Making Tax Digital
A cartoon about tax returns
The special office
Important footnotes This diagram is not for one moment supposed to be me complaining about how difficult my life is. I am fully aware that my life is not difficult and that I am very lucky to have my own office, a radio etc. It is, perhaps, a commentary on the plight of the creative…
Pictures of my new office
I now have the keys to the new office and will be moving some things in over the weekend. Here are some pictures of the office in its empty state. Warning: Those who find dull pictures uninteresting should look away now. Above: Empty office. Note heater and powerpoints. The computing department will be on the…
Highlights from my filing system
Regular readers will know that at the weekends the budget for this blog does not allow for the posting of cartoons or interesting anecdotes. Instead I focus largely on highlights from my filing system. Today, a section from my bank file entitled ‘letters informing me of my idiocy’. This is where I file letters that…
How do you administrate yourself?
Cartoon from We Blog Cartoons. It isn’t new, but I’m hoping no-one will notice. My administrative systems are in a state of meltdown. I have never really got on top of the organisational side of running a business as many of you will be able to testify, but now it has got to the point…
Incoming paperwork
This is the method I use. I have found it to fail without fail. This has nothing to do with the fact that it is National ‘Do your tax form’ Week. [You may repost this image on your blog if you put a link back here – thank you!]
Working from home
Most people would, if given the chance, like to work from home. There are of course huge benefits. Unfortunately I am finding that the perceived benefits are all outweighed by the sheer isolation. As a cartoonist I’d say about 95% of my communication is done via the internet, about 3% by letter and perhaps 2%…
Kiva: lend money to entrepreneurs in the developing world
This is a very good thing that I saw a while ago but hadn’t remembered to write about until I saw it on Kristen’s bus stop blog. In summary, Kiva is a site that enables you to loan money to people who are running small businesses in developing countries. What a good idea. As Kristen…
I must do my sums
Update (31st January, 1am): Well, the good news is that I think my first ever tax return has been entirely filled in. I’m sure I’m being very generous to the tax man, but such is the price of not being good with these things. The bad news is that the tax website has entirely stopped…
Tax return cartoon
It is the time of year when people who are last minute about things do their tax returns. I noticed from the procrastination comments thread that there are others who are in the same boat as I, so perhaps this post will act as a motivational resource to help us all. I am grateful to…
Giving cartoons away for free
I was reading a post on this blog reviewing ‘The Long Tail’, a book and concept that has become popular in certain internet circles. I was struck by this line: 5. Don’t underestimate the power of free. You can build a business that involves 90% of your customers not paying anything (like Yahoo or Skype)….
Working from home
First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who has submitted cartoon ideas. I will be printing them all off later and making notes on them and hopefully some drawings will result. Seriously, it makes a big difference, so thank you. Today’s subject: working from home. Excuse the old cartoon (post with larger version),…
Squidoo
During my lunchbreak today I made what is known as a ‘lens’ on a new site called Squidoo. It’s here if you want to see it. A ‘lens’, as far as I have gathered up to this point, is a webpage about some topic of interest to the person writing it. The idea is that…
How to be so-so creative
Hugh ‘Cartoons drawn on the back of business cards’ Macleod’s Gaping Void (Usual disclaimer about language etc etc) is another of my regular internet reads. I found this post, ‘How to be so-so creative‘ to be one I particularly related to: “I drew cartoons there quite obsessively for about a decade; but I’ve slowed down…
Just taking a break to say…
Cre8d asks How many ways have you got to be interrupted? In my case quite a lot. There’s still a huge amount to be done for the launch of CartoonChurch.com at the Christian Resources Exhibition, and although I’m slowly getting there it still seems like quite a mountain to climb. Heck, I nearly missed ‘my…
How to be taken seriously as a cartoonist
I went to the Design Museum yesterday. It was worthwhile, though not spectacular. At the moment I’m looking for inspiration regarding design for CartoonChurch.com, both the website and my business as a whole. And yes, I am fully aware that with only a few weeks to launch I should have got that sorted out ages…
My first day of self employment
Today is my first day as an officially self employed person. I woke up determined to get going in an efficient and productive manner. I’ve been at Maddie_C’s house as it has been her Easter holiday but I was all set to return to my house this morning. So, I jumped into the van, turned…
I have the wrong envelopes
One of the great things about starting a business is ordering stationery and office supplies from a business catalogue company. I had looked forward to doing this for some time. Well, the day finally arrived yesterday, so I have an absurd number of pens and enough A4 paper to draw a cartoon a day for…