Business Plus Baby

February 27, 2011February 27, 2011

February’s Business Mums Blog Carnival is Live!

I’m running a little late this month (well, you know what life is like with 2 toddlers!), but I definitely wanted to tell you about this month’s Business Mums Blog Carnival.

Expertly put together by Cuddledry’s Jo, it’s a monthly round-up of what’s best in the world of business-owning-parent-bloggers! So grab yourself a coffee (or even a frosty beverage?) and go have a read over at the Cuddledry blog.

Next month Joanne Dewberry will be hosting the carnival, so email your posts to info (at) charliemoos.co.uk by 25th March.

(For more info on how this all works, check out the Business Mums Blog Carnival page).

February 25, 2011March 6, 2011

Why Branding Is So Important For Mumpreneurs

Let me tell you a story…

Julie makes blankets for babies. Not just any old blankets, but beautiful, soft, hand-knitted ones. Each one is unique and carefully knitted to order. The reason Julie started her business is because her friends loved the blankets Julie knitted for her baby so much they wanted to buy one for their own babies.

So Julie set up shop on Ebay and Folksy. She priced her blankets at a little bit more than you would pay for mass-produced, factory made ones. Julie reckoned that people would pay that bit extra for one that is hand made. The problem was that once she took into account the cost of wool, postage and packing, Julie was only earning a couple of pounds an hour. She could earn at least double that much stacking shelves in her local supermarket.

There had to be a better way.

So here’s what Julie did. She folded each baby blanket carefully and wrapped it coloured tissue paper, then placed it in a white gift box. In the box she placed a card saying “Congratulations on your new baby from…” or “A gift for you from…” depending on what her customer had asked for. (The cards had been professionally printed with her new logo on top quality card). She then tied the box carefully with a matching ribbon and label.

She took photos of the blankets and gift boxes so visitors to her Folksy page could see the love Julie put into each. She’d worked with a graphic designer (…this hadn’t cost anything like as much as she first thought because her designer was also a mum working from home…) to create her logo and colour scheme for the cards and labels.

Julie used her new logo and colour scheme to customise her Folksy page. Then her Facebook page. She dropped eBay because she no longer needed to compete on price.

Now Julie had a brand. A brand that reflected the care and attention that she put into each blanket. A brand that told the world that her blankets were in a different class to the ones you could buy in any baby superstore.

A brand that meant she could could charge double what she did before.

You need a brand. Even if you’re running the smallest of kitchen-table businesses.

OK, so what is a brand?

It’s the message your business communicates to the rest of the world.

And here’s why it’s tricky to get branding right if you’re a one-person business…

Much of the advice out there is about big company branding. And big company branding is completely different from what you need as a one-woman business.

The big guys are faceless corporations that need to go out and find a personality. As a little gal, you already have a personality – your challenge is to draw it out. And if you’re too modest you might need to give that personality a boost too.

Why is this so hard? Well, we’re all to close to our businesses to see them objectively. It’s tough to ‘big up’ your business’s strengths if you can’t tell where you end and your business begins.

Here’s how you could be getting your branding wrong…

Like Julie, if you don’t have a strong brand, you don’t stand out from all the other businesses out there. You’re unremarkable, perhaps even forgettable.
If the brand doesn’t fit what you do the world doesn’t quite get where you’re coming from (or maybe it just doesn’t believe you?) Perhaps you’re trying to be like a big company and have nailed a brand onto your business instead of teasing it out from within? Maybe you’re trying to be the same as your competitors when you need to focus on being yourself?
If you think you’ve got your branding sorted because you’ve got a fab logo, think again. Branding includes your logo, colour scheme, fonts, photo, business card, tagline, website, customer service, marketing materials, conversations you have a networking meetings, all your updates on Facebook and Twitter. Every interaction your business has with the outside world, in fact. It can be tough to get all that working together as a seamless whole if you’re just one person with a million other things to do.

In my next post, I review a product – designed specifically for mumpreneurs – that will help you build your brand.

