Lack of family and friends (and friends of family and friends)
Solution: I started networking and through this met people who could help me and support me and I could do the same for them which helped to establish myself as a professional business woman.

Lack of childcare/help with my baby and toddler
Solution: I got free childcare by arranging a service exchange with a local nursery. I traded childcare with a neighbor who was also starting up her business.

Lack of history here, knowledge of British business practice and growing up here seeing how business is done
Solution: Read books by British business women and newspapers. It sounds simple but it is amazing what you can learn about a country and its people by reading the newspaper! (i.e., The Times and The Guardian ….and even some of the tabloids!)

Lack of correct terminology
Solution: I learned to ask for clarification and not to leave anything ambiguous. I learned as I went and asked people what they meant when they said something I didn’t understand or wasn’t sure of the meaning (translation please!).

There are of course many other challenges to starting up a business but these are specific to setting up a business in Britain when you are not from here. Of course I still come across these challenges now but through experience, I am better equipped to deal with them.

I am sure other non-British mumpreneurs have additional challenges too – perhaps language barriers and other cultural differences. I would love to hear what those are! Please feel free to post your story.

One major point I want to emphasise is when you are having a business discussion, if there is anything unclear because of use of language (for example, Americans use more direct language whereas the British use the passive tense more) get clarification! There have been times when I misunderstood my clients and business associates (and vice versa) simply because my use of language did not translate the way I wanted it to in British English. Or, I have taken what they have said at face value when actually, they meant something else. This can lead to confusion and business transactions going wrong.

Another note of advice and encouragement is if you are thinking about starting up a business, do something you love and are passionate about. Don’t be afraid if your business venture is foreign or non-British. Noriko, a Japanese mother of two British born children runs a business making and selling a very specific type of Japanese sweets. She started her business because she loves making these sweets and it was a way to instil part of her culture in her children’s lives and also introduce her culture, through her business, to the British people. Noriko sells Japanese sweets both online and at events such as the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival.

There can be additional challenges if your business offers a product or service that is not as common here in Britain as it is in your home country. Jen, for example, from Holy Cow! Event Planning has discovered that hiring someone to organize or plan your event is not as popular or common over here in Britain as it is in Canada, her home country. She is immediately up against a barrier that she had not experienced before in her own culture. This poses a dilemma which Jen has recognized and has taken action on. She has adapted her business to incorporate social media services which are, ever increasingly, in high demand. Through this, she has been able to maintain a sustainable business and continue to live and work here in Britain as a Canadian expat.

Whatever you decide to do or whatever you are doing now, remember that it’s sometimes tough running a business as a foreign mumpreneur – learning a new ways of doing business and a different style of communication in doing business, but that it can also be wonderful and rewarding on both a personal and professional level. Ask for help, ask for clarification, love what you do and that passion will show through and break-down any cultural barriers you might come across.

By Meghan Peterson Fenn

Author of Bringing Up Brits: Expat Parents Raising Cross-Cultural Kids in Britain
www.bringingupbrits.co.uk
www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog

New Start Scotland

Nov 18 and 19, 2011

SECC Scotland

Running over two days, New Start Scotland offers over 100 exhibitors as well as 50 seminars and workshops, giving people a chance to develop their entrepreneurial skills, meet new contacts and get advice on how to turn their business dreams into reality. Over 8,000 entrepreneurs and business owners are expected to attend. This year’s key speakers include online Dragons’ Den panelist Shaf Rasul.

Highlights:

•         Bright business idea competition

•         Business planning kiosks

•         Online demonstration area

•         Small business clinic

•         Networking area

To find out more or book your Free tickets please visit the website: http://www.newstartscotland.com

We know that it can be hard to invest in the business training you need when you are starting a business and supporting a family. 

For the second year running the lovely sponsors of BusinessMumsSummit: BabyTod, Baby Signing Mummy, TotsToTravel and Become A Mumpreneur have agreed to help other mums come along to the conference. 

To apply for a scholarship:

Email antonia@businessmumsconference.co.uk with the following details:

• Why you need a scholarship
• How you feel the conference could help you
• What you could do to promote your sponsor
• Whether you also need a travel allowance and how much
• Proof of income (tax credit or income support forms)

NB All information will be in confidence.

All entries must be in by 1st July 2011. Scholarship winners will be announced by 1 August.

Many mums start to blog about something they have a passion for, and for many that is parenthood. You might want to write about your daily life, or you might focus on a particular interest such as baking, making, photography . There are no limits as to the topics you can cover: it is up to you and I’d advise you start writing and see!

