The Rise of the Phoenix...

Writing, as most writers know, can be a little hit and miss where income is concerned: at least it can be when you are first starting out!

It is because of that, coupled with my stubborn attitude towards getting a "real" job, that I made the decision to find an additional source of income - not necessarily related to writing. So I looked at what I considered to be viable options. My youngest son is still at school, so I really wanted something I could fit in around school hours and holidays etc. I also feel, as a Mum, that I should be available to my family if there is ever an emergency, and didn't want to be in a situation whereby I would potentially have to send my son to school if he wasn't feeling too good, just because my employer couldn't get cover for me. Jobs which award 13 weeks holidays a year seemed to be hard to find (unless you are a teacher) so again, things were pointing more towards a self employed role.

I think you see where I'm going with all of this... I wanted income, but not a job!

In my defense, I did apply for quite a few "jobs", but the employment market is, it would appear, very competitive theses days, with literally hundreds of people all desperate to sell their lives off for £6 an hour...

The conclusion was that I needed to look at the Direct Selling market. By that I mean the likes of Avon, Betterware, Kleeneze etc. I trawled through the Internet looking for information on a whole range of catalogue and party plan options, and the company which seemed the most appealing to me was one called Phoenix Trading. They specialise in the manufacture and sale of greetings cards, gift wrap, invitations and stationery amongst other things. I liked it, and could instantly see how I could make it work for me as far as time commitment was concerned.

I contacted the company, who put me in touch with someone who lives locally to me. I spent about half an hour with her on Saturday, going through how she operates her business. It gave me the opportunity to see the brochures and a lot of the product samples, and I was really impressed! The quality is superb!

So... On Monday (20th June 2011) I registered as an agent. It cost me £30, for which I get a business kit (should arrive today!), which contains absolutely everything in it I need to get started. I could have left it there - there are 25 brochures in the starter pack so I could have just given those out to start the ball rolling, but no. I decided that I am really going to go for it!!

I have booked a stall at my son's school's summer fair this Saturday. In addition to the £30 business kit, there are "Starter Kits" you can buy so that you have things to sell straight away if you are looking at working your business in ways other than just through brochure orders. The biggest kit they do contains over £300 worth of stock and costs £150... that should be here this week too! I didn't have to buy it, but I really do want to make a go of things, so I intend to do Fairs, Coffee Mornings and Parties as well as put brochures out.

So here I am, sitting waiting for the van to turn up with my goodies!

I decided to keep a record of my progress from day one, and thought that using my blog would be a good way to do it! So, everything I do with my Phoenix Trading venture will be recorded here... I've even created a Label so that anyone who just wants to follow my business's progress can click on the Phoenix category and read away!

It would be great to hear from other Phoenix Traders, so if you have a Phoenix Trader story to share please either add a comment below, or, if you would like to do a Phoenix Trader post, get in touch with me (email bev.morley@live.co.uk) and you can be a guest blogger!!

Hope y'all have a great day!

Bev xx