“Every mum who ever dreamt of setting up her own business needs this book! Enter your very own Fairy God Mother in the shape of Mumpreneur and PR guru, Antonia Chitty. Antonia expertly holds your hand and leads you through the adventure of creating your new business. From writing your business plan, managing your finances to making the most of the web and planning childcare, Antonia is there every step of the way. I especially liked the useful exercises and worksheets ~ instead of just reading about it, this is a motivational tool to help you take action. You CAN be your own boss, you CAN create a perfect balance between work and family, you CAN be in control, and you CAN go to the ball.”

If you ever wanted to be your own boss – here’s the book you need to get started!

‘The Mumpreneur Guide’ is packed with friendly advice and guidance on starting a successful business at a low cost. It will give YOU the essential information you need to take your from business beginner to successful entrepreneur. Get exclusive access to this book full of articles and guidance written by Antonia Chitty with contributions from business experts including Emma Wimhurst, Mel McGee, Roberta Jerram and Alison Rothwell. Read tips and ideas for helping YOU start your business and make the most of innovative strategies to help you create a family friendly and successful enterprise.

Find out more: www.themumpreneurguide.co.uk/

• use your existing work skills and talents
• set up a business that generates an income right from the start

But how do you make sure you succeed? Make sure you use your existing contacts. When I went freelance in 2003 the first thing I did was call up someone I knew through work who edited a trade magazine. She commissioned me to write two articles straight away. When business was quiet after my third maternity leave, I sent a few emails round old work contacts and got a regular feature writing slot as a result.

Don’t be afraid to shout about your business. Highlight your skills. Use examples of what you offer from your previous employment too, as new clients want to see examples of work to give them confidence in you. Ask people you have worked with for testimonials too and add these to your website.

If you freelance already, what are your tips for starting a freelance business?

1. If you work from home, make sure you have a clear workspace. I sometimes feel like I need to erect barbed wire round my desk to stop the family covering it with their possessions – I’m currently working with j’s toy turtle on the desk – but it is worth keeping your space clutter free so you can start work as soon as you sit down.
2. Keep a list. Make sure that you have a list of what you need to do each week or day so you can tick off tasks as they are completed. Try sitting down on Friday afternoon – or your own ‘end of week’ and note down jobs for the coming week. Again, that means that you know what to do as soon as you start work on Monday morning.
3. Network and make contacts. My best bits of freelance work come from some of my great contacts. These may be people I’ve worked with in the past, or can be people I meet at networking events or connect with through Facebook and Twitter. Stay in touch: I asked someone I worked with around 13 years ago for a quote for a book and she has since passed thousands of pounds of work my way. And try out all sorts of different ways to network: you won’t know what works well until you have tried it.
4. Keep good records. Staying in touch with people is much easier if you have good records of your contacts, and keeping accurate files makes it easier to bill people or chase them for overdue payments. Start your records from day one as it is easier to note down a few contacts at a time than deal with a massive backlog.
5. Promote your business every day. If you want a constant flow of work, keep promoting constantly too. Just spend 15 minutes each day, however busy you are, offering expert advice on a forum, following up a contact, or creating your next newsletter. There are more promotional ideas here in the Action Plan.
6. Get help. if you’re freelancing it is tempting to think that you have to do everything yourself. This can hold you back: look at outsourcing time consuming work that doesn’t suit your skills. This might be invoicing, cold calling or something else: you will know which jobs you put off because you hate them!

If you have more tips to help freelancers succeed, can you share them by posting in the comments below?

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“Every mum who ever dreamt of setting up her own business needs this book! Enter your very own Fairy God Mother in the shape of Mumpreneur and PR guru, Antonia Chitty. Antonia expertly holds your hand and leads you through the adventure of creating your new business. From writing your business plan, managing your finances to making the most of the web and planning childcare, Antonia is there every step of the way. I especially liked the useful exercises and worksheets ~ instead of just reading about it, this is a motivational tool to help you take action. You CAN be your own boss, you CAN create a perfect balance between work and family, you CAN be in control, and you CAN go to the ball.”

If you ever wanted to be your own boss – here’s the book you need to get started!

‘The Mumpreneur Guide’ is packed with friendly advice and guidance on starting a successful business at a low cost. It will give YOU the essential information you need to take your from business beginner to successful entrepreneur. Get exclusive access to this book full of articles and guidance written by Antonia Chitty with contributions from business experts including Emma Wimhurst, Mel McGee, Roberta Jerram and Alison Rothwell. Read tips and ideas for helping YOU start your business and make the most of innovative strategies to help you create a family friendly and successful enterprise.

Find out more: www.themumpreneurguide.co.uk/

It is easy to get so wrapped up in running your business that you forget why you started it. I know that this happens to me: a book launch co-inciding with the last days of the summer holidays was not great planning. Because really, I’m doing this so I can be around for the children. And so I need to plan most of my work in school hours and term time. And I’m the only boss I know who will give me time off to attend EVERY school event, and allow me time without complaining whenever my child is sick.

