It can be difficult searching for employment when your circumstances are demanding; whether it's childcare and domestic duties, or otherwise not having the time to walk around the town centre with a stack of CVs. Luckily there's another way to find the job you're looking for.
You wear many different hats over the course of a typical day, but none are as important as your roles as a mother and a businesswoman. This is a unique combination of responsibilities in which one role enhances your perspective of the other one.
Do you have a friend, colleague, family member or neighbour who works tirelessly helping others?
It’s quite simple: We’ll donate £10,000 to spend on the car of your nominee’s choice from the wide range of used cars available from Motors.co.uk. We want your nominations for who you think deserves to win!
Working from home can be hard, especially if you are used to the ‘norms’ of office life. At first the move from an office to your home can be daunting, as you are by yourself, however, it doesn’t always have to be so bad. Following the tips below you should be able to keep productive and enjoy the fact that you don’t have to spend time the train/tube/bus/car commute, and ultimately spend more time with the family.
These days we are all concerned with keeping our costs down. Running a car - although essential for many of us - is becoming more and more expensive. Fuel, road tax, MOTs and car insurance are all costs that we can’t get out of.
That’s why it really pays to make sure you’re getting the most for your money. One way to keep car insurance costs down is to make sure you always drive safely. Here’s why:
There are lots of ways that you can use storage more effectively around the house. If you're a home worker, its doubly important to sort out effective storage - the mundane realities of business – storing stock, promotional materials, financial records and other indispensable archives - can rapidly multiply, at best taking the edge off your haven of tranquillity, at worst cluttering a limited workspace. And if you're handling any products or materials for your business, you're not likely to have the spare room needed for that unexpected or bigger-than-usual delivery.
Here are some key storage questions to ask to find the best solution:
.... so escape for the weekend (with or without the kids)!
Finding time for a break as a motivated mum can be a struggle at the best of times - but everybody needs to relax. You don't have to get on a jet plane to the Maldives for this either!
Whether you are going with the children, female friends or with your partner, there are plenty of holiday cottages that you can enjoy across the United Kingdom. Keep reading for some suggestions on Sykes Cottages to visit for that much needed break.
Here we are at New Year again, and I see that many of my favourite bloggers are making resolutions, and many business owners are setting business goals for 2012.
For many of you who are reasonably new in business, one of your goals may be to get yourself some training in order to help you develop the online side of your business. The questions I get asked the most by mums involve such subjects as
SEO
Building an email list
Social media marketing and Blogging
Affiliate selling
Confidence building
I can honestly say that just over one year ago, when I took over Motivating Mum, I didn’t have a clue about any of this stuff. I needed to get some training about all things online, and I needed it fast.
Whether you've got a busy job and you fancy doing a little more of it at home and a little less in the office, or whether you work from home anyway and the kids are beginning to make things a little more tricky, setting up a good home office is the perfect way to get your work/life balance spot on. However, before you head to Ryman's and start buying home office furniture, there are a few steps you should take first.
My new business, an online children’s party shop, is called The Party Pirate. Nobody else can use the name in any other party-related business because it’s trademarked to me. But it wasn’t always like that.
When I started researching my business I came up with a name that I absolutely loved. It said everything I wanted it to say about my business in a subtle yet appropriate way. I checked that it wasn’t already trademarked or being used as a limited company and it wasn’t. The only other business using the name was a child minder living miles away in the north of England. She had registered the .co.uk domain, but I was able to buy .com which was what I had wanted anyway. As far as I was concerned, our businesses were poles apart and there was nothing more to think about.
Here are some more great tips for targeting your press release, from Julie Sherwood of Get In the Press. You can see previous articles written by Julie here.
Want a slightly different Christmas present your kids can use all year round? Indoors or outdoors, rain or shine?
If so, then Crazy Catch could be the one for you. Not only can kids of all ages have hours of fun with Crazy Catch, but they’ll be keeping fit and learning hand-eye coordination skills at the same time.
Crazy Catch, as featured on the BBC News Saturday morning sports slot with Mike Bushell, is a revolutionary double-sided rebound net reaction trainer used in schools, sports clubs, and by top sports professionals all over the world. Distributed in the UK by Flicx leading distributor of high quality portable synthetic cricket pitches and coaching equipment, it is the perfect toy for children of all ages.
How do you begin writing a Press Release, what story should you tell to attract readers and journalists to keep talking about you?
