Mumpreneur – Page 6 – Business Plus Baby

November 17, 2009November 16, 2009

One Day…

This post was prompted by the Writing Workshop on the Sleep Is For The Weak blog.

One day parents will really be able to balance working with spending time with their children.

One day there will be a part time job for anyone who wants one. Jobs which make full use of mums’ (lets face it it’s usually the mum) skills, expertise and training. Jobs with an equal status to full time jobs and that pay the same rate per hour.

One day schools will teach kids how to be their own bosses so they will know there is more to working life than the employment career ladder. Lets give kids more flexible work options and prove that running your own business isn’t just for hard boiled macho blokes in suits.

One day companies will make full use of not-so-new-anymore technologies so that more of use can work remotely. Then we’ll be able to work more flexibly and our work will have less impact on the environment (less travel, less fuel).

One day childcare won’t be so outrageously expensive that a parent with two or more pre-schoolers can’t afford to work.

One day the media will stop flogging the tired ‘old working mum vs stay at home mum’ debate. It isn’t a straightforward choice between one and the other, many of us juggle both options and we change the way we work (or don’t work) as our children get older. We don’t sit around arguing about which is best – we just get on with what works for our family. And we support each other in our choices.

One day women will refuse to compromise either their career or their family time and will start their own businesses so they can do both. Hang on, that’s already happening!

Do you have any more? Post me a comment…

November 11, 2009May 17, 2011

Ten Ways To Get Free Publicity for Your Business

I'm proud to introduce my latest guest blogger, Mums The Boss, otherwise known as Sam Pearce and Helen Woodham. Mums The Boss is THE Bedfordshire networking group for Mums in business and they recently celebrated their first birthday. Here are are their top ten tried-and-tested free (or nearly free) publicity tips.

In our first year in business we have spent the princely sum of £30 + VAT on promotional activity, paying for an insert service which interestingly had a zero return on investment! However we have managed to appear in the local press 3 times, the national press once, and have been interviewed on our local radio station. We have had a double page spread in a local parenting magazine distributed to over 10,000 mums through the school book bags, been featured on numerous websites and been promoted by several business agencies. We have also secured free venue use, free business advice, free business books and had over 20 prizes donated to a recent raffle. And we’ve done all this without ever having to resort to bribery or blackmail. So, how have we done it? We are proud to unveil the Mum’s The Boss Guide to free (or very cheap) publicity!

Be Friendly – if you are approachable and friendly when you meet people, chances are people will remember you and be more willing to help you out in the future. A warm smile and taking an interest in people costs nothing at all.
Barter – if you can’t afford to pay the going rate for a service, barter some of your product or a service of your own in return.
Think Outside The Box – publicity doesn’t have to be paying for advertsing space. Think creatively about what is newsworthy about your business – or make something newsworthy happen – and submit it as editorial to the press. And think about all your contacts, and whether they could promote you to their client base, spreading the word through word of mouth.
Know your audience – if you know exactly who your audience is it will be much easier to reach them by targetting your promotion accordingly. That way, if you do end up having to pay for advertising, you will save a fortune by reaching the right people first time.
Use the Internet – take full advantage of the many sites and forums that you can list your business or event on for free. All it will cost you is your time. Make good use of all the social networking sites you belong to, such as Twitter or Facebook – they are perfect for spreading a message ‘virally’ as well as a fantastic way to make invaluable business connections and pick up free business advice.
Blog! – if you haven’t already done so, start a blog. If you can attract a good level of readership your blog can become a fantastic medium for you to barter with, offering to promote businesses or review products in return for a favour.
Be Different – the press likes good news stories or things that are quirky or unusual. If there is something unusual about you or your business then capitalise on this. If not, can you engineer a story with added interest, by linking your business to an event, charity or something topical?
Add Value – if you are asking someone to do you a good turn you must be able to show them what’s in it for them. This may be something tangible like a complimentary product, or it could be as simple as giving them access to your contact network or promoting them on your website or blog.
Be Cheeky – if you don’t ask you don’t get, and sometimes if you just have the confidence/brass neck to ask for a freebie or a discount people are surprisingly happy to oblige.
Pay People in Cake! – This one NEVER fails. When bartering for people’s time, expertise or use of a venue always offer to bring homemade cake. Works every time!!

We are by no means PR Gurus and these tips are non industry-standard – they are just things that have worked for us and allowed us to enjoy a certain level of publicity for free! Do you have any creative ideas or tips for getting free publicity? We’d love to hear all about them (mainly so we can try them out ourselves)!

