I’m ordinary, but I found an extraordinary business. Let’s start by telling you a little bit of background about me and the inspiration for this business.
I was made redundant from a stressful job in 2003. Although I had a small redundancy package my ongoing salary was essential to the family income. But what was I going to do that didn’t involve going back to another stressful job and paying a fortune for childcare?
So I was sitting at home – out of work at the time – when I picked up my recently delivered local parish magazine (this was May 2004). You know the sort of thing: a worthy but amateur publication, run by volunteers, a bit of advertising and some letters from Mr Angry, complaining about the parking problems in his road. There was an editor’s note at the front, and this is a copy of that page:
What? Not only do they have a waiting list of advertisers, but they won’t put anyone on it either. What a great position to be in, turning away business. Surely, if there were companies out there who had to wait to do local advertising, I could start up something similar and they could advertise with me?
Well, not only could these businesses advertise with me but they did. I started a community magazine with the goal of helping to put small local businesses directly in contact with residents and it now gives me and my husband a fantastic income.
But oh my goodness, it was hard work. In my first five weeks running up to going to print, I worked day and night. And even after the magazine had come back from print it took me over 20 hours in one week (in August, in the heat) just to get the magazine delivered let alone all the hours getting it together in the first place. This wasn’t the plan at all! I didn’t want a business where I was back to square one, working all the hours to make ends meet.
However, with the absence of any knowledge or contacts on how to improve things, I carried on as best as I could. I started to streamline the process and first off recruited some help with the distribution. I now know that I was actually operating illegally and had any of my distributors had an accident I would have been in serious trouble. Within 12 months I had searched and researched how to run the business and I issued the first release of the Mags to Riches pack. But I didn’t stop there; every month for the past five years I have learnt something new and have added it to my pack. In the six years since I started my magazine I have built up my business to the point where I now earn well over £6,000 a month profit. No, that’s not what I invoice, that’s my profit purely on my single magazine business. Even better, apart from incoming phone calls I work no more than 4 days a month. I can take time off and it makes virtually no difference to my monthly earnings.
However, it took me over a year to get to the first £1500 profit. With the advantage of my five years experience one of my recent Mags to Riches customers made over £1000 in her first month!
You can do it too
With the Mags to Riches program and my personal support I’m here to help you launch and grow your very own home-based community magazine business. This is a genuine chance to start earn a living (and then some) while still having the flexibility to do what you want in life. You will get more satisfaction out of work, you can work round your family and you can have a better life without having to commute.
About the team
Mags to Riches Ltd is a UK registered company of which Tania Houston is one of the directors. The business was first launched in June 2005 under the name of First Issue, meaning this year we celebrate 5 years of success in helping people to launch community magazines.
Although I’m the person that leads the business, I can’t do it on my own, so have a fabulous group of people who work with me.
Firstly, Tania’s husband and co-director, Kevin deals with many of the calls both for our own magazine business and for Mags to Riches. From a sales background in account management and direct sales, Kevin has heard every sales patter and objection there is to be heard.
Moira: Manages the support site ensuring all new articles and puzzles are formatted and uploaded and deals with any queries relating to content. Moira still runs her own magazine so is an active user of the site as well as one of our administrators.
Heather: Manages most of the design work and is the expert on the design software for advanced publishers.
Our writers: Too many to mention by name but contributors are in the UK, Japan, Australia and France!
The network: The learning from several hundred people is more than even 10 employees in the business could ever hope to offer. Through our user forum, monthly newsletter, surveys and local get-togethers we are constantly learning how to improve our businesses and stay one step ahead in this market.
Mags to Riches doesn’t try to pretend it’s some huge corporate because we’re not. What we are though is a professional and experienced company who can assist you in getting your own independent business running. We don’t try to claim any ongoing part of your business and we don’t ask for any monthly part of your turnover. Remember though it’s not just the start – it’s the ongoing support that really does make the difference between success and failure.
If you think this is the sort of business in which you could excel, get in touch with us.