It's time to put your creative hat on to think about angles you could use. The idea is you want to position yourself as an expert in your field, that you know what you are talking about and your business is worth writing about.
Saving energy is as important a consideration as any for small business owners. Although public opinion is divided on energy conservation and efficiency (indeed, plenty of misinformation has been published on the issue), saving energy can help a business save money. Small Business owners should read below for tips on how to save money on business energy.
Whether you do practical work or administrative work, if you work from home in the UK then you are likely to be classified as a home worker. A great number of home workers in the UK are employed in the manufacturing industry, while others are teleworkers who deal with office based tasks. No matter what type of work it is you do, you will have a certain number of statutory rights. Depending on what legal status you have you may have a number of additional rights afforded to you, as well as a number of tax obligations.
Want to have your product featured in a national magazine? read on....
Wouldn't you love to see your product featured in a big consumer magazine or newspaper? Imagine having your product imagery used in a parenting feature reaching thousands of potential customers. Just how do people get their products in the press?
Julie Sherwood runs www.getinthepress.com a budget-friendly PR company aimed primarily at Mumpreneurs. Julie works to get your business in the press – raising the profile of your business. Here she shares some tips so you can learn the tricks of PR yourself. In this news series, Julie will be revealing PR secrets to help you enhance your business so that you can Get In The Press.
The look and feel of your home office is an extremely important aspect of your business and working life, especially if you are a work at home mum and need to create a separate space to work in peace. For most people, the office is the place where you “make things happen”, where you do business and earn the money that is needed to support your lifestyle and family. For this reason, it is essential that the office is a place where you can feel comfortable, feel inspired, and get work done in an efficient and productive manner without being disturbed. This means that the look of the office should reflect your tastes, and give you a positive sense of confidence and accomplishment whenever you enter the room.
With so many people starting a small business from home these days, it is important that you have all the right information to ensure that your business is a success. For those considering using their personal cars, there are a number of points to consider before making this decision, including insurance and mileage as well as whether it is worth investing in a separate car for your business use. You must also decide between a new car or a used car.
By Liivi Hess, Principal of Magnolia Hill Interiors
As your wee ones head back to school this week, you may find yourself in a slight state of shock from the sudden onslaught of busy-ness. It takes time to find your rhythm again with the constant comings and goings, demands and routines.
Read on for some practical tips and useful insights on how to optimize your home to make busy family life run a little bit smoother. After all, your home should be your haven, facilitating your daily needs flexibly and efficiently, rather than being an additional source of stress!
After chatting to both clients and friends who have become mothers in the past couple of years I have come to realise the variety of challenges that women face after having children. It is these precious feelings of the amazing mothers who I have been lucky enough to either know personally or come into contact with through my work as a Life Coach that inspired me to design specific coaching support for mothers. One such area is returning to work after maternity leave which I would like to explore with you in this article.
Returning to work after having children can be extremely daunting. Whether you are going back to a previous role, taking a new direction or even considering starting your own business, this turning point in your life can leave you having quite an extensive soul search. So how can you enter this transitional stage of your life with a positive mind set?
Up and coming mummy owned business, Who Loves Me?, is very proud to announce that their cards have been shortlisted in the Loved by Parents 2011 Awards in three categories - Best Baby Gift, Best Baby Print Product and Best Innovative Idea.
For those that don’t already know the company, Who Loves Me? puts a new twist on traditional children’s flash cards to help children get to know their family members better. The personalised flash cards help babies, toddlers and children learn more about their extended family who they may not see frequently, while encouraging communication and language skills.
Those of you who have been hanging around Motivating Mum for a few months will know that back in March I organised a charity mentoring festival called Mummy Mentoring Month. As part of that I asked successful businessmums to send in guest blogs offering support and advice to their fellow mums in business.
The response was phenomenal - I planned to publish one blog a day during March, and I figured I might have to fill in the gaps here and there - may be do my normal one blog a week or even a bit more, but instead I found myself with enough daily blogs to last me well into the middle of April.
