osTicket and Vagrant
osTicket is a self-hosted and open source ticketing system written in PHP. I wanted to give it a try as one option for a client's support needs, but with a…
Invoice Ninja and Vagrant
Invoice Ninja is a self-hosted and open source invoicing solution written using a PHP framework called Laravel. I wanted to give it a try as a replacement for my existing…
Terms of Business Agreements
One of the most important things about running your own business is deciding on the terms under which you will supply goods and services to clients. These are often contained…
Managing tax on self-employment income
One of the biggest changes when you become self-employed is the fact that your tax isn't deducted at source; instead you have to file a tax return each year and…
Freelancing mistakes to avoid
Over the course of the past few years as a freelancer I've made, and learned from, a number of mistakes. I cover these in my Life as a coin-operated monkey…
Work/life balance lessons
Over the course of 2018 I made a number of tweaks to how I work in order to try and obtain a better work/life balance. Most of them have been…
Recruitment done differently
If you follow me on Twitter or have read my Why I don't work with recruiters post, you'll be aware that I have had a terrible experience with the recruitment…
Post-Brexit business planning
Whether you voted Leave, Remain, or not at all, business owners need to prepare for the UK leaving the EU in March 2019, either with a withdrawal agreement or the…
Co-working spaces in Manchester
Recently I was asked for suggestions of co-working spaces in Manchester city centre. Rather than email the person directly, I figured it was easier to add a blog post and…
Should government mandate IPv6 rollout?
IPv6 rollout in the UK has been rather slow. Despite being standardised around 20 years ago, some major ISPs have still not completed the rollout of IPv6 to their customer…