Featured – Page 63 – Business Plus Baby

May 6, 2010June 7, 2010

Business Ideas For Mums: Beauty Therapies and More

Tell me more…

Do you enjoy working with people and have an interest in beauty? Then you might like…

Beauty therapy
Spray tanning
Manicure and pedicure
Facials
Massage

What are the benefits?

You can work as many hours as you want. Some clients may actually prefer you to work in the evenings and at weekends, which can fit well around a family.

If you’ve always had a passion for beauty, this could be your chance to turn it into a career.

Things to consider…

You can work from home, visit your clients in their homes or hire a room, e.g. in a hairdressing salon – or a combination of all three. If you rent a room, you will still need to market your services. The centre or salon owner may help you to do this, but on its own this will not be enough to bring you a steady stream of clients.
Marketing methods that work well for this type of business are either word-of-mouth or ‘taster’ sessions. There’s nothing like a referral from a happy customer or a chance to demonstrate how good you are.
It’s a good idea to have a website listing your services, but this needn’t cost as much as you think. Health Hosts have website packages for therapists that start at £4.95 per month.
You might like to consider packaging your services, for example a bridal package that gives the bride-to-be all the treatments she needs to look fabulous on her big day. Perhaps you could offer a mum-to-be package for pregnant clients or even a ‘fabulous over 50’ package. Other possibilities are offering pampering parties or hen nights.
If you’re working from home, check with your local authority’s environmental health department as they may need to inspect your working area. Don’t forget to inform your home insurance company that you’re running a business from home. You’ll also need to consider the implications of bringing clients to your home. Do clients need to walk through your home to reach your treatment room? If so, will you be able to maintain a professional image with children around? Even if you work evenings when they are in bed, you may still have to deal with the mess they leave behind!
Make sure you have adequate insurance for the services you’re providing.

Further information

ITEC offers a range of beauty therapy qualifications plus a new business qualification.
Check out your local college for courses.
Healthy Pages has a list of courses and a forum covering a wide range of therapies.

Not convinced that being a Beauty Therapist is for you? Take a look at other business ideas for mums.

photo credit: TaniaSaiz

April 23, 2010June 4, 2010

Don’t Try This If You’re Houseproud…

Today, Rachael Dunseath of www.myroo.co.uk and www.millyandflossy.co.uk gives us her tips for starting a business as a mum to two pre-school children…

Being a mum can be challenging, being a business woman can be challenging too. Trying to do both at once can be mind-boggling. I fight shy of the term mumpreneur, but if it suits you, then that’s what I am. I run my small business from home and I am also full time mum to two pre-schoolers.

I always swore I wouldn’t and couldn’t run a business, house and family at once and I was right, something had to give and sadly that was housework! If inspiration strikes but you think circumstances prevent you from acting on it, then ignore your head and go with your heart. Running your own business is a rewarding, fun, busy add-on to family life and just the challenge my poor nappy-brain needed. So a few tips if you fancy joining me on a self-employed mum adventure;

Plan, plan and plan some more. Time will be the biggest constraint on your business, so make sure you make the most of every bit of time you have. All the usual business management tools work great, to-do lists, diary systems, electronic reminders. I’ve always preferred telephone contact to email, but am finding email works better for me now. It’s off your to do list, even if the person at the other end can’t help you there and then.

If you are house proud then don’t do it! There are not enough hours in the day to do everything and your business and family should come first. If you can’t sit and work at the kitchen table while stoically ignoring the pile of laundry and washing-up then this isn’t for you. Ignore the chores and don’t feel guilty, if you’ve got one get your other half to step up his cleaning contribution.

Set targets for the day. Aim to actually complete one task a day, that way you will feel that you are progressing your business plan.

Keep special family time. Make sure you set aside time in the day that is just for you and the children, no interruptions. Or you’ll get to the end of the day feeling that you’ve done neither job well.

Use TV wisely. DD2 still has a nap but DD1 conveniently gave hers up as I launched the business. We now have quiet time, no TV during the rest of the day (hopefully) but she watches for a chunk in the middle of the day while I crack on. Don’t be worried about using the TV to help, all children watch TV, use it wisely to get the most done.

Don’t underestimate the power of social media. It allows you to network quickly and cheaply from home, even if there is chaos all around you. Keep your laptop open and logged on and then you can pop in when you have 5 mins.

Make time for yourself. You will inevitably do most of your work after their bed time, but make sure there is time in the week for you to do something for yourself, gym trip, coffee & cake out, stroll round the block, whatever. If you don’t, you risk burn out and then you are no use to anyone.

Good luck to you and I’d love to hear all about your experiences.

Rachael Dunseath runs www.myroo.co.uk handmaking all-natural, luxurious skincare products. She also offers a baby range at www.millyandflossy.co.uk.

March 23, 2010April 15, 2012

How Long Until I Get Paid?

Photo: HowardLake

This is a sponsored post (what does this mean?)

Starting a business when you’re on maternity leave is tough on your finances. Your maternity pay is about to run out, your savings are a distant memory and your credit card is feeling the strain.

So when deciding on your business, it pays to think about how long it will take before you make some money. (By ‘make some money’ I mean your pay cheque.) Then you can start paying off that credit card bill!

Freelancing is generally the fastest way to get a pay cheque if you work for yourself. But there are a few ‘ifs’.