So, now the kids are back at school and nursery and you have a little more time for yourself ask yourself ‘why am I self emplyed/working from home/working flexible hours?’. Write down the first few reasons that come into your head and stick them up somewhere you can see them every day. Over the coming term, especially as things get hectic towards Christmas, this can help you make decisions and keep your priorities in mind.

She concludes with a little advice for every working mum, saying, “I wouldn’t deny any other woman the chance to step into my working-day stilettos, but I would softly whisper, “Are you sure that it’s the right thing to do, for everyone, and not just you?”

Read the whole article here.

Hollie Smith has been writing for a living for more than two decades. Her she shares her story and tips for successful freelancing.

For me it was a no-brainer: I had no intention of returning to my full-time job as a magazine commissioning editor once my maternity leave was up. The decision – made back in 2001 whilst expecting my first child, Lily – was mainly driven by a desire to be with my baby as much as possible; and partly by dillusionment with the job in any case. But whatever the motivation, I knew even as I walked out the building for the last time, heavily pregnant, that I wouldn’t be going back.

And yet, no way had I given up on my career at that point. My plan was simply to start a new phase of it, once Lily was five or six months old. Before I was a commissioning editor, I was a feature writer. And that’s what I hoped to be again, only freelance rather than on staff, and very much part-time, spending about half the working week in my office, and the other half with my daughter. In theory, the perfect compromise. Especially as I was fortunate enough to have the ultimate in reliable-but-free childcare at my disposal, thanks to the willing services of my own mum.

How has it worked out? Well, almost eight years later, I’m still my own boss. My office is over the garage. And I’ve been gainfully – if not especially lucratively – self-employed ever since (in fact, I’ve progressed from being a feature writer to being an author of five non-fiction titles). Most importantly of all, I’ve been there for my kids (Lily is now seven, her younger sister Isabel, five) for the larger part of their pre-school days and, now that they’re both in full-time education, I’m still around to take them to school and back (not to mention Brownies, ballet, and swimming) and to make an appearance at all the sports days, services, and assemblies that crop up so often on our calendar.

I’d recommend working from home on a freelance basis to anyone – especially parents looking to have a maximum presence in their children’s lives (and I say parents because, although my own other-half is an office based nine to fiver, I know lots of dads who’ve found working from home ensures they get a good work/life balance). Top of its attractions is the freedom – freedom to drop if all when that sports day gets scheduled and you simply have to be there. If it’s feasible, if you can afford it, and if you think it’s for you, I’d say do it. No question.

Of course, it’s by no means without drawbacks. In fact, there are many and they’re not insignificant: little or no job security, an erratic income, isolation, lack of motivation, and the fact that your work and home boundaries blur sometimes.

But for me, those drawbacks are just the pay-off for a pretty marvellous deal. Work from home, set my own schedule, no commute, earn an okay living, and still get to be there for my children. Like I said at the start: it’s no-brainer.

Hollie’s Top Tips for Freelance Working from Home

• Set yourself a firm schedule and be (fairly) rigid about sticking to it. If you work within school hours, you’ve automatically got a useful timeframe to go by: mine’s 9.30 to 3.00 – I try my best not to deviate!
• Don’t be tempted to waste working hours on cleaning the house or shopping – make like ordinary working parents and fit these things in as best you can the rest of the time. (Of course, part of the joy of freelancing is the flexibility – loading the washing machine or swinging by the supermarket for the day’s dinner if you need to is your prerogative!)
• Never be tempted in by the lure of daytime television. And if you’ve got a Facebook or Twitter habit, make a pact with yourself that you won’t log on until the end of the day – or possibly just for very short visits at lunchtime! It’s easy to get sucked into social networking when you’re alone at home, but it’s a terrible waste of time and concentration – best not to go there at all if possible! (In actual fact, most freelancers find isolation isn’t a major problem – in fact, it’s often a relief not to have certain colleagues buzzing around. And if you’re doing the school run regularly, a bit of schoolgate chat either side of the day usually serves pretty well as a way of beating loneliness.)
• Take a proper lunch break, even if it’s only a short one. Make yourself something nutritious (be sure to stock up on what you need to feed yourself in advance of the week) and sit at your dining room table to eat it rather than scattering bread crumbs all over your keyboard.
• If you need to catch up on missing hours or work late to beat a deadline, then so be it. But wherever possible, turn off your computer when your work for the day is complete, shut the office door, and don’t go back. Think of yourself as having an imaginary switch – click it over to ‘home/kids/hubby/life’ when you’re done for the day, and leave it there until the following morning!

• www.elance.com
• www.flexibleskillsbank.co.uk
• www.GetMyJobsDone.co.uk
• www.jobs4mothers.com
• www.mumandworking.co.uk
• www.people4business.com
• www.remoteemployment.com
• www.shiftshack.com
• www.sliversoftime.com
• www.ten2two.org
• www.workingmums.co.uk
• http://yummymummyjobs.com

Antonia