Today, 8th March 2010, is a wonderful day to be a woman. Because today is International Women’s Day - a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

The United Nations theme for 2010 is Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for all which ties in with our 2010 Charity Challenge to raise enough money to train 52 businesswomen in developing countries.

Today we are hosting a local event, with delegates attending presentations on developing inner confidence/leadership skills and dressing for confidence. I can’t think of a better way to spend the day – in the company of 30 enterprising women. I love the warmth of support and collaboration I always feel, when I spend time with my peers. I love the passion, the optimism and the creative thinking, all tempered with the desire to help and do good. 

IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

Until such time as IWD becomes a national holiday in the UK, we would like to wish you a very happy International Women’s Day, however you spend it and whoever you spend it with.

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Where the Bright Women Are is a project with a simple aim – to find all of those bright, cool women we all used to know in our teens, 20s and 30s and discover more about the paths they’d taken, and the choices that they’d made.

Fiona, one of the project founders, says “With backgrounds in research and journalism, and having worked in the communications industry for years, it constantly baffles us that so many women have ‘gone missing’. We know they’re somewhere – we just don’t know where, because they aren’t, generally, sitting on the boards of FTSE100 companies, but nor are they all sitting in coffee shops living off their husbands.”

With so many conversations abounding about women in the boardroom, stay-at-home mums and how maternity rights are affecting women’s careers, the founders think that it often seems as if the only people who don’t share their opinions are the women themselves.

So, what are all the bright women doing? In order to find out, they have created a blogsite and a survey. Fiona adds, “Our emerging hypothesis is that many, many bright women want to work. It’s just that the conventions around traditional corporate environments no longer work for them – whether or not they have children. We believe that the future for many women will be in an environment they create for themselves – a business, a partnership, or volunteering. So we are particularly interested in understanding more about women who are taking the plunge, and doing things for themselves.”

Please click here if you would like to take part in the survey and add your views. And for more information about the project, please visit www.wherethebrightwomenare.com

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Guest blogger Naomi Richards is a Life Coach for Children. Here she explains how she organises her time with her own children and her clients.

I don’t think it is possible to have it all when you are a working mum especially when you are very passionate about the work you do and even more so when it is your own business.

Most women choose a job that fits in with the hours their children are at school or nursery. Me, I decided not to go down that route. I work when my children are asleep at night and at the weekend. Consequently I am nurturing my children most of the day and being the best mum I can be and then at night I become the ‘The Kids Coach’ – a life coach for children – who works with other people’s children helping them overcome their emotional and behavioural issues.

Thankfully despite being around children all day I am still very focused and charged up in my coaching sessions in the evening. I almost work best when tired. The bit that I find the toughest about being a working mum is fitting in the housework. Other mumpreneurs find it easy and just don’t do it. I have to. In my head being organised and having a tidy house means I am not distracted by dirty mugs in the sink or a pile of ironing.

Fitting both the ‘mum’ and ‘business’ elements  into my day is fairly demanding so I start my day at 6.30am by putting washing on and tidying the house so I have more time to work during the day and at night. After evening client sessions I can often be ironing, catching on any TV I cannot live without or writing.

I think my long days are a small compromise to pay in return for me having the chance to have a job that I am so passionate about. I can only work with my target audience, children, after school and at the weekends as they are at school the rest of the time, so my time when my own children are not with me is made up of writing articles for websites, writing blogs and articles, having meetings with organisations and contacts, running group sessions and do admin. My youngest is only 2 ½ so I get three hours child free a day to do this.

Once I pick him up from nursery my time is spent with him unless he falls asleep on the sofa which seems to be happening regularly now. My work then starts again properly once both my children are in bed at 7pm. I eat with my children at about 5pm so I don’t have to bother about cooking later and then I start seeing clients (children) from 7.15pm. I have to say it is pretty regimented and scheduled but if the children are not asleep when my first child arrives I am in trouble. Thank goodness it has not happened yet. On Sunday mornings my, luckily hands-on, husband will take our children for several hours so I can work privately – otherwise I would be turning away work and no business woman wants to do that. So it is really is a bit of a muddle and a juggle.

As a mum regardless of working or not, I have very little family support to help out with the children so when I want to go to a conference, or attend a meeting during the day I either have to plan this for a morning or ask my husband to take time off work for me to go. It is not ideal but the only way I can grow the business and know that the children are good hands when I am not around, oh and they love that extra daddy time. My children do not feel they are missing out of me working and my husband supports my work. We spend time together at the weekends, go out just the two of us for dinner and have late night chats to catch up on what everyone is doing. I see my friends around clients, a quick coffee when I need a break from work and at the weekends so I feel balanced with all aspects of my life.

