2010 – Page 4 – Business Plus Baby

November 29, 2010December 5, 2010

Mumpreneur Monday Challenge: Give Yourself a Pay Rise

It’s Monday Challenge! This is going to be the last Monday Challenge for a while because let’s face it, we don’t need anything else to challenge us in December! I bet your to-do list is big enough already?

(By the way, here are the previous Monday Challenges if you missed them.)

So today’s challenge is (drum roll please…)

Give yourself a pay rise!

Here’s how you could do this…

Check to see if you’re under-charging

Is a lack of confidence keeping your prices lower than they should be? Have you kept your prices at the same level for a while and never had the courage to raise them? This week take a really honest look at what you charge.

Get a grip on your finances

Are your books less tidy than they should be? Is it hard for you to keep track of money coming in and going out of your business? If your bookkeeping and cashflow were up to date you could see where you were making the most money – and do more of that activity. You would also spend less time sorting your books out at the end of the year – time you could spend on activities that generate income.

Talk to your customers

Do a survey, ask them what they really want. Perhaps you could provide that little extra product or service that would increase your profits without too much more effort.

Think (and act) bigger

Is there one thing you could do that scares you, but that would give your business a boost? Maybe it’s sending a press release to a higher-profile magazine than you do usually. Perhaps it’s having the courage to speak at an event. Do it this week.

Plan

Decide you’re going to make more money in 2011. Sit down with a pen and paper or a spreadsheet and crunch those numbers. Set yourself a target that you want to earn in 2011 and plan out exactly how you’re going to do it.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you got on!

If you liked this challenge, take a look at my Earn What You Deserve as a Mumpreneur E-Course. Sign up for more info and you’ll be able to download my e-book: Price It Right: Five simple steps to choose a price for your product or service.

November 26, 2010November 26, 2010

Can You Help Build a Better Future for Mumpreneurs?

Business mums are a varied crowd. Some are happy to be called mumpreneurs, others hate the word. Some are making a few pounds here and there to top up the family budget, others are making many thousands.

But to reach, support and help promote mums in business it’s important that there are solid facts and figures to work with.

Jane Hopkins of MumsClub says “The only known statistics for mums in business are from the 2008 Yell.com survey and the 2009 BT Business survey”, so she’s just launched the Mumpreneur Census 2010-2011 to gather up-to-date information. Jane would be be very grateful if you could spare a few minutes to fill in the survey – you’ll also be entered into prize draws, plus she’ll be featuring various mums throughout the campaign.

You can take the Mumpreneur Census here

Antonia Chitty and Erica Douglas of Become A Mumpreneur are also on a fact-finding mission. Antonia says:

“It has become apparent that many mums have no idea how to start earning flexibly or the most effective ways to create a profitable business. I spend a lot of time explaining business basics to people and I feel it’s an area many could use assistance with.

So Erica Douglas and I have decided to launch a beginner mentoring program. The focus will be on how to make money flexibly from home, how to take a business from idea to reality and what to do to make your business succeed.”

Before they launch they want to be sure they are offering exactly what aspiring mumpreneurs want. Plus they are offering lifetime membership of the programme to the person who gives the best feedback. It doesn’t matter if you’re beyond the stage where you need a beginner programme, your feedback will still be really valuable.

You can take the Become a Mumpreneur survey here

As you probably know, I co-wrote Start a Family friendly Business with Antonia so I know just how much she and Erica have to offer mums who want to escape their 9-5 jobs and build a better working life around their families.

photo credit: jronaldlee

November 25, 2010November 25, 2010

Sponsorship Opportunity

Next year I’d like to attend the very successful and high profile Cybermummy Conference. Cybermummy is the number one conference for British parent bloggers – last year speakers included journalist India Knight and Mumsnet’s Justine Roberts. The event was written about in many, many parenting blogs, covered in the Financial Times, and featured on Woman’s Hour on Radio 4.

I’d love to attend to represent Business Plus Baby and you. Continue reading “Sponsorship Opportunity”

November 22, 2010

Mumpreneur Monday Challenge: Time Management Tips

It’s that Monday time-of-the-week and that means it’s time for the Monday Challenge! (You can read all about the previous Monday Challenges here if you’ve missed them…)

Lately I’ve heard lots of business mums talk about not having enough time. Mums are permanently pushed for time so there’s nothing new there! But there’s no doubt the run up to Christmas puts us under even more pressure, especially if Christmas is a busy time for your business too.

So with all that in mind, this weeks challenge is to…

Try a new time management technique

Here are some ideas: Continue reading “Mumpreneur Monday Challenge: Time Management Tips”

November 21, 2010November 19, 2010

Congratulations to Liz Weston, Future 100 Young Entrepreneur of the Year!

Business Plus Baby guest blogger Liz Weston, founder of Weston Communications and the New Baby Guides, has been awarded the title of “Future 100 Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010”. Liz and her publications, the New Baby Guides have won a Future 100 Award for being “an organisation that can prove impact where people, planet and profit is concerned”.

The Future 100 Awards profile young entrepreneurs aged 18-35 who are demonstrating entrepreneurial flair and innovation in progressing a responsible business venture; one which demonstrates a balance between economic, environmental and social goals to achieve ultimate business success.

Liz says “I am so pleased to receive this Award and recognition. To be one of the UK’s top 100 social entrepreneurs is brilliant news. We are so pleased that other people see the value in our work with Maternity Units, local businesses and local parenting communities. We’ve always had a social agenda in our work – to date we’ve donated £16K to NHS Maternity Units and we’re very proud of this. It’s not the most commercially viable thing to do, it’s simply the right thing to do.”

Having spotted a gap in the market for working hand in hand with NHS Maternity Units in an ethical, profit sharing fashion, Liz Weston launched the New Baby Guides in 2009, encouraged by Heads of Midwifery from Maternity Units across East Anglia. The New Baby Guides are unique because they are high quality publications where complete editorial, design and content control is retained by the Maternity Units she works with. The New Baby Guides help Maternity Units provide tailored, localised information for new families which is relevant, engaging and easily understood.

Congratulations Liz, you really do deserve your award!

You can read more about Liz and the award on the Weston Communications website.