Getting a business up and running is difficult enough, but finding a way to take it to the next level is an extremely daunting task. Once you’ve reached a certain level of stability and you’re breaking even regularly, you can start to turn your mind to greater things. There’s always room for improvement, but trying to achieve rapid growth can be just as risky as starting the business in the first place. As a result, you need to be extremely careful with how you go about it. Drawing up a plan is essential – here’s how to create an effective plan for your business:
If you're about to become a new mother, it's likely that you will be filled with joy and hope at all the future holds. But for many, the arrival of a first baby can also be a stressful time. Feeling overwhelmed by the huge responsibility of caring for another life and worrying if you're doing everything right is only natural. So, how can you make it through the first few weeks and months with the minimum of stress?
Blogging is now massively popular, and a "must do" part of internet marketing, but to anyone new to the internet marketing world, even the term blog may be a bit of an unknown quantity. So, for those who would like a simple explanation of blogs and blogging, here's an easy to understand guide to blogging for beginners and a simple explanation of the 10 most common blog terms.
The Chillipeeps Journey Continues – from Yorkshire to Disaster Relief Zones Across the World
Three years ago I embarked on an incredible journey.
I was travelling in the car with my new baby, Mimi, who was screaming for a feed but I’d forgotten to pack a spare sterilised bottle. I had a carton of formula milk but no way of feeding it to my hungry baby with it.
Why hadn’t someone invented a teat that fitted directly onto the baby milk carton I wondered? So I invented one.
The rest, as they say, is history and the Chillipeeps teat was officially born at the Nursery Fair in Harrogate earlier this year.
The subtitle of this book is “How to get a grip on guilt and make a smooth transition back to work”, and it definitely delivers on its promise.
Jessica Chivers is The Thinking Woman's Coach, and has plenty of experience working with women to help them achieve what’s important to them. When her first child was 5 months old, she tells us that she dropped him off at the childminders and skipped away, exhilarated by the taste of freedom and the prospect of a whole morning at work.
If you have ever thought about writing a novel, as a route to self-employment, then here is some inspiration, from two career women who have done just that.
About the books
Never Mind the Botox is a book series about four professional women all working on the sale of high profile cosmetic surgery business the Beau Street Group. Each book reveals how the women cope with one of the most glamorous but challenging deals of their careers and the dramatic impact it has on their personal lives. With a briefcase in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, can they navigate their way through a surreal world of boob jobs by day and intrigue by night - and still keep their own love lives on track?
If you still have some room left over after all that Easter indulgence, then you may be interested in the prize we have to offer this month: A 'Supreme Food Tower'. It's a lovely collection of 6 gift boxes, all containing a lovely range of edible goodies - from Smoked Fillet of Duck Terrine, to Lancashire Crumble Fudge Cubes, Lindt Truffles and more. You can see everything that's included on the product page here.
A UK retailer is putting its full weight behind the StartUp Britain campaign in an effort to create a 500,000-strong army of entrepreneurs to help get the economy moving.
It’s amazing how times change. In my mother's time it wasn't usual for ‘nice’ married women to work at all, and certainly not seen as right for them to return to work after having a baby.
Then came feminism, and suddenly it seemed that going back to work was the only thing that a woman should do - anything else was a betrayal of womankind.
Now it seems to me that the tide has turned the other way again. Although there are still arguments for both sides and a bit of a battle going on, the media seem mostly in favour of those women who are choosing to prioritise family over their careers. Suddenly, if you believe the media, it seems that any mum who chooses to go back to work is at risk of harming her child and is acting against the child's best interests.
I've been musing about writing a book since I began working with Motivating Mum but have had to put my ideas on hold, while I get to grips with actually running the business first. Looking at Business in Red Shoes, this is the book I would like to have written, well laid out, with a friendly and engaging style, and including all the tips that I might have given to mums starting out in business, with many more of Rebecca's own.
I'll be honest, I first decided to start out in business when I saw an ad for a popular distributorship business, and signed up on the spot, without much thought to the whys, hows and wheres. A lot of my business life has been haphazard like that - I tend to be a creature of impulse, and as a result, some of my ideas have been successful and some have failed, until eventually (by luck more than judgement) I have hit on a combination of businesses that suit me.
The method that Rebecca suggests that you follow, is a lot more sensible, and if I had seen this book and gone through it in detail before starting my business ventures, i could have saved myself a lot of fruitless hard work and money. Chapter by chapter she goes through a series of questions that you should ask yourself before taking on or starting a new business venture. There are no right or wrong answers - every woman is different and you must try to find the business that best suits your skills and personality, and which you are passionate about.