I think because I am working I bring more into our relationship, my self-esteem is higher and I feel fulfilled therefore am happier.

I try and make myself accessible to parents and children who need help. It is hard given that there are very few coaches out there who work with children and coaching is so beneficial to this group. My working life will not change for the foreseeable future and as I get busier I may be working all day Sunday. My main priority at the moment are my children. I want them to have me at home when they come back from school and I want to put my energy and expertise into them so they grow into responsible well balanced children who can problem solve. That’s why I use no wrap around childcare. I like my work/life balance, albeit a little topsy turvy.

For more details of the work Naomi does with children please visit www.thekidscoach.org.uk

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It’s that time again when we ask all you business mums to dig out your best business blog posts of the month.  The idea of the Business Mum’s Blog Carnival is to create traffic,  links and comments for our blogs as well as sharing expertise around the business mum community.

We’re looking for posts that add value in some way, so maybe they inspire, inform or make us smile. It’s OK to talk a little about what you do (we’re all in business after all) but a post that’s just a sales pitch isn’t going to be much of a read.

Mum’s The Blog is delighted to be hosting the March Carnival and if you want to get involved all you have to do is email a link to your post to info (at) mumstheboss (dot) co.uk by 13th March and the carnival will be posted on the 15th March. And with events taking place all over the country in celebration of International Women’s Day on 8th March, we hope to be inundated with inspiring & celebratory posts!

And don’t forget to read other people’s posts and comments when the carnival is published. The more comments our blogs get, the more popular our blogs look to new readers!

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Now I know that at least half of you are thinking I may be suffering some sort of delusion or mental breakdown; how can she possibly be cheering the school holidays? The other half know why. It’s quite simple: I love being with my children and the whole reason I was a stay at home mum and am now a WAHM is for this very reason.

No, my children aren’t saints, and no my work doesn’t stop and the work/life balancing act doesn’t go away or fit in with school holidays perfectly. However,  as ‘my own boss’ I can decide when to log on, I can decide when to work and I can forward plan so that anything major does not clash with my children’s holiday time.  I took those decisions because I wanted to be with my children; 90% of the time it is a fulfilling and brilliant job – and 10% of the time it isn’t, but then nothing in life is perfect!

Depending on what sort of business you have, the school holidays may realistically present you with a challenge; but you knew that when you started. And it is only a few weeks of the year.  I have friends who work full time, and in fairness their children are used to the routine, but I always feel a little sorry for them. They don’t get to have a pyjama morning, a picnic in the park or an afternoon film snuggled up with mummy – at home – chilled out and free from the stress of school. For those that work and are reading this – no judgement is made – I am simply explaining the freedom of my choice.

Many people would delight, or look forward to the day when their children are at school full time. I however still miss them dearly and actually relish the time they are at home in the holidays. As well as spending some real time with them, awake and fun, it gives me an opportunity to relax, play and enjoy their childhood with them. I actually get to ‘have a holiday’ from what I normally cram into the week and my mindset is switched over to ‘anything is a bonus’. I can just ‘be ‘ with them, I can catch up at home and the  housework,  which is always bottom of my list in term time, and I am relieved from continuously time managing the school run, play dates and homework.

The added bonus to all of this is when the Other Half gets home after work, having spent the day with the children I feel justified in sneaking off to reply to the emails or have a relaxing bath  as I have already spent the day with them, and then rather than do the night shift I actually have some evening time.  

It is never a clear division between being employed and being a WAHM, and there are many pluses and minuses to both – but if you did chose to be a WAHM….remember why….take a deep breath – count to 10 ……… and don’t wish the time away…..very soon they will be grown up and gone.

How do you manage the holidays? What are your tips and experiences to share with us about managing children in the holidays?

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Guest blogger Leigh Williams is the founder of Marketing & Business Coaching company Truesilver. She offers one-to-one, telephone or online coaching and is a specialist at helping small business owners tap into Government funding schemes. In this post Leigh guides you through the process of accessing funds and putting them to good use.

When I mention government funding to people, I tend to get one of two reactions: either disbelief or amazement. I’ve learnt over the last year or so that sometimes you really can’t give money away. Some people firmly believe that nothing comes for free and if they can’t find a catch they distrust it. Personally I feel that we all pay taxes, so technically it’s not ‘free money’ but if it costs you nothing to find out why not give it a chance?