Once you’ve made a start, in order to get approaches from PR companies offering products or advertisers, you’ll need to persist. I have heard of mums being approached after 3 months, but it can take longer. Make sure you join sites like British Mummy Bloggers and submit your blog to relevant directories. And blog regularly: whether you write 1, 2 or 3 posts a week, as long as you stick to that schedule your readers know when to check in. If you need some inspiration, create a plan for your blog so you post photos on Sunday, write about something that is going on in your life on Tuesday, and share a recommendation on Thursday, say.

Potential sponsors and businesses will want to see that not only do your blog regularly, but that you also have a growing readership. I created an email list so I can interact with readers in more than one way: people seem to take action from a newsletter far more than a post! Find an email service provider – Mailchimp offers extensive no-cost services – and embed a sign up form in your sidebar. Even if you just take time to do a roundup of your best posts once a month you will be drawing readers back in. If you run competitions, promote them to your list to give people more reasons to visit.

If you want to write reviews, create a ‘reviews’ page which explains that you are willing to review products, maybe outlines the ages of your kids, and explains how to get in touch. Start by reviewing products that you have bought and days out that you go on so people can see your style. Some bloggers use Kids4Media and Response Source to request items for review. If you’d like to earn through advertising and sponsored posts, again you should create a page which outlines your policy.

These are just a couple of ideas: learn all about starting and growing a blog with a free 35 week eCourse at www.becomeamumblogger.com

In 2010, some lovely business owners sponsored a few people to attend the conference. This year we wanted to expand the programme and make it open to as many people as possible.  In this way we hope that it won’t just be mums with great connections who get a sponsored tickets but those who need it most and maybe wouldn’t shout out and ask.

To apply for a scholarship:

Email antonia@businessmumsconference.co.uk with the following details:

• Why you need a scholarship
• How you feel the conference could help you
• What you could do to promote your sponsor
• Whether you also need a travel allowance and how much
• Proof of income (tax credit or income support forms)

NB All information will be in confidence.

All entries must be in by 1st July 2011. Scholarship winners will be announced by 1 August.

Many thanks to the sponsors of each place: BabyTod, Baby Signing Mummy, TotsToTravel and Become A Mumpreneur.

“A great resource for any mum looking for flexible working inspiration and ideas. The Mumpreneur Guide is well researched, using fascinating real life case studies to support the its sound business information and advice, there are a lot of inspiring mums out there and it’s great to see their efforts recognised. A must-have for the bookshelf of any aspiring Mumpreneur!”

Jane Hopkins of MumsClub – The Business Club for Entrepreneurial Mums

If you’re looking for a better way of working, how do you find genuine work from home opportunities which can replace your salary and help you escape the rat race?

The Mumpreneur Guide includes:

• 4 types of business that work well when you are a parent
• 33 great business ideas and how to make them succeed when you have a family.
• 7 indispensible resources to get your business off to a great start.
• The 12 essentials of business planning. Plus a step by step guide to create your plan

Plus you’ll learn:

• 7 simple ways to find customers.
• The 19 ‘must haves’ for any website.
• 9 great ways to raise your business profile online.
• 7 essentials to help you get to grips with business finance basics.
• 5 key elements of getting a great work life balance.
• 10 ways to grow your business and take it to the next level.

And you’ll receive:

• 12 practical exercises to help you take action in YOUR business
• 42 inspiring case studies of mums and dads with great businesses

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

‘Taking Online Payments’ teleclass – 8pm Tuesday 5th April

A few years ago, pretty much all my clients paid by cheque on receipt of an invoice. A few sales went through paypal, one or two people had set up a standing order, but most of the time I had to send out a manual request for money and wait to get paid.

Fast forward to 2011, and a conversation with my bookkeeper, who said, “I was going through your books, Antonia, and wished I had so many payments coming in automatically.” Nowadays, more and more of my income comes via automatic online payments. No more cash-flow problems, far less work for me and the bookkeeper, and a far more reliable income for me, even during the holidays.

Online payment has played a big part in this change for me, which is why we’ve brought in tech expert Karen Skidmore to run a teleclass for us on ‘Taking Online Payments’. Karen has worked with me on my business, and now you have the chance to listen to her expert tips as she demystifies the smart ways to take online payments, set up a merchant account and more.

The ‘Taking Online Payments’ teleclass is only available to members of ‘Become a Mumpreneur’, so if you’d like to learn about how to bring the money in, hassle-free, pop over and join the course today. You have until 7pm to sign up and take part in the live teleclass which starts at 8pm on April 5th.