This post contains affiliate links.

photo credit: [nohide]kmroselle[/nohide]

February 23, 2011March 6, 2011

What You Need to Know Before Buying a Franchise

Thinking of buying a franchise? Today we have Pippa Highfield’s second post on franchising. (If you missed her first post, here it is: Five reasons to buy a franchise)

Having searched ‘flexible, part-time jobs in north Bucks and Beds’ for the millionth time and still come up with nothing I realised I needed to be a bit more creative. I didn’t set out to become a business owner, less to launch the Bedford edition of Raring2go! – a guide aimed at local families – but here I am four years on operating a profitable franchise business that can be run during school hours.

Being a fairly cautious and risk adverse person I did a lot research before I signed the agreement to take on the franchise and here are some of the key questions I asked:

Do you believe in the product/service? Being passionate about the product or service you are offering is a key business success factor and the same is true in franchising. Can you see yourself being enthusiastic about your business and feeling proud of what you do?

Is the business idea viable? If the business has been in existence for sometime and you have a verified set of accounts this can really help you analyse the opportunity. If the business is relatively new it is important to ascertain how the franchisor has come up with their financial projections.

You should also be mindful of how the product will be received in your local area. What is the level of competition for similar products in your location and is your territory big enough to sustain another competitor? Does your area have a similar demographic to other successful territories already in operation?

What are your obligations as a franchisee? Not only is it important that you take legal advice before signing a contract, but you need to be clear about your day to day, month to month and year to year obligations to the franchisor. It is important to read your contract and make sure you understand what is required of you and build any requirements into your working plan.

Can I work with the franchisor and other franchisees? Like any other job it is important that you are comfortable with the ethos of the company and your ‘colleagues’. Make sure you meet your franchisor and their support team plus get in contact with as many franchisees as possible to get a real ‘feel’ for how the network is run.

What value am I getting for my franchise fee? There should be lots of tangible benefits of being part of a franchise such as training, technology support, marketing support, business advice and possibly a centrally managed website. The franchisor should also be marketing the brand centrally and expanding the network of franchisees, both of which will positively benefit your business.

This is by no means a definitive list of questions you need to ask when considering buying a franchise but will, I hope, give a flavour of some of the issues you will need to investigate before making a commitment. There is lots of good information available from organisations such as Business Link and the British Franchise Association which will help you analyse and asses a franchise opportunity for yourself.

After four successful years Pippa is now planning to move on to new projects. So if you think franchising could tick your boxes and would like an informal chat about taking on the Raring2go! Bedford franchise please contact Pippa on 01908 583232 or bedford@raring2go.co.uk

February 21, 2011August 1, 2011

Self Employed and Thinking of Starting a Family?

Business Plus Baby has always been about starting a business after you’ve become a mum. But what do you do if you’re already self-employed and are thinking of starting a family?

My own experience is that I was self-employed for six years, then employed for two years, then I had two babies close together, then I became self employed again (are you still with me?!)

So I know what it’s like to be self employed with and without babies, even though I cheated a little and had a permanent job when both my babies were born. I didn’t plan it this way, honest!

Here is my advice if you’re self employed or run a business and are wondering how on earth you’re going to deal with having a baby…

Learn about Maternity Allowance ASAP

You need to get clued up about this as soon as you can, preferably before you get pregnant. If your friends who have had children are in employment it’s easy to assume that maternity allowance works in the same way as maternity pay, but it doesn’t.

The good news is that there are two articles here at Business Plus Baby that tell you what you need to know: Protect Your Right to Maternity Allowance and Self Employment During Your Maternity Pay Period.

Don’t assume your pregnancy will be plain sailing

Within 2 weeks of conceiving I felt queasy and by week 10, I was on a drip in hospital because my morning sickness was so bad I couldn’t eat or drink! Up until that point in my life I’d been totally healthy so this came a quite a shock to me – I had no idea that the early stages of pregnancy could be so debilitating. Of course this was an extreme case and many pregnant women feel fine, but it’s best to cut yourself some slack just in case…

Assume you’ll feel more tired than usual so if you need to work long days or travel, allow some recovery time in your schedule.
Plan who would cover your workload if you did have to take a few weeks or months off work during your pregnancy – could you work in partnership with another self-employed person? Could your outsource?
I’d heard of so many pregnant women staying at work until the day before the baby was due that I naively assumed I could do this too. The truth is I was so knackered I couldn’t struggle on beyond 36 weeks. Luckily I was employed so it wasn’t a problem to start my maternity leave a few week earlier than I’d planned, but it could be trickier if you are your own boss. If your work is physical in any way you may need to leave even earlier.
Take care of yourself. Often, as self employed people, we do things that we wouldn’t be allowed to do in employment. Working for long hours hunched over a laptop in an inappropriate chair or lifting heavy boxes, for example.

