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Every Child Deserves A Good Start in Life

My mummy has asked me to tell you about our fabulous local Sure Start Centres called Pine Cones Children’s Centre and Queens Park Neighbourhood Centre in Bedford. She says she’s worried about budget cuts and if Sure Start Centres start closing down, being stuck in the house with me and my little brother might drive her bonkers.

We don’t know why this is because we’re such adorable children. We only cry when we’re hungry, thirsty, tired, frustrated, bored, a bit fed up, need a cuddle, fall over or steal each other’s toys. Oh and when Mummy won’t let us suck pebbles in the garden.

Anyway, the Sure Start Centres have been brilliant for us. A few months ago I was really nervous and wouldn’t let go of mummy’s leg whenever I was in a room with strangers. But now I happily run around the Sure Start activity sessions and don’t bat an eyelid when little boys roll push-along toys over my toes. I’ve got lots more confidence now.

Each week we go to a Musical Movers group where we sing with lots of other little ones. It’s VERY LOUD. But I’m not scared any more and I sing and dance to the music. In fact I’ve learned lots of my first words from the nursery rhymes we’ve learned there.

That’s not all, at Sure Start we’ve been weighed, spoken to a dietitician about our milk allergies and chatted to an oral health lady about getting our new teeth nice and clean.

We’ve sung with the speech and language therapist too, but last week we found out she’s had to leave because her funding has already gone.

If you want to help keep these and other fantastic Sure Start Centres across the country open, sign the Shout Out for Sure Start Pledge today. It’ll only take you a minute.

You could save a lot of mummies from going bonkers.

Love from

Little Miss Lindop

Age 22 months

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Business Ideas for Mums – Virtual Assistant

Tell me more…

A virtual assistant works remotely on tasks like administration, bookkeeping, event organisation, telephone answering and personal assistance. Small businesses who need admin support but don't want an employee can hire a VA for as many hours as they want. VAs usually work from their own home and many never meet their clients face-to-face.

What are the benefits?

  • You can work flexible hours.
  • You can choose the type of work you'd like to do.
  • With technology such as call diverting, the internet and email, you can work from almost anywhere.

Things to consider…

  • Although this is a much more flexible way of working compared to being  employed, you will still need to meet deadlines (usually for several different clients at the same time) and be available when your clients need you. This takes a high level of organisation and being realistic about the hours you can work.
  • Many people with administration and PA experience are great at their job, but are used to being 'behind the scenes people'. This means that getting out there and selling themselves doesn't come naturally to them. You can overcome this, but you will need to think about how you will do it.
  • The concept of virtual assistance is still new to many people so you may have to explain what you do and how you can be of benefit to them.
  • Having a niche is the key to building a business – don't try to do all types of administration for all types of business.
  • As a remote worker, potential clients will need to trust that you can get the work done to a high standard and on time. This means projecting a professional image at all times. If your home makes this difficult (if you have screaming children in the background when you answer the phone!), then you'll need to create some systems to get around this. E.g. using a telephone answering service when the children are at home.

Further information

The Virtual Assistant Handbook by  Nadine Hill

The Society of Virtual Assistants

International Association of Virtual Assistants

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

 


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Mothers of Innovation

mother and baby with rockin hoodBeing a mum can be a real boost to your creativity. I have huge admiration for mums who spot a niche for a new product, then go ahead and bring it to market themselves.

Mothers Of Innovation was created by Sarah Dawnay to bring together mums who are selling a product they have developed themselves and parents who want to buy quirky, ethical and innovative items for their children.

Sarah is the inventor of the Rockin Hood, a fast alternative to a coat for babies who object to wearing sleeves! Having wrestled a wriggling child into a coat many times, I might just get one myself..

If you’re thinking of developing your own product, check out Sarah’s blog post Hints For Mumpreneurs where she shares her own experience of developing and manufacturing the Rockin Hood.

 

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Stuck for an original business idea?

Then you need to take a look at Iddictive. Every day, Iddictive gives you a new cool, quirky or innovative business idea.

How about a travel agency for  soft toys? Or the Kidspotter – a rentable device that enables you to track the position of your children when at a theme park or shopping centre? You’ve heard of mumpreneurs, how about being a retropreneur too? (That’s someone who gives an old-style business idea a new lease of life).

Brilliant for sparking a fresh idea  or spotting a new trend.

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