SIGN UP HERE:

http://www.becomeamumpreneur.com/become-a-mumpreneur-2011/

I’ve been working for myself for 9 years, and it has been a steep learning curve. Finally I seem to have found ways to create reliable income that doesn’t leave me chained to my desk, allows me to take the holidays off AND spend time with my 3 children. I’ve learnt loads from my business partner Erica Douglas, and here we’re going to share our best tips to get you started:

1.       Change the way you think. You don’t always need to find a job to start earning. You DO need to be open to opportunities and you do need to be able to weigh up the cost of each opportunity.

2.       Do understand what you have to offer … and what you don’t. If you’re short on time, don’t set up a business that relies on swapping time for money. If you have an area where you are an expert DO exploit this.

3.       Don’t rely on just one income. In these times of recession it is even more important to have a few ways to earn. A part time job, income from ads on a blog, an e-course, some affiliate products: the more income streams you have, the better.

4.       Do get support and invest in training. Once you have started a small income, get clear on what you need to learn to take it to the next level. A small investment in training can really help you earn more.

Antonia Chitty and Erica Douglas run the ‘Mumpreneur in a Month’ 30 day free e-course that can help YOU start learning how to earn. Join the course now.

Jump Gym was successfully ‘test driven’ by the Hadley-Ford girls, aged eight
and 14. Now it is complete and ready to be used UK-wide to provide stimulating sessions at schools, nurseries, sports centres, community centres and village halls, with classes designed for pre-schoolers (3-5 years), juniors (6-8 years) and seniors (9-11 years).

Jump Gym has new operators in Edinburgh, Sunderland and Glasgow who will soon be offering classes. Jump Gym hosts ‘Term Time’ and ‘Holiday Club’
classes so that kids enjoy year-round bouncy workouts that improve their
overall fitness, while also  gaining nutrition advice from the cute mascots
and hand puppets, Francesca and Frederick. A “Hi 5″ motto is conveyed to the kids, who are encouraged to eat five daily portions of fruit and vegetables, as well as receiving healthy eating advice, menus and recipes.

Sharon Hadley-Ford says: “Our family has worked on the Jump Gym concept since 2007. It was borne from a desire for my children to attend structured
play sessions instead of hanging around on street corners, eating fish and chips and playing endlessly on phones and computers. Other mums were telling me that their kids were reluctant to be active and eat properly. I wanted to find something the kids really enjoyed that would keep them fit.”

She adds: “Thanks to years of experience in the inflatable play industry, I
knew that kids liked to play on inflatables, so we set about designing a fun
inflatable with additional sports activities to engage children with various
forms of aerobic movement. We conducted online research and came up with some ‘fresh friends’ characters to set the scene on the inflatable – for
example Pierre the French apple will teach the children a few French words
and recipes. A whole series of educational activities is being planned for
the children at Jump Gym, with each activity specific to one of the fresh
characters.”

All Jump Gym classes combine a weekly ‘Sports Theme’ with a weekly ‘Fresh
Food’, such as ‘Skipping and Strawberries’. Each week, a new club recipe is
posted and children are encouraged to go away and eat the healthy food of
the week – for example, strawberries might feature in strawberry smoothie,
strawberry yoghurt or fruit salad – and to record how many days they
practice the sports action of the week, such as skipping. Reward charts are
used at the Jump Gym classes and the kids receive stars for their efforts,
to build their confidence. Older children enjoy active sports themes
involving, for example, tennis, badminton and hockey skills.

For more information please visit: http://www.jumpgym.co.uk/

Pamela has only recently joined the course, but has found a great way to start earning with guaranteed sales! She listened to the latest teleclass with our expert Helen Lindop and then took action to test out her business idea:

Today I posted some pictures on my Facebook page of items I might offer for sale and within one hour I received 7 orders for the items. The beauty about the whole thing is that I am yet to purchase the items. I just wanted to see the reaction of my friends before going ahead and a lot of people have pre ordered. I realise that, to achieve anything in life you must take the first step which is getting of your ‘I wish’ mood and actually doing something. Thank you Erica and Antonia for encouraging me to take the baby steps.

If you’re ready to take action like Pamela, Sign up for your 30 day free trial here and see if, like her, it encourages you to take action AND start those earnings coming in.

BECOME A MUMPRENEUR is open for new members from now until 9pm Friday 4^th March. You have just 3 days to check it out and take the free trial.