And yet most people are truly amazed that they are eligible for any kind of grants or funding and open to getting all the help they can.

Show me the money!
Though it would be nice, and we could all do with one, there is rarely a big pot of gold available to pay for your business set up and running costs. If you take into account that there are over 4 million businesses in the UK and 99% of those are small or medium size businesses, it’s just not viable for the government to pay thousands (or millions)  of pounds to everyone who is starting up a business. There are, however, government guaranteed loans available rather than grants if you need money for assets such as equipment, stock etc.

If you’re looking for help with growing your business, then there are a couple of pockets of money (normally between £200 and £1000) available to most businesses. So how do you tap into them?

Which Grant?
Part of the challenge is keeping up with what’s available. We’ve helped lots of businesses in the past year get marketing, business coaching and training paid for by the various funding bodies. Business Link offer a lot of help and the Learning Skills Council are another main one. The key is knowing who to ask, what to say and how to apply for it. There are a lot of companies that will advise you and some will charge for the service. We give our funding advice for free as part of our initial free coaching session, the theory being that if people like our service and use the funding to pay for help from us, then everyone wins. You win because you’ve got some free help to grow your business, the funding body wins because they need to use up the money they’re allocated and we win because we get paid.

The main criteria for the various grants we help people with is that your business is less than 3 years old or you have 5 or more people in your business. We can often help companies who don’t fit that criteria as well, but if either of those sounds like you then you really need to talk to someone about getting the help that’s available.

Applying yourself
If you’re planning on applying for the grants and funding yourself, make sure you know exactly what the criteria is and how the application process works. Be wary of applying to funding bodies that aren’t completely clear on what you need to do to qualify. We focus on the grants where the application is as straightforward as possible, because we can generally get an answer within a couple of days if not a couple of hours. Charities have full time trained staff who’s sole job it is to contact funding bodies and fill out applications in the hope that some of them will be accepted. Most of us are too busy running our businesses to spend that kind of time, which is why we keep it simple and will only advise you to apply where you’re likely to be accepted.

Make the money count
Once you’ve been given a grant, the next stage is to use it wisely. There are some great marketing companies and business advisors out there but I’ve dealt with quite a few clients who haven’t got the best out of their funding. Either the company they spent it with didn’t give them the service they were expecting, or they were more expensive than the industry standard so couldn’t get the level of help they really needed. Always ask what the results will be from the program or service you sign up to. You need to make sure that whoever helps you is going to give you something long term. The reason these grants are there is to help Britain become “better skilled and more competitive.” It really is a case of teach a woman to fish…

If you’re looking for help in your business, you really aren’t the only one. Use someone like us who specifically helps small and micro businesses as generally they won’t charge you the earth and make sure you know exactly what you’re getting for your money. Ok, so it’s the government’s money, but hopefully if you think of it like your own then you’ll spend it cleverly and it can really help you get to the next stage in your business.

To find out how Leigh can help you access funding, or how she can help with your marketing plan or business coaching contact her at info@truesilver.co.uk or visit www.truesilver.co.uk

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Just over a year ago I had a new baby, but it was very unlike my previous two children. It had been discussed for a short while and was very wanted, but there was some doubt as to whether this was the right time.  I already had 2 children, but I had a new partner and she also had 2 children, so how would the new baby fit in? Perfectly, because I’m not talking about a real baby; I’m talking about my ‘business baby’ – Mum’s The Boss.

Like many mums, both Sam and I rejected the ‘going back to the traditional workplace’ option once we had had children. We were both drawn into the ‘franchise type business model’  which were not what we had hoped for, but then we met and formed our support network. Mums the Boss was started from a casual comment on a forum, and has grown to what we have today – a large and growing network and support group for the many mums who have their own businesses.

 Recently a year old, I spent some time thinking about the journey that that we had been on and what had happened in the past year and I kept finding parallels with my own real children.  I was lucky that I had very few sleep deprived nights with my own children, but Mum’s The Boss has given me a few! Nights when I couldn’t switch off because of decisions to be made, excitement because of some good news and the fear that I didn’t have the first idea about what to do next! Is this sounding familiar yet?

 But it wasn’t just the night time – every waking moment it seemed that the business was there lurking in my mind. It may not be shrieking ‘mummy mummy mummy’ at full volume but it was  always there being thought about. Unlike going to work, and similar to having a baby or child, there is no ‘day off’ or lunch break as such, it is a constant companion.

