Work at Home Mum – Page 3 – Business Plus Baby

May 28, 2010May 27, 2010

‘Mumpreneur’: Love It Or Loathe It?

At first, I was happy to call myself a mumpreneur. After all, it is a combination of 'mum' and 'entrepreneur' and I'd be proud to call myself either. It meant I was stepping off the career treadmill and doing my own thing.

Then I discovered that other mums in business didn't like the word. When they think of a mumpreneur, many people have an image of a woman running a little hobby business to keep her busy while she's a stay-at-home-mum.

The reality for most mums in business is very different. Ask around and you hear stories of mums looking after children all day and then working into the small hours to keep their businesses going. Of having little alternative but to work for themselves because they can't afford childcare. Of refusing to miss out on their children's early years, yet still wanting (and often needing) to earn a living.

In her post What sort of mumpreneur are you? Antonia Chitty asks 'Do you see ‘mumpreneur’ as something that helps mums who own businesses, or something that is holding us back?'. Probably a bit of both, I think.

But what interests me is how come we have a label that is meant to bring us together, yet divides us.

In my pre-baby days I never had to prove I was equal to the men I worked with. True, some women are still grappling with a glass ceiling and fighting to get equal pay, but generally most women are now seen as being as competent and motivated as men.

That's until you have children. Bam, you're back in the land that time forgot. A land of stereotypes and assumptions. A world where the only way to prove your brain hasn't turned to mush is to work full-time and put your baby in a nursery five days a week. Which of course makes you a bad mother. The alternative is to risk becoming a nobody by being a stay-at-home-mum or to apply for a badly-paid part time job.

All stereotypes (except for the badly-paid part time job, sadly). Is this what has contaminated the word 'mumpreneur'?

There are no easy answers. Sometimes I feel like I'm the latest generation in an experiment that started over a century ago, where we still have a long way to go before we learn how to be truly equal.

I'd love to see people respecting the working choices made by mothers. (And the choice to not work.) To support and encourage, rather than to divide and judge.To ditch the stereotypes. And for the challenges of being a working parent to be shared equally between women and men.

Then maybe we'd all be proud to call ourselves mumpreneurs?

What do you think? Leave me a comment below.

Photo: egor.gribanov

April 27, 2010April 26, 2010

What’s My Greatest Challenge as an Aspiring Mumpreneur?

What’s my greatest challenge as an aspiring mumpreneur? Not enough time or money. Oh and not forgetting the lack of sleep (milk in the washing machine, dirty socks in the fridge – you get the picture).

The fact that I’ve had the word ‘aspiring’ in front of my job title for about eighteen months now gives you some idea of how long the research phase takes when you have babies.

But we mumpreneurs face even more challenges than a mere lack of time, money and sleep. If you’re short of cash from being on maternity leave or working part -time, then you need to start a business on a shoestring, which means you might have a lot of competition. And that means your marketing needs to be good if you’re to stand out from the crowd. That’s a tall order if this is your first journey into the world of business.

Most businesses have one main aim – to make money. Most mumpreneurs run businesses with two aims – to make money and to work around their family. This is a tough juggling act, especially if you’re grabbing an hour here and an hour there when the children are napping or at pre-school.

So why on earth are so many of us doing it?

• Because we refuse to miss the first years of our children’s lives by working full-time when they are tiny.
• Because we refuse to be restricted to the typically low status and poorly paid part time jobs out there.
• Because we’ve earned our own income all our lives and don’t see why we should stop now.
• Because we want to show our daughters what women can really achieve. And our sons, too.
• Because we’ve got talent and we want to use it.
• Because we get such fantastic support from other business mums. We don’t compete, we collaborate.
• Because childcare is outrageously expensive so many of us have no alternative.
• Because we want to.

Having children shifts your priorities in ways you cannot imagine until you do it. Of course your children become the centre of your world, but with this can come a huge burst in motivation and creativity. Your time becomes more precious – any working time is time away from your babies – so you want to make the absolute best of it.

The urge to provide for your family is not just for the guys. Mums have it too.