In order to maximize Facebook as a marketing tool you need to integrate it into your other business marketing strategies and tactics. You're going to also want to integrate it into your website and/or blog. Facebook isn't nearly as effective as a standalone tactic as it can be when you embrace it completely. One of the most powerful ways to embrace Facebook to both drive traffic and customers to your website and to also build your Facebook community is to integrate Facebook plug-ins into your website or blog. Facebook offers Plug-Ins; you can find them here
Are you running a small business that is of benefit to people where you live? Can it be scaled up quickly? Are you looking for funding and expertise? Or do you have an excellent idea and a business plan but just need help getting started? We can help!
When you’re watching every penny that goes in and out, in can be hard to imagine leaving any spending for luxuries and pampering. The word pampering tends to evoke images of holidays, health spas or cruise liners for some of us, and as such it can often feel like something that other people do.
But this doesn’t have to be the case. One literal definition of pampering is to indulge. When you’re a busy WAHM sometimes you can feel like you have no time to yourself. So why not indulge yourself with time? Just taking a little time out to concentrate on yourself can be a good step towards feeling looked after.
We business mums face different challenges to other business owners. Compared to our contemporaries, we often work with babies underfoot and have even less time to devote to our businesses. This can affect our ability to be profitable. According to the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship there is some evidence to suggest that women-owned businesses may experience a higher rate of exit than male-owned businesses. Read article here.
Although the cause of this fast rate of female exit is unclear, there is a case for competitive pressure which forces out less sustainable enterprises. Are women exiting because their businesses are not profitable? More research is needed to identify the exact cause but in the mean time what can we do to improve our chances of success in business. Below are my tips from my own experiences as a mum and business advisor for increasing profits in mumpreneur businesses.
Everyone who owns a small business, or who is thinking of starting one, should get a copy of this fabulous Start-Up Kit. The blurb on the box says it contains “everything you need to start a small business”, and I would have to agree. The collection of over £400 worth of business-related offers are enough on their own to make the kit worth the £25 asking price, even if you don't want to buy yet another ‘start your own business’ book.
If you are just setting out on the journey of establishing your new business it is very easy to set up a new limited company and become a director. More business owners seem to be adopting the title of director of a limited company up from the start mainly because it is so cheap to form a company. Many formation agents will charge less than £50 to set up a company.
Perception
Maybe you want to set up a company because of the perceived status of importance attached to a limited company or the importance that the title of director seems to have?
Right Choice?
Is a limited company the right choice for your circumstances?
As mothers, we are always being told we can ‘have it all’ – a fabulous family life, a thriving career, and of course that ever-elusive ‘me-time’. But when you’re spending the majority of your waking life in a haze of sleep deprivation, dressed mainly in yesterday’s milk-stained clothes, just how do you find the time or the energy to develop your own business??
Helen Wooldridge and Polly Marsh managed to do just that when in 2006 they launched Cuddledry, the unique baby apron towel that they took to the Dragons’ Den and have since turned into a thriving business.
Living near Heathrow, I always feel sorry when I hear the stories of holidaymakers stranded at the airport, whether due to poor weather or strikes. I’ve often wondered if I could do anything to help – but really where would you start? Also, I know that some of the Olympic events are going to be close by my area next year, and I wondered if I could capitalise on that – but again, how exactly do you go about it?
Now, with the aid of a friend of mine, I may have found the answer.
Annabella Forbes has set up Bed and Fed, an innovative website, which allows anyone with a spare bedroom in their house the possibility to run a small business, offering bed and breakfast accommodation
I took my daughter to have lunch with one of her heroines, the author Auriel Blanche. Auriel's book The Magic Sunglasses has been available for some time now and it's one of my daughter’s favourites. Auriel may not be as famous as JK Rowling or Jacqueline Wilson (yet), but it was still a very big deal for my daughter to meet a real author of a book she very much enjoyed.
“You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” Mark Twain
Ask a successful person why he is successful, and you could get any number of answers. Some attribute their success to little more than luck. Others might believe that they owe their achievements to their fine education. Still others feel that they owe their good fortune to a helpful mentor or a loved one who encouraged them along the way.
All of these things can contribute to success. But there's one thing that virtually all successful people possess, and that's imagination.
The proceeds from Mummy Mentoring Month on Motivating Mum, will go to the Nema Foundation, a UK registered charity running projects in Northern Mozambique that work with communities to relieve poverty and protect the environment.