If you have a skill that’s in demand

The trick is to offer people a skill that they need now. Maybe they have a big project and need extra help. Perhaps you have a skill that they don’t. Freelancing isn’t going to be a fast earner if you go back to college for a couple of years to get the right skills.

If you market yourself

You’ll have to go and find the work because it won’t find you. (Unless you’re very lucky or already have a good network of contacts.)

If your clients pay up on time.

This one is difficult to control. The best you can do is to have a clear set of terms and conditions and make an educated guess about the reliability of your client.

Don’t be put off though, as you might already have a skill you can turn to freelancing.

The types of work that spring to mind when you think of the word ‘freelance’ may be web design, graphic design, writing, public relations and other skills you might offer to companies. But it could also include office admin, dog walking, alternative therapies and gardening. You could also help out your ex-employer with a project if they need an extra pair of hands.

The down side of freelancing is that you’re exchanging each hour of your time for a sum of money. There’s a limit to how much you can earn as there are only twenty-four hours in a day. The smart way around this is to build up a steady income (well, as steady as freelancing can ever be) then start another income stream that doesn’t involve a direct exchange of time for money.

At the other end of the ‘how long until I get paid?’ scale is inventing a new product.

Why? Well, you’ll need to have a good idea, do extensive market research, build a prototype and test it, possibly get a patent, get a loan or invest your own money (or both), research manufacturers and materials, get the product made, market it and sell enough of it to pay back your loan or investment. Then you can start to make a profit. You’d be lucky to see a pay cheque in less than a year.

The big advantage of the new product is that you’re not exchanging time for money, as you are with freelancing. So you could make a lot more money. But the risk is greater and you could lose money too.

Somewhere in between these extremes are the other business types.

So if you’ve got a great business idea, don’t forget to check if it’s a good match for your family finances. You don’t want to run out of money before you start to see an income from your business.

February 24, 2010May 22, 2010

Work/Life Balance: Do We Really Need It?

One great thing about work/life balance is it reminds employers that we have a life outside work. I'm all for that.

But beyond that I'm not so sure. Ruth Billheimer of Virtual Balance emailed me today to ask if I could fill in her survey. She'd noticed that people are seeking fulfillment in their work rather than balance and wanted to know more.

I've had two babies in the last two years, so I'm still trying to thrash out what my new work and life will look like. As for balance, well I'm totally unbalanced – my life is 90% babies and 10% business. 'Me' time? I'm lucky if I get time to plug in a hairdryer these days!

Unable to make a meaningful contribution to Ruth's survey, I thought I'd write this post instead.

The times in my life that have been the least balanced have also been the most productive. Like the time when I worked full-time and studied part-time at the same time, or now, being mum to a 22 month old and a 6 month old. Intense times, but times that are really rewarding as well as shattering, frustrating and challenging (in a good way).

I've noticed this in other people too. When I used to hang out with physicists (that doesn't make me a bad person, see 'the best advice I have ever been given' if you want me to explain… ) the best scientists weren't the ones that had balance in their lives, in fact they were the ones who were bordering on being obsessed.

I know there's more to life than achieving things, but it does suggest that aiming for balance isn't going to guarantee success or even satisfaction.

From time to time I read about someone who feels her (it's almost always a 'her') life is out of balance. She thinks that if all the different parts of her life rolled along in harmony she'd be happier. I think that misses the point. If you put your efforts into making all the aspects of your life cancel each other out, life might just pass you by.

Much better to accept that life is a rollercoaster and enjoy the ride. During the frantic times you could feel stressed, stretched, challenged, a sense of satisfaction, confusion, fear, proud of yourself, focussed. During the quieter times you might feel relaxed, calm, frustrated, bored, as if you're going nowhere, peaceful, demotivated.

Calm isn't necessarily better than being frantically busy. Both states have their good parts and their bad parts. Of course you need to take care of your relationship and your health or you'll be heading for divorce or worse. Being a workaholic and hardly ever spending time with your children would be a terrible shame. If you're working too hard and it's making you unhappy, change it if you can.

But if we actually balanced our lives, I'm not sure we'd be any happier than we are now.

Live your life, don't try to iron it flat.

Do you have any thoughts? Drop me a comment!

photo credit: stachelig

January 3, 2010March 23, 2012

Business Mums’ Networking Groups

(This post was last updated on 22/3/12)

Networking groups for business mums are popping up all over the place at the moment. ‘Traditional’ business networking groups often don’t suit business mums too well, so they are setting up their own.

Mums are finding that typical business networking groups are held either over breakfast or in the early evening – the busiest times of the day if you have a young family. Also, the way some networking groups are structured feels a bit too stiff and formal for many, who are looking for a much more warm and relaxed feel.

If you’re wondering whether to give one a try, I really do recommend you give it a go. As well as making business contacts, you’ll be inspired by what other mums are achieving and if you miss the company of the guys in the office, a networking group could help you fill that gap.

Here are the groups that I know of, but I’m sure there must be more out there:

Mum’s The Boss – Expanding all over the UK

Busy Mums – Stafford

Networking Mummies– Dorset, Warwickshire and growing throughout the UK.

Enterprising Mums – Hitchin, Herts

Mums Business Club – Throughout the UK

Mums In Biz – Brighton and West Sussex

FIND – Durham

Mumpreneurs Networking Club – South East/ south coast

Motivating Mum – London

Scottish Mumpreneur Network – Scotland

Ladies Who Latte – UK – wide