Featured – Page 34 – Business Plus Baby

July 12, 2011July 12, 2011

The great home-working debate

Being a business mum can be great, but not every mum is suited to this life. Many are pushed into self-employment because of a lack of affordable childcare and flexible employment.

I would love to see the world of employment become more family-friendly, so that starting a business as a parent is a positive choice and not a last resort. That’s why I took part in The Great Homeworking Debate, which is part of the LoveHate Travel campaign, sponsored by Powwownow. Taking part in the debate were:

Shirley Borrett, (SB) Telework.org.uk – Shirley is a strong advocate of flexi-working and works for Telework Association, which was founded in 1992 in order to promote the benefits of Teleworking.
Erica Douglas, (ED) LittleMummy.com – Erica is the author of The Mum Blogger eCourse and A Guide to Successful Blogging and is a Cision Top Ten Parenting Blogger.
Me, Helen Lindop, (HL) BusinessPlusBaby.com – co-author of the book Start a Family Friendly Business: 23 Brilliant Business Ideas for Mums

Here’s what we discussed: Continue reading “The great home-working debate”

July 11, 2011October 10, 2011

Review: The Lemon Club

Many of us would love to work with a coach, but with a good coach costing a few hundred pounds a month and beyond, we find it’s out of our price range.

Having trained as a coach myself, I know that the people who could benefit the most from coaching are often the ones who can’t afford it. And that has never seemed seem fair to me, especially for mums who are working part-time. So when I heard about an affordable personal development programme called The Lemon Club, I wanted to know more.

What is The Lemon Club?

It’s an online personal development programme, that you can study at your own pace. Members get a new modules every month on a different topic, such as sales, presenting, networking and first impressions. The course is delivered using videos, downloadable documents (PDFs), quizzes, MP3 audios (e.g. guided relaxations) and there is 1-to-1 feedback from an expert in one of the modules too. There’s also a resource library and member discounts on other personal development courses, coaching and assessments. Continue reading “Review: The Lemon Club”

July 8, 2011October 2, 2011

Stepping off the corporate ladder: Michelle Wright of Colourwheel Creative

There was a point in my life all I wanted to do was to climb the ‘corporate ladder’ – and to be honest , I actually managed to get quite far up… I remember that somebody once said to me ‘the higher you climb, the further you fall’…. Well the time came after having my first child to fall… well, more of a sort of ‘jump splash push’, if you get my drift.. but that’s a whole other story!

So after my ‘ladder jump’ I brushed myself off and started again. A couple of part time jobs later, a few missed key moments in my daughters childhood, and many a stressful time juggling work with either a poorly child or home commitments and I decided to start building ‘my own ladder’. Continue reading “Stepping off the corporate ladder: Michelle Wright of Colourwheel Creative”

July 6, 2011August 1, 2011

Setting up an online shop: Pros and cons of each type

If you’re thinking of starting an online shop you might be surprised at the number of options available to you. Working out whether to use eBay, Amazon or to get your own website is enough to make your head spin, so here’s a quick guide to the pros and cons of each different type of shop.

If you’re wondering how to tell which is best for you, think about what you’re going to be selling, the level of technical skill you have, your budget and how likely you are to want to grow the shop later on. You can run two different shops alongside one another (many business mums have both an eBay shop and their own website) or you could (say) start with eBay and build your own website later on.

There’s more about actually starting up in my article how to start an online shop. Continue reading “Setting up an online shop: Pros and cons of each type”

July 1, 2011July 1, 2011

I started a business with a baby: Cathy Belford of Discover Me Toys

Tell us a little about your business

DiscoverMe Toys is an online toy store specialising in educational toys that complement the 6 key learning areas of EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage). Our toys include traditional wooden toys, beautifully hand-crafted jigsaw puzzles, activity toys, books and games. I love the toys available at DiscoverMe and we have 2 little product testers to put the toys through their paces. We have recently received a Gold Website Award from MumpreneurUK.

What was your job before starting your business?

I worked in recruitment after graduating from University, specialising in business development and account management working with many of the UK’s leading IT companies.

How did you go from your old career to your new business?

I was made redundant a couple of weeks before my first son arrived on the scene and had a few difficult months but ultimately this made me more determined to realize my ambitions and go into business by myself. Continue reading “I started a business with a baby: Cathy Belford of Discover Me Toys”