With more than 300,000 mums running a business and contributing over £7 billion to the annual UK economy*, a group of small business organisations are suggesting the best gift for Mum this year is to buy her a business or lend a helping hand by calling on the government to make childcare expenses tax deductible.
Across the UK mums are seeing the benefits of starting a business – earning their own living whilst still having time for family and friends. Being your own boss means deciding where, when and how you work which makes self-employment attractive whether you’re a Mum who wants to earn in the hours when newborn is sleeping or the kids have left home and you’ve got more time to pursue new interests.
The internet provides a seemingly limitless range of opportunities and prospects, many of which provide the opportunity to earn extra money, whether you are looking to supplement your income and earn extra cash, or even start a full time business. These opportunities can be particularly attractive to mums, as the internet allows them to earn extra cash despite flexible and unconventional working hours.
As always, the Budget is a trade-off. There are tax savings on the one hand and tax increases on the other. Please read the below questions and answers to gauge how the budget will affect your finances.
This month on Motivating Mum you could win a Bush BAFR5585W Undercounter Fridge, worth £129.99, courtesy of Argos. Not everyone has space for 6ft fridge freezers in the kitchen so if you are looking for something smaller that sits under your work top then this fridge is perfect. The fridge also has a freezer compartment, energy rating of A and holds over 100 litres of fresh food.
Deciding what to wear during your pregnancy can seem to be especially daunting. During pregnancy, your body will go through more change than it has seen since childhood and it can be hard for some women to accept their new figures. Finding clothes that suit you can be more challenging because over the years you have got used to matching your own shape to your personal style and now you may suddenly feel like you are buying clothes for someone else.
For many of us, this is the worst recession we can remember. We are all tightening the purse strings. It appears that we are shunning nights out. However, we are not sitting in front of the television but instead spending a little of that extra time enjoying ourselves!
During my pregnancy, I often thought about how I would look after my pregnancy. I also wanted to stay fit whilst pregnant. However, it was really difficult to find property maternity clothes that I could safely and comfortably exercise in. I just wasn't comfortable in my existing fitness clothes. They had stretch to a certain point but this was only during the first few months and they just didn't feel supportive enough. I didn't want to have to resort to a larger size in yoga pants or wrap around items that just wouldn't be practical or comfortable.
Are you struggling to find maternity work wear that looks stylish but that you can also afford?
You probably spent the first few weeks of your pregnancy in your normal clothes as they still fitted you comfortably and you were anxious not to let everyone at work know that you were expecting. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that and it is very sensible given the expense of a new baby.
I do definitely suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Round about October time I can feel the fog descending, and once the clocks have gone back it is all I can do not to crawl under the duvet and hibernate. Unfortunately the carb-fest of Christmas does nothing to help this, which usually means that by this time of year I feel pretty foul.
I’ve always been interested in the idea of light therapy to treat SAD. It sounds too good to be true but would be fantastic if it was just as simple as that. The only thing that has put me off so far has been the cost - most units cost over £200 which for me was too much to invest if it turned out to be a myth.
Well, it’s that time of the year when the high street stores are starting to restock with their new Autumn/Winter collections. Just when you thought you had understood and enjoyed what’s in the stores the collections change and it all becomes daunting again.
One of my tips when you go shopping is to walk into a shop, STOP at the entrance, look around at the colours and collections before you walk in and engulf yourself in the clothes. And please don’t lose heart when you don’t find something straight away....there is something for every body shape in our wonderful high street.
Do you suffer from low self-esteem? Would you like to feel more attractive? A new competition offering women the chance of a complete make-over from the inside out has been launched by the style gurus at Dress with Confidence.
The make-over includes everything from personal training to confidence coaching, detox to body shape analysis – combined value of £1,500.
Being a mum is a full-time job in itself. But now with pay freezes, redundancy and high unemployment, many mums are having to seek employment in the work place again and for many mums, staying at home full time simply isn’t an option anymore.
The job market has been going through some tough times since 2008. Unemployment peaked at 8% at the start of 2010 making the chance of finding a new job for stay at home mums almost impossible.
I've got a confession to make - I'm completely rubbish at ball sports. I'm that poor child in your class who could neither run fast nor throw straight, nor catch, and certainly not all at the same time. I was teased and bullied and I’ve hated ball sports ever since.
When you're just starting out with a new business, potentially big expenses can be daunting, like renting office space. But that needn't be the case, in fact renting office space can be money well spent.