[nohide]photo credit: Steve Snodgrass[/nohide]

October 19, 2009September 15, 2012

Business Ideas For Mums

(This post was last updated on 9 June 2011 – see note at the bottom)

I’m writing articles (like this one) that aim to give you a snapshot of a business idea. This is exactly what I wanted when I was on my first maternity leave, but couldn’t find. I had an idea that I could run a business around my family, but no idea what I could actually do or how it might work.

This is going to take me a while to complete, so in the meantime I thought a list of businesses that you could run as a mum would be useful. I’ll link each idea to the posts as I write them.

Bookkeeper – In the book Start a Family Friendly Business

Web Designer

Graphic Designer – In the book Start a Family Friendly Business

Writer

Business coach

Public Relations

Virtual Assistant

Marketing Consultant

Interior Designer

Private Tutor

Personal Trainer

Childminder

Personal/Life Coach

Running a Pre-School Group

Running Children’s Parties

Running an Information Website (blogging, directory, membership site, information products)

Running an Online Shop

Proof Reader

Journalist – In the book Start a Family Friendly Business

Ironing, Dog walking, Cleaning, Gardening, Pet Sitting, services around the home

Babysitting Agency

Equipment Hire (buggies, baby equipment that parents can hire when they arrive at their destination)

Wedding/Event Planner

Photographer

Travel Agent

Running a Community Magazine

Direct Selling and Party Plans

Selling on eBay

Developing and Selling a New Product – In the book Start a Family Friendly Business

Making and selling crafts etc – see Turn your creative skill into a business

Holistic/Complementary or Sport Therapist

Beauty Therapist

Antenatal teacher or therapist (also Doula)

Update: 9 June 2011

This post was the seed that grew into the book Start a Family Friendly Business! Some of these posts became part of the book and my co-author Antonia Chitty added many more of her own. I’ve also added links to articles that were posted here on Business Plus Baby after the book was published.

September 30, 2009June 4, 2010

Do less, achieve more?

I've not had time to write posts for Business Plus Baby in the last few weeks. When I've said that in the past, there's usually been a bit of procrastination involved – I could have done it if I'd really pushed myself. But in the last few weeks I really haven't had time. I've even struggled to find the time to eat and have a shower. Seriously.

If I don't have the time to eat, how will I ever have time to run a business? This is what has been creeping into my mind lately, especially when I'm tired or both babies are crying at the same time. My youngest is only 7 weeks old, so I know it's very early days. Business mums Heather, Helen and Sam (who have children with a similar age gap to mine) assure me that it does get easier as time goes by. Even so, I find myself trying to cram more and more into the tiny bit of 'free' time I have.

So it was a breath of fresh air to read this post on the Zen Habits blog yesterday.

September 16, 2009June 4, 2010

Business Ideas for Mums – Selling on Ebay

What is it?

Making an income from selling on auction website eBay.

Benefits

You can work at any time of the day or night – although you'll need to respond to customers promptly.
You can spend as much or as little time on it as you want.
It's cheap and quick to start up compared with setting up your own online shop.

Things to consider

Low prices

Items on Ebay are usually at a low price – this is because you are competing in a marketplace with thousands of sellers, many of whom aren't looking to make much of a profit. As well as people looking to clear their lofts, you're also competing with shop owners who are shifting excess stock and ends of lines. This allows them to keep their prices at a reasonable level on their own websites or in their high street shops. You'll need to choose your product carefully if you're going to make an income rather than just a few quid here and there.

What to sell

Look for items you can get hold of cheaply and easily but that others probably can't. Do you have a factory shop near you? Do you have an eye for good quality items at car boot sales? Do you have an interest in something vintage? You could try selling a few different types of items and see which bring in the best profit – I did pretty well when I sold almost-new vegetarian shoes (yes, really!).

Don't forget to register as self employed

If you're emptying your loft, then you probably don't need to declare the income you make from this to HMRC (although check this out if you're in any doubt). But if you're making an income from selling on eBay you'll need to register as self employed.

Further information

Take a look at eBay for how to sell

The basics of how to sell – http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/basics/start.html Information about fees is here – http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/fees.html

Mums' Club have a useful guide to selling on Ebay http://www.mumsclub.co.uk/html/selling_on_ebay.html

Alternatives to eBay

For crafts and handmade items: www.etsy.com www.dawanda.co.uk www.folksy.com www.misi.co.uk Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/seller-account/mm-product-page.html?topic=200314070&?ld=UKAZSOAMake Other auction sites (although these have many fewer visitors than the mighty eBay): uk.ebid.net www.cqout.com specialistauctions.com Tazbar.com was another auction website, although it has now closed. Not convinced that selling on eBay is for you? Take a look at other business ideas for mums.