The seven rules for business success

I've spent 10 years working as a freelance writer and running my own online business, from home, around three children. Now, I'm going to share the seven rules for business success.

After my first baby was born, I decided I’d like to work from home. I needed to earn a living, I wanted to work, alongside mothering, and I was going to create a scenario where I could mother closely but also feed my hunger for career progression.

I was raised by an entrepreneurial father who turned his profession - as an optician - into a business, by opening several shops. He spoke openly, over the years, about how he ran his business and I could see that his success was down to several factors.

So, when I found myself at home, with a baby in a bouncer, having actually had my supposedly ‘rolling’ contract as a copywriter terminated (because of pregnancy), I knew that I would start a business, and run it in a similar way to my dad.

At first, I wrote articles, as a freelance journalist - this is what I’d trained in and been doing prior to the copywriting job - and later, I launched an online platform called The Early Hour that would change everything.

It led to a book deal, new journalism commissions and, a few months later, an online course business that would earn me £120,000 in year one - almost entirely profit - and, in time, an online community on Substack that brings a recurring monthly income.

Here’s how that happened (followed by the seven rules for business success)