Birgitte Lydum, one of our business mentors, is to have her invention showcased on a new BBC show. Birgitte wrote a blog for us in Mummy Mentoring month (read here), saying how she had great support at the start of her business from attending Motivating Mum events. Indeed it was Alli Price, the original Motivating Mum that encouraged her to apply for the show.
Birgitte was fed up with pegging flimsy muslins onto her pram to stop the sun going into her daughter’s eyes, so she invented a sun cover that solves this common parenting problem. The SunSnoozer has been chosen among thousands of applicants, to appear on BBC Two’s new series Britain’s Next Big Thing, hosted by Theo Paphitis . On the show, which is due to air April 12th 2011, we will be able to follow the SunSnoozer’s journey from concept to consumer product, alongside other up-and-coming products and designers that made it through to the show.
I sent out a daily newsletter during Mummy Mentoring Month, and it was very well received. When I said I was reducing it from daily to three times a week, one reader said she really looked forward to her daily dose of motivation - a bit like the water cooler chat with your friends.
This week I’ve run my business from (in no particular order) my sofa, my office, a park, a cafe, a train, a plane and three separate countries. My husband is a diplomat so we spend a lot of time travelling. And it’s not just me. Every member of the Babes With Babies (Bb) team is able to work everywhere. We have a set-up which provides full flexibility. Amazingly, it seems to work.
We’re passionate – nay, obsessed - about making the business accessible for the team so that everyone can work around their life. It’s not always easy but the benefits are enormous. Naturally, a more flexible working set-up works exceptionally well with our team members who have children but that’s not the only situation where it helps...
How many people when thinking about starting an online business have read about people making thousands of pounds online in their sleep, and decided they want to have a go at that? It seems like all you need these days is a website, facebook page and/or a blog and money will just come rolling in......
How many people have seen the big flashy adverts promising to sell you the universal secret to happiness, if you just click this and click that - and while you are at it why don't you just spend twice as much as you were planning to? Or even three times?
Have any of you ever bought any of that stuff? I have, and I'm afraid I'm still sitting here and not a multimillionaire just yet.
With so much choice out there, how do high street buyers make their buying decisions? How can you ensure that your product is chosen from the thousands that are pitched to them each year? And if you are lucky enough to be granted space on their shelves, how do you ensure that you keep it?
1 – Ensure you have a strong brand. When you are trying to bring your product to market, you will be seen immediately beside your biggest competition so you need to stand out as much as possible. Think like a consumer; what sort of packaging appeals to you? What kind of branding do you like? Take a look at the branding of other similar products and see what they all have in common and use this knowledge to your advantage. Most importantly, make sure that it is clear to potential purchasers what your product is and what it does!
You only get one chance to make a first impression: This is particularly true of the web.
If you go into a shop or a cafe and you don't like what you see - the chances are that you will hang around for a few minutes, you've probably caught the eye of the staff and it would look very rude just to turn around and walk out.
So the staff might get a second chance, a chance to engage you in conversation… and maybe win you over.
If you click on a website that you don't like, you simply click away - and no one even knows that you were there.
Time management not your forte? Always chasing your tail? Mum, business owner and time management guru, Sarah Sadler of Organised Mum, shares her tips and advice on how to make the most of your day.
Unfortunately for those of us who work and have a family there’s no getting round the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day! As a working mother it can be a struggle to fit in work and family commitments and feel that we are devoting enough time and attention to each area of our lives.
However, by taking a proactive approach to what needs to be done and applying some simply time management techniques, working mothers can regain control and achieve a balance between their work and family lives.
Relatively new to blogging Motivated Mum, Maggy of Red Ted Art, started out small and now boasts an ever-increasing readership and presence on the internet. These are her tips on ways to attract readers to your blog, increase your stats and get yourself noticed on the internet.
There are two approaches to this article. One is the story (rather a long essay) and the other is keeping it short and sweet. Here is short and sweet.
Here is a screen shot of my stats:
What happened in Jan/ Feb 2010 and again March & April? Then in May? What will June look like?
Tips and advice from Genius creator and food lover, Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, on production, research, funding and the challenges, inspirations and issues that mumpreneurs face in starting and growing their businesses today.