Your priorities change completely after your baby is born. Plan for the unexpected.

This is a tough one, because you really can’t predict how your priorities will change after you have a baby. I fully intended to go back to my job full-time after my baby was born but I completely changed my mind once she arrived. And I’m certainly not alone.

Read through your childcare options (nursery, childminder, nanny…) before the birth so you have some facts to think about. But accept that your feelings may change after the baby arrives.
If you plan to go back to work full-time, have a ‘plan B’ that you can turn to if you change your mind and want to work part-time instead. If you intend to take 3 months off, how might you cope if you don’t feel ready to return until the baby is a year old?
You can’t claim childcare vouchers as a sole trader but you might be able to if your business is a limited company. As this can be quite a saving it’s worth talking to an accountant about whether it’s worth ‘going limited’ before your baby arrives.
Even if you work from home and your hours are pretty flexible, you will need at least some childcare if you’re going to work more than about 10 hours a week. You can’t really achieve very much with a baby or toddler underfoot and there are only so many hours you can work when they are asleep.

If you have any more tips or advice, please do leave me a comment!

If you found this post helpful, you might like to join my mailing list. Sign up now and you can download your copy of my e-book Running a business around a family: 9 steps to success.

photo credit: iampatsajak

February 16, 2011April 17, 2015

I Started a Business With A Toddler: Baby Signing Mummy Louise Gibbs

(Update….Congratulations to Louise who was married in April 2011 and is now Louise Lloyd!)

Baby Signing Mummy is a company that promotes communication and interaction with your baby using simple hand gestures – baby sign language. These hand gestures can allow a baby to start communicating with you before they are able to talk. This can help reduce frustration and allow a natural special bond between you. I run classes across the South East of England that are full of fun interaction, rhymes, songs and signs! It is a great way for mums and dads to learn something new and have fun with their baby.

I am by back background, a paediatric nurse with over 10 years experience. I have a BSc in Nursing Studies (Child) and am currently half way through my BSc in Advanced Practice. I have worked in a variety of settings including paediatric intensive care and more recently as a clinical nurse specialist in Children’s Allergy.

I went back to work full time when my daughter was only 6 months old. I worked full time for 3 and half years, running a matharon between London and a childminder and always feeling like I had to rush or I would be late. Christmas 2009 and this fully caught up with me, I was diagnosed with pneumonia and was in bed for weeks. My fiancee and I decided it was time to change our priorities and the idea that I had always had of starting my own baby signing business was revisted. I launched the website in February 2010. I worked full time until June 2010 in my nursing job and on Baby Signing Mummy outside of work. With the growth of the business I was able to reduce my hours and by the end of September 2010 I was able to leave my permanent nursing job and concentrate on Baby Signing Mummy full time.

I am now able to run my business completely around my family. Isabella is at preschool in the mornings so I schedule my classes for then, and then I get to spend some quality time with her in the afternoons – something I have never been able to do. I can then work in the evenings if I need too with admin and inquiries.

Having used baby sign language with my daughter three years previously, I had looked into starting my own business then but due to finances I wasn’t able to. When I re looked into the area I saw that there was still a lack of information for parents and I wanted to share my knowledge. This then snowballed and I was approached by parents asking me to teach them so I launched my own local classes and national online classes via Skype. I have now been able to launch the Baby Signing Mummy Method & Qualification and I am teaching others to be teachers of Baby Signing Mummy across the UK!

Training wise, I have been very lucky to have been taught Makaton and BSL during my Nursing degree and training, I knew that I knew the baby sign language, the information I was after however was on how to run a business. Having only ever worked for the NHS, the business part has been a steep learning curve for me. I have used networking groups and mentorship to help drive my business forward in the way that I want.

My advice – To do it. Anyone wondering whether to set up their own business – it is hard work but it is so rewarding – and nothing can beat being able to take and pick my daughter up from pre-school and watch her excited face when she realizes it is mummy collecting her today.