Offline business learning for online businesses #onlinebusinesstips from Julie Bishop

Julie Bishop photoThese days I’m the Founder of jobhop.co.uk  which is a social networking site for employment. My business helps companies to tap into and attract the talent they need to propel their businesses into the future. Before Jobhop though I had started & sold two previous businesses, both were huge learning experiences for me.

My first business was a catering business in East London, which started because I would make exotic filled sandwiches for my then boyfriend for his packed lunch for work and his colleagues started putting in their lunch orders! The business just happened, before I knew it I was making sandwiches in our own shop then before long we needed bigger premises  Seven years after, with a new boyfriend, we were supplying catering to Newmarket racecourse, Wentworth golf course, Windsor polo club and more! I can’t even remember how many staff we had, but I knew we working all round the clock and we had taken over the industrial site with all of our units! It was at that point I thought I don’t like this, I was always shattered, why was I doing it? That’s when I realised I had allowed myself to be swept along with it all, not once had I planned any of it. The decision to sell was made, it sold very quickly, I took a year off and I just slept for a year.

The lesson I learnt there was to be conscious of what was happening, not just be swept along, the next business I started had to be well planned.

After my year off and now with a baby I planned for my next business. I secretly wanted to save the world and the idea came to me as I was cleaning out my shower one morning. I was asthmatic and the cleaning product I used made me wheeze, I remembered my dad saying in conversation that the chemicals we spray these days will kill us and the world, I had a  light bulb moment. What if I could bring out cleaning products which were safe for us and our planet? At the time there were some “green” cleaning products on the market & research showed me that consumers thought they were “wishy washy” and that you wouldn’t get a good clean with them. I realised the products had to be industrial strength so people wanted to try them, I also realised many people needed educating on how to clean their homes effectively without harsh chemicals. The first U.K environmentally friendly cleaning business was born, with our own eco safe product range and an education that went with it. Another business, another load of new lessons to learn. These lessons were:

In my last business there was no planning, this business there was too much planning, I needed to get a happy medium.

Sometimes luck really helps, as I launched the business the government started to go on about green issues and policies which helped to propel my business.

I sold our products nationwide but soon learned to say no to any enquiries outside of the UK as it was too expensive for me to set up.

Finding great people to work with me was crucial.

I learned not to worry about people copying you.

My biggest lesson was that when we entered the credit crunch everything changed overnight, from speculative to cost cutting and I had to adapt.

I had started up Jobhop alongside my business out of frustration. I was looking to employ someone to help me with franchising and the recruitment agencies were sending me the wrong type of candidate. I had been an early adopter of social networking using platforms like Myspace, Ecademy and Friends reunited, I wondered if I could use these online profiles to recruit from. With that idea buzzing around in my head I created a small platform as a hobby to start with to see what type of interest it would generate. It became clear that this new business idea excited me, so I eventually sold my business to concentrate on Jobhop.

Jobhop has helped me to learn so much, however the fundamentals  of business are always the same whether it’s offline or online.

It’s all about attitude, your team ( whether they’re employed or outsourced), your systems, your finance, your brand, your marketing and your relationships.

If I had to choose the one most powerful lesson it would have to be “work on your business, not in it”

Julie Bishop is the founder of JobHop “The social Networking Site For Employment” which came about whilst using social media to recruit for her last company. Julie shows businesses how they can attract talent and cut recruitment costs by using Social Media.

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