1. What is your background as a mumpreneur?
I have three sons, two of whom have food allergies. Prior to having my children, I trained as a chef at Bibendum restaurant in London and went on to teach at Leith’s School of Food and Wine when I co-authored their Techniques Bible. I also used to run my own business when I catered for exclusive parties and events in London.
When I discovered that two of my children had food allergies I decided to write a book called How to Cook for Food Allergies. Knowing how difficult it can be to cook for a family with various allergies, I had the cookery knowledge to impart to others to make it easier for people in the same situation as me. After writing the book, I went on to start-up a business called Genius Foods.
Many people take on freelance work from home. Some use a spare bedroom as their office, others use whatever free space they can find. The following are some useful tips and ideas for anyone working freelance to optimise your home office space.
Anyone working from home for the first time should have a plan. What or where will my office space be? What will I need in my office?
If you’re not in the industry, search engine optimisation can be a bit of a minefield.
So many people all tell you different things, but they generally have one thing in common, they all want to make money out of you.
You are probably already bombarded with phone calls from Companies promising to get you on page one of the search engines. In truth, they possibly can, but it will cost. And if the cost outweighs the business it generates then you have not really achieved anything. It is also important that you are at the top of the right page – it’s all very well pushing visitors to your site, but if they are the wrong visitors , you won’t make any new sales.
Self-confessed 'shoeaholic' and mum-of-three Andrea Alli is enjoying great success with her handy product, the 'Flexi Shoe Rack' (www.flexishoerack.co.uk). In this exclusive interview, London-based Andrea, 38, shares with other budding mumpreneurs how she found her feet in running her own business.
“Like a lot of women, I love shoes. The problem was I had 200 pairs and a lot of space in my house I simply couldn't use. Corners of rooms, gaps under the stairs or recesses in the laundry room just weren't compatible with the shoe racks available on the market. It frustrated me to buy a shoe rack that was of a fixed width and height with no flexibility built-in. The product just didn't conform with the space I had to play with.
Award-winning author Clare Mulley won the hearts of the nation with her debut biography of Save the Children founder Eglantyne Jebb. It was awarded the Daily Mail Biographers Club prize and was described as a ‘truly brilliant book’ by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. But in an exclusive article with Motivating Mum, the mum-of-three reveals the difficulties she faced juggling life as a writer and a parent.
Motherhood - in all its wonderful complexities - seems to be the story of my life. When I had my first child I decided I wanted to work part-time from home, so I left my job as a fundraiser at the charity Save the Children and started researching the life of the charity’s founder, the wonderfully named Eglantyne Jebb. The plan was to quickly produce a best-selling biography. I had no idea what I was taking on.
Eight of Britain's most respected female entrepreneurs have thrown their weight behind a groundbreaking new initiative that supports mums in business.
Rachel Elnaugh, Sally Preston, Laura Tenison, Antonia Chitty, Wendy Shand, Leila Wilcox, Mel McGee and Rachel Jones are backing Mentoring Mum, a unique mentoring scheme for self-employed women.
They will draw on their extensive experience to offer help and guidance about all aspects of business - from law and tax to marketing and public relations.
In the three years I have been running Motivating Mum, I have come across so many mums with many great ideas, be they product or service. They say 'necessity is the mother of all invention' and it seems they were right on many fronts; having babies seems to highlight areas lacking in just the right product or service and it is the mother doing the inventing.
I asked Cally to contribute this article as I know that although you have the ideas and the passion, the know-how is an area that many of you could use a little help and who better than the founder of She's Ingenious herself? Cheers! Alli
An article by Cally Robson, personal business coach and Founder of She's Ingenious!www.ShesIngenious.org
While grant funding gets harder to win, organized awards and showcases are on the up. Here are some pointers to help you find the pick of the bunch for your idea and stay on top of deadlines.
Article by Sarah Steel, Managing Director, The Old Station Nursery Ltd
After 7 years of running my children’s nursery company, I took the plunge last year and published my first book. Over the years I have enjoyed writing a newsletter for parents at the various nurseries and have often included a recipe we have made at nursery, or details of an activity that we have carried out that the children have particularly enjoyed. We produced an in-house booklet of nursery songs for parents, who couldn’t remember, or didn’t know all the words to some songs and wanted to be able to join in with their child.
So, slowly the idea formed that it would be really nice to produce a book which brought together lots of these ideas and activities and which parents, grandparents and carers could use to give them some inspiration when they were at home with an energetic child.
