Business Plus Baby

February 6, 2012February 6, 2012

I started a business with a baby: Claire Meredith of Zest Payroll

Tell us a little about your business

Zest Payroll Solutions provides monthly payroll services to businesses, charities and parents who employ nannies. I take care of all the calculations, payslips, payroll reports and the HMRC requirements (apart from paying them!).

What was your job before starting your business?

I was a Payroll Administrator in a Payroll Bureau for a large firm of Accountants doing the exact same thing!

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

I knew I didn’t want to go back to work before I’d even had my eldest son! I’d been making plans to start my own business while I was still working. I gave in my notice at the end of my maternity leave and started my business a month later. Continue reading “I started a business with a baby: Claire Meredith of Zest Payroll”

February 3, 2012April 18, 2012

Network your way to success

For many mums, going back to work after having a baby can be a real struggle. Switching from home to a high-pressure workplace can be a difficult transition, and part-time work that’s flexible and affordable is few and far between at the moment. If you’re expecting a second child or juggling school schedules, it may no longer be practical to be out seeking work. At the same time, it may seem to be a big challenge to start up your own business.

Many mums who have succeeded in starting up a small business from home have begun by doing a lot of research. Thankfully, the Internet is incredibly useful in this regard as it gives public access to all kinds of company accounts and social profiles. By doing research, you can find out about your clients and competitors, and start the next, and perhaps most important, phase of your business.

Networking doesn’t come easily to the majority of people, and it’s even harder when mums are restricted from travelling to conventions and appearing at breakfast meet-ups. But thanks to social media, there’s plenty of space to make your niche, whether it’s by offering advice or establishing a presence in certain communities. And it’s not reserved for people who have degrees in computer science, either; just build a profile and go. The benefit is twofold as you get to know others in your industry and discover personal aptitudes that you might not have been aware of before.

At this stage, it’s important to support others as much as possible. Without the support of a company, you will encounter many challenges that will seem scary, and you will probably need to rely on your community at some stage in the future. You will probably also have to leave your comfort zone on a number of occasions. Take these opportunities to demonstrate your expertise in your industry through creative outreach such as workshops and giveaways, and keep blogging, tweeting, up-voting and commenting on a regular basis.

The Internet can be an overwhelming place for people just starting a business, especially if you’re doing it on your own. But many mums can extend their expertise through conversation – online, that is! Simply by reaching out, establishing connections and ensuring you build a niche for yourself in your industry, it’s possible to be a stay-at-home mum and a successful businesswoman as well.

photo credit: ammgramm

February 1, 2012January 31, 2012

Working Mothers: The Essential Guide – book review

My little girl was less than a day old when I first thought to myself “OK, how the hell am I going to manage to care for this baby AND work?”

True, I had other baby-related challenges heading my way that I had no idea about at that time, but my sleep-deprived and drug-fuddled brain was already thinking about being a working mum.

Before that, I’d assumed I’d head back to work after six months maternity leave, with baby in a nursery and everything else pretty much back to normal. (And yes, I can hear you falling off your chair with laughter!)

The full reality of balancing work and baby didn’t hit me until about three months later, when I had to seriously start looking at my options. At that point, the book ‘Working Mothers: The Essential Guide’ by Denise Tyler would have been perfect for me.

There’s a surprisingly wide range of info you need to weigh up when looking at your working options, including your right to ask for flexible working, managing your time, benefits and tax breaks, finding good-quality childcare, handling guilt and whether you’d be better off being your own boss. ‘Working Mothers – Your Essential Guide’ covers all of these subjects in just enough depth that you get a good understanding of each, but not so much that you risk getting overwhelmed.

And let’s face it, this subject can be overwhelming both in terms of all the financial information you need to wade through and all the emotions you feel about leaving your kids while you work.

This book isn’t just for new mums, though. It would be useful if you were returning to work after a career break, changing your job or just feeling frazzled by life as a working mum. It looks at balancing work with a family of any age, too. In fact I picked up some tips about delegating chores to kids that I’ll be trying out when my children are a bit older!

The 2012 edition of ‘Working Mothers – The Essential Guide’ is available from Need-2-Know books

January 30, 2012February 2, 2012

Five minutes with Samantha Price of Angels and Urchins

Most of the shops I’ve featured here at Business Plus Baby have been online shops, so I’m really pleased today to bring you an interview with Samantha Price, owner of the bricks-and-mortar children’s shoe shop Angels and Urchins.

Please could you tell us a little about your business?

I opened angels and urchins 3 years ago now – we moved to Bedford from North London in 2008, and I quickly realised there was a gap in the market for an independent, good quality children’s shoe shop. I did some market research, wrote a business plan, went on a couple of business courses, and before I knew it I was opening!

Finding the right premises was key – my shop is about 100yards away from the main High Street in Bedford, but that means my rent and rates are a lot less. Plus, as a “destination retailer” it’s not essential to be in the town centre. I offer a full measuring and fitting service (I am the ONLY independently qualified children’s shoe fitter in Bedfordshire!) and a range of top quality shoes from the UK and overseas. I have a box of toys for the children to play with, plus we play dvds to distract fractious toddlers!

What did you do before opening Angels and Urchins?

Before I had children, I was a stockbroker. I then took a career break, and did all sorts of things to fit around the kids – childminding, party plan etc. I had never run my own business before, but once I saw a gap in the market, the idea just wouldn’t go away. Continue reading “Five minutes with Samantha Price of Angels and Urchins”

January 26, 2012March 27, 2012

Build a marketing campaign

For mums running a small business, it can be challenging trying to find the time to effectively reach your audience as well as making ends meet. Part time jobs can supplement your income temporarily until you find your feet, particularly if they are in the evening and you have a partner to look after the kids at this time. Additionally if you need to find staff you can always try advertising for them online.

Once you have decided who you are selling to, whether your focus is crafts, childcare, or business services, you will need to try and plan an effective marketing campaign. You may believe that your products will sell themselves and in an ideal world this could be the case but unfortunately people usually have to do some advertising and marketing.

Initially you need to understand your position in the marketplace and do some research. Once you know this you can begin to build a plan – which doesn’t have to be expensive as many mums often believe.

If you live in a small community that frequently runs small events you can use these as a way to communicate to people. Perhaps they already know you but didn’t realise you were providing this service. Friends and family will be more trusting of your products so be aware that this can be very effective. It’s all about networking, showing examples and highlighting why you are different to other similar competitors.

As soon as you have a few frequent customers, get them to refer you to their friends. Client reviews are often deemed more trustworthy than your own opinions about your business as these are people who have actually benefited from what you have to offer.

Try sending out some free samples or handing them out at the community events. Everybody loves getting something for nothing, particularly after Christmas when they are short of cash, and this can generate future orders for your product or service.

If you haven’t already done so, set up a facebook page – even if you don’t have a full website yet or can’t afford one, facebook will allow you to engage with your customers, responding to queries, informing them of special offers and basically getting people to interact about your services. The more ‘buzz’ you create the better your company is likely to do. If you don’t have time for this, you could just try blogging as this could avoid you having to respond until you expand and can afford to pay somebody else.

There are many easy ways that you can market your products and services in order to get your small business on the right track in 2012. Monitor what proves most successful and try to do this a second time if it’s suitable to do so.

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photo credit: Infrogmation