With Mother’s Day just around the corner, a recent survey commissioned by Next has sought to find out exactly what we owe our mums for and just how much time and energy they dedicate to their children – whether that involves ferrying them to and from extracurricular activities or taking time off work to care for them when they’re sick.
Across hours of time, numerous gifts, invaluable advice and countless items borrowed, mums support their children in a thousand different ways (even after those “children” leave home) – and a lot …

By John Auckland, TribeFirst
If you’re raising money for your business, it is undoubtedly taking up a good deal of your time.  There’s nothing worse than spending your precious time on activities that are at best ineffective, at worst actively putting investors off the idea of funding your business.
Here are some of the common mistakes entrepreneurs often make when looking to raise money for their business?

Being unclear with your message

I run both accelerators for Virgin StartUp and crowdfunding bootcamps with Grant Thornton, and on both of these programmes I spend …

Networking events for mums with businesses have been around for many years and meet a need. When my kids were young I couldn’t make the local chamber of commerce or BNI breakfast meetings – seven in the morning was a busy time and I couldn’t easily run out or find someone else to look after the children.
There are many different organisations and individuals running this sort of specialist event now, from informal coffee and business chat with friends where the children can come to, through more official monthly networking events …

Single people within the professional community have little notion of the responsibilities associated with parenthood. In the past, taking on the role of a full-time parent would generally force an individual to put his or her career on hold for an indefinite length of time. This would often prove to be very frustrating and in some instances, financial hardships could arise. However, the advent of the Internet has given rise to an entirely new host of opportunities for those with the vision and the discipline. Online retail sales is a …

Emma Willis has designed and launched a clothing collection with Next, a Spring/Summer 2019 edit featuring beachwear, nightwear and tailoring. She has shared her thoughts on being a career woman, stepping out of her comfort zone and how she never thought she’d try her hand at design.
“It’s a very different project. ‘Delivering babies’* has been absolutely a dream come true but designing clothes I suppose was initially something I never thought I would do as I didn’t train in that field. I didn’t go to design school and I am …

SMEs which receive EU-guaranteed loans significantly outperform those that don’t, in areas including asset, sales and productivity growth, according to a new research report from emlyon business school and Politecnico di Milano School of Management.
The report assesses the short and long-term economic effects that EU guaranteed loans have on beneficiary firms. These loans were provided to SMEs under programs funded by the European Commission and managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF).
Fabio Bertoni and Anita Quas, professors of finance at emlyon, and Massimo G. Colombo, professor of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial …

Your Name and Age: Laura, 41 yrs and Kati, 39 yrs
Tell us about your family: Laura is married and has 2 children, a little girl Ella (2 year old) and son Onni (7 year old). Kati lives together with her long term boyfriend and they have a 6 year old son, Roni.
What did you do before coming up with your business idea and how was it making the transition?
We both worked in corporate environments up until giving up our careers in early 2018. Our dissatisfaction and frustration with our corporate …

Apply now for a fully funded short programme at Catalyst: the South of England’s most successful accelerator for early stage businesses.
Southampton Science Park has revealed details of its Catalyst programme for 2019 and has announced that applications are now open for this sought-after accelerator for business start-ups.
Catalyst is a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs with an early stage business – or an ingenious idea for one – no matter whether they’ve been in business before or not. Valued at up to £15,000, the scheme is fully funded for successful applicants.
 
On completion, …

A sense of belonging is just as important a retention tool as good pay and benefits, according to Dr Ali Fenwick of Nyenrode Business University.
This is because identifying with the team, leader, brand and organisation is paramount to workplace commitment as well as work performance.
Fenwick says: “The world of work is changing rapidly and we are seeing increasing numbers of professionals choose to become contractors or work remotely. For businesses, creating a committed workforce in today’s rapidly changing and digitalised environment requires the development of a social contract which doesn’t …

Being a working mum isn’t easy. You’re constantly having to juggle work, family and household chores, as well as trying to have a social life. There just never seems to be enough hours in the day! However, thanks to technology, there’s a lot of help available to make life that little bit easier.
Did you know there are numerous smartphone apps designed specifically with busy mums in mind? Here, you’ll discover some of the best apps to help mums currently on the market.
Remember the Milk
One of the biggest challenges of being …