Identifying the pros and cons of drop-shipping – what is it and is it the right business model for you?
An article by Mindy Emsley, Founder and Managing Director of www.merababy.co.uk
According to Wikipedia “Drop-shipping is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer. As in all retail businesses, the retailers make their profit on the difference between the wholesale and retail price”.
Put simply, it means you advertise and sell Product X on your site for a retail price of Y££. When the customer buys Product X, they pay you the Y££ advertised. You then place an identical order with the supplier of Product X, who charges you a Wholesale (drop-ship) price of Z££. You give the supplier the customer’s details and the supplier packs and ships Product X directly to your customer. The customer receives their goods, the supplier receives the wholesale (drop-ship) price for their product and as with all retail, you have made your profit on the difference between the price you paid the supplier and the price the customer paid you.
Four, three, two, one!! The room erupts into cheers and, caught up in the excitement, you decide to stop smoking, go to the gym, stop spending, insert your own New Years resolution here...
Sound familiar? The next part probably does too. The part where, within a week your determination has been whittled away and you're indulging in cake, smoking a pack a day, shopping up a storm, insert your own personal demon here.
Guilt-free 'me time'. It ranks right up there with non fattening ice cream and a man that puts the toilet seat down, ideal but impossible in the real world. But is it really? Some things are out of our control, like getting hubby to drop the lid, but as fantastic as it sounds guilt-free 'me time' can be yours. Read on for tips on how you can take a little time back for you.
You've just given birth and come home with your new baby. You're getting up in the night, you're sterilising and washing, you're feeding and bathing and you're getting used to a new and very different life. So, what do you do? You start a business!
Growing up, Christmas was a magical time, great feasts of turkey and pudding, presents spilling out from under the tree and tinsel and lights sparkling through the lounge window. You never questioned how it all came together, you just ate, drank and played until you went to bed and it was time to look forward to Christmas next year.
I have never been fussed about having kids. I have never clucked over my friends' babies, chased kids at weddings or cooed over infants in strollers. I am what you call non-maternal, and I've never been bothered by it...until I became pregnant.
I had finally made it through the 9th month. I was ready to reduce my girth, deflate my ankles and stop dressing in clothes with stretchy panels. Most of all, I was ready to meet Amelie. There was only one catch; my baby was nowhere to be seen.
I've been musing about writing a book since I began working with Motivating Mum but have had to put my ideas on hold, while I get to grips with actually running the business first. Looking at Business in Red Shoes, this is the book I would like to have written, well laid out, with a friendly and engaging style, and including all the tips that I might have given to mums starting out in business, with many more of Rebecca's own.
Do you suffer from low self-esteem? Would you like to feel more attractive? A new competition offering women the chance of a complete make-over from the inside out has been launched by the style gurus at Dress with Confidence.
This week I’ve run my business from (in no particular order) my sofa, my office, a park, a cafe, a train, a plane and three separate countries. My husband is a diplomat so we spend a lot of time travelling. And it’s not just me. Every member of the Babes With Babies (Bb) team is able to work everywhere. We have a set-up which provides full flexibility. Amazingly, it seems to work.
With so much choice out there, how do high street buyers make their buying decisions? How can you ensure that your product is chosen from the thousands that are pitched to them each year? And if you are lucky enough to be granted space on their shelves, how do you ensure that you keep it?
Organised Mum, shares her tips and advice on how to make the most of your day.
Tips and advice from Genius creator and food lover, Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, on production, research, funding and the challenges, inspirations and issues that mumpreneurs face in starting and growing their businesses today. 
Self-confessed 'shoeaholic' and mum-of-three Andrea Alli is enjoying great success with her handy product, the 'Flexi Shoe Rack' (
Award-winning author Clare Mulley won the hearts of the nation with her debut biography of Save the Children founder Eglantyne Jebb. It was awarded the Daily Mail Biographers Club prize and was described as a ‘truly brilliant book’ by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. But in an exclusive article with Motivating Mum, the mum-of-three reveals the difficulties she faced juggling life as a writer and a parent. 
In the three years I have been running Motivating Mum, I have come across so many mums with many great ideas, be they product or service. They say 'necessity is the mother of all invention' and it seems they were right on many fronts; having babies seems to highlight areas lacking in just the right product or service and it is the mother doing the inventing.
Identifying the pros and cons of drop-shipping – what is it and is it the right business model for you?