the blue, and accept that things which really get to me are not only never that bad, but usually end up being completely ACE.
I hope that you are having a great time, and that if you have some small things preying on your mind, you can put them into perspective, bin them, and move on to good times. Que sera, sera……..
Vikki Scovell @fitbite

Variety is The Spice ……..Multiple Is Nice!!
By Andrew Crawford

When is rape not a rape?
This strange episode of Wikileak’s leader (Julian Assange) is the basis of the reason they want him to leave the safe confinements of the Ecuadorian Embassy (paid for by yours truly)…based in the UK..to face trail of an alleged rape case.
In fact….two cases of rape.
There are 2 camps. Those who think YES……. and those who think NO.
Now…if you didn’t know the details, I will try and summarise them here for you.
Lady meets Julian…takes him home, wines, dines and grinds him. In the morning apparently he indulged himself to ‘second helpings’ (like you do..)…..whilst she was fast asleep. Bam…there you go….he just happened to slip in without her noticing..!!! Eazy Tiger…!!
You decide.
The second case was strangely similar to the first…..horny sod..!!
Assange has not been charged, he is merely wanted for questioning on ‘suspicion of rape’…..
I say…….use FB…mobile, phone, internet, skype, face time on the iphone, talk talk…text. There are so many means of communication these days.

More importantly…….IBM managed to pay just 7 per cent corporation tax instead of the full 28 per cent. Because it is based in Ireland, like other US giants including Google and Facebook, it can funnel some of its profits there to be charged at a lower rate.
What are the HMRC doing about that??
B*ll*x…!!!
Just like the row they are having with the ‘Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority’ (Ipsa).
Who are the Ipsa?
They are the MP’s Expenses watchdog who decide on what expenses MP’s can claim……what worries me is that they are not playing ball with the HMRC.in fact running ring around them….it seems like they are above the ‘rules’ as laid down by HMRC.
Not the case for me or you…. We have to find a variety of ways to spice up our lives. …be it copious amounts veuve, brandy or pims….wining and dining and….
So Andrew……what the blast has Variety and Multiple, Spice and Nice got to do with Accountancy and Tax??
Well….with multiple income streams there will be multiple ways for you to trade and a variety of ways in which to transfer those funds into your bag and shoe fund.
Multiple Ways for you to trade
Whilst contemplating your different multiple income stream options, you could adopt one or various ways of operating your business. The main ones are:
Sole Trader
Partnership
Unlimited Company
Company Limited by shares
Company Limited by guarantee
Limited Liability Partnership
Charity
Employee

Multiple Ways to take your income
I call this ‘Profit Extraction’
Once you have different streams of income, you may want to set yourself up with a small company. In this way, as well as multiple income streams, you will have multiple ways to extract the profit from your company.
The variety I offer here may suit some of you or may be something you may think about down the line when the dosh is flowing in abundance…!!
You’ll know when the time is right….”when your purses or wallets are too small for your money..!!”…..(I saw that today from Nikki Swindle on FB…..go girl)
I will not bore you here and go into detail on each one of these ….I just wanted to make you aware of what is possible, so you will have a variety to choose from…..
Wage
Salary
Bonus
Pension
Stocks & Shares
Dividends
Interest
Rent
Loan
Company Car
Mileage Allowance
Use company Assets
Accomodation
Childcare provision
Medical expenses
Family dividend
Selling to the company
Royalties

At a later date I will fill in the details and tell you exactly how to do everyone of these…………..properly….!!
All designed to extract a nice multiple variety of cash for you and yours…..nice..!!
Finally…
Be careful what you wish for. Last week Tony Nicklinson lost a court battle for Doctors to end his life. Little did he know that our Heavenly Father had another plan for him.
He past away quietly at home, amongst family members. His life was not his to take but a gift from the Almighty. Amen.
When I was younger I wished to be surrounded by All Women…….
Variety is the Spice…Multiple is Nice!!
See ya xx
Andrew Crawford
www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com
www.facebook.com/andrewjamescrawford
www.twitter.com/tax4fitness

Hope you enjoyed this weeks newsletter
Love Rachel xxx