It’s this potent mix of instinct, motivation, determination and (let’s face it) necessity that drives us to start our own businesses at one of the toughest times of our lives.

Watch out, here we come.

(First published on the Start Up Donut Blog, picture by Tie Guy II)

February 19, 2010June 4, 2010

How Do You Get Work Done If You’ve Got Kids At Home?

Answer – Get a childminder!

But what if you can't afford one or don't want to use childcare? Is it really possible to run a business with babies or toddlers in the house?

I thought I was pretty good at managing my time before I had my daughter. It's far harder now with tiny children demanding my attention. All the time. (Stressed? Who me?). The normal time management rules just don't apply any more.

So I was delighted to find not just one, but four articles on working around small children this week. All written by mums who have been there, done it and got the (carrot puree splattered) t-shirt.

The first three are from Natalie Lue at Self Employed Mum:

Getting work done with kids at home: Offload and Outsource
Getting work done with kids at home: Managing Your Time
Getting work done with kids at home: Quick Tips For Survival

And the fourth is from Lexi Rodrigo of Freelance Folder:

Productivity tips for freelancers with toddlers underfoot

These articles are packed with useful advice, but the most important message for me is to "have realistic expectations". How about you?

February 16, 2010March 10, 2010

New Mums’ Networking Group in Leicestershire

The fabulous Mum’s The Boss is opening a new mums’ networking group in Leicester this week. If you’re in the Leicester area, I really recommend going to the Soar Valley Leisure Centre, Mountsorrel from 10 to 12 on Friday 19th February.

Take a look at Mum’s The Boss Leicestershire Launches for all the details.

For future events, see the Mum’s The Boss website.

Not in Leicester? Here’s my list of business mums’ networking groups around the country.

January 24, 2010January 24, 2010

It’s Here! The First Business Mums’ Blog Carnival

Here it is, the first Business Mums’ Blog Carnival! And what an amazing response! Thanks to everyone who contributed and everyone who has offered to be future hosts.

(If you want to know more about the blog carnival and how to join in, all the details are here: Introducing the Business Mums’ Blog Carnival.)

I’ve had a few tricky decisions to make this week. Such as should I include posts with reviews? What do our readers actually want to read? After a bit of a think, I decided to keep the rules down to a minimum and just go with the flow – well, for this month at least.

Lots of fabulous posts came in giving advice on running a better business. First up we have Karen Sher, founder of Musical Minis, who shares her tips for mums who have their own business. Karen’s been in business for twenty years, so I could certainly learn a thing or two from her! Iveta Tancheva of Mums Like You has a useful post if you’re thinking of getting revenue from online advertising.

Antonia Chitty of Family Friendly Working talks about how being a single mum can actually make women more enterprising. Very inspiring. Ovcr at Hire My Parents you’ll find a post explaining how to get your blog posts to work harder for you. Sam and Helen at Mums The Boss give some handy tips on PR and Sam Thewlis of Mumazing give us her business writing tips.

There’s huge variety in the businesses that mums run. Claire Willis of SnugBaby tells us about baby wearing and Toniann Harwood talks about the history behind Knot Just Jig‘s toy Noah’s Arks. Meanwhile Independant midwife Valerie Gommon tells us about the challenges of doing her job in the snow. And for something completely different, you can read why Tracey-Jane Hughes is inspired by cake (she’s in the bra business!).

Some of us contributed posts with a focus on family. Andrea Daly of the Accidental Business Mum relaxes with her Wii after a tough week. I’ve listed my top eight tips for saving time on household tasks (it would have been ten, but I had to clean the kitchen!). Becky Goddard-Hill, author of ‘How To Afford Time Off With Your Baby‘ has some brillient tips for saving money and Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art shares her tips for potty training.

Finally, Emma Warren of Portfolio Directors reminds us to take some time to look around us.

Next month…

Next month’s carnival will be over at Family Friendly Working. Email posts to antonia (at) familyfriendlyworking (dot) co.uk by Monday 19th February and the carnival will be posted on the 25th February.