Once we reached our first birthday though, I noticed a shift in my mental attitude. Yes the business still commands my attention, and yes I am still a novice. However we have created, grown and nurtured our baby, it is starting to ‘walk and talk’ independently and I am able to finally relax a little. We have made it this far, past all the initial hurdles that lie in wait for new businesses. I can leave the laptop off on a Sunday and know that whatever may be in the inbox will always wait until Monday. I know that a bad day will inevitably be followed by many good days, and that you can’t plan for every eventuality, but most things can usually be fixed.

We now have experienced a full year so are more confident about some of the routine and organisational side of things. However, just like with real parenting, just when you think you’ve got them all figured out…..they change again! This year we face we face new challenges and ‘growth spurts’ and however far we have come and have grown in confidence we will always have those lingering doubts, just as I do with my children; is this the right way or the best way?

Luckily, as ’parents’, Sam & I seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet, and both enjoy the natural antidotes to parental and business uncertainty; chocolate, cake, wine and laughter!

How do you feel about your business? Have you got words of wisdom for us? Please share your experiences.

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In 2010 we have set ourselves a challenge – to raise £1404 to enable us to fund the training of 52 new business women in the developing world – that’s 1 new businesswoman for every week of the year!

In 2010 Mum’s The Boss’ nominated charity is Oxfam and, through the Oxfam Unwrapped programme, we want to raise enough money to train 52 new businesswomen in developing countries through Oxfam’s Train a Businesswoman gift.

The scheme helps aspiring businesswomen by developing and enhancing their business skills. Whether it’s help with money management, financial support, developing negotiation skills, improving production rates or effectively marketing the end product, this gift helps women work together – maybe even in co-operatives – to achieve their potential.

In the UK there is an amazing amount of information and support available if you want to set up your own business, and we see our networking groups as a small link in this chain. For that reason we decided this was the perfect charity for us as it allows us to do something for enterprising women in other parts of the world who aren’t so fortunate.

We will be organising various fundraising events throughout 2010 to achieve our target of £1404.00 and have set up a Just Giving page so that people can make donations online. So watch out for details throughout the year of ways in which you can get involved – and above all, wish us luck!

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When I was young, as soon as the Christmas festivities were over, I was made to write thank you letters.  Whilst still around, thank you letters are becoming less common and are more likely to be replaced with an email, text or phone call. But despite the change in appearance the sentiment is still there – the importance of thanking people and showing your appreciation. So, in keeping with advances in technology this is our Thank You blog to all the many people who have helped Mum’s The Boss this year.

I never cease to be amazed at the kindness and generosity of people I have never met.  In the last year I have lost count of the people who have given their time freely, just to help us and give advice. This help has come in many guises, the first of which was an incredible show of faith in us and our idea. This was a real ‘gift’, with no strings attached, of £400 from somebody completely unknown to us, who lived in a town miles away. We allocated the money to cover the cost of our crèche provision for the year, but in the end it was that money that papered over the cracks in our cashflow and without it I can’t say we’d be here today.

The list of other people to thank is enormous, but included in this are all our fantastic speakers who gave their time completely free of charge to help, encourage, inspire and support others. There are also all  the professionals and other business people who have given their time to us on a personal level in the development of Mum’s the Boss. And we really ought to mention our supportive other halves at home who have lived all our highs and lows and put up with long telephone conversations and been in charge of babysitting duties so we could have our evening meetings! 

We had enormous support for the business raffle we held in conjunction with out start-up events in September, and were astonished at how generous people were, both those we know and have met, but also our many Twitter friends. The prizes peopled donated were not just physical items - for many the prize involved giving their time. This is something that as working mums we are all short of, and we realise not only how precious that time is, but also how much of an impact a 1:1 with someone is. A good conversation is worth countless books, articles and programmes on business.

We are also grateful to all the authors who have given us books for our book library, and all the discounts and offers that have been forthcoming in response to our  “we are a worthy cause but poor” emails.  It has been necessary for us to bargain and barter, but is not something which we take lightly, and only ever do so for the furtherment of the group. In the ever increasingly fast-paced world in which we live, it is heart-warming to know there are still so many people willing to help, to give of their time and encouragement and have faith in the ideas and visions of others.  

When we wrote to our benefactor, thanking her again for her generosity, she told us that, at the start of her career, someone had given her a sum of money, so she was just paying it forward. So we have agreed, as a thank you to her, to do the same one day to someone else starting out on their business journey. We just hope it won’t be too far into 2010 before we will be in a position to pass on some the kindness we have been shown throughout this year.

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We wrote a couple of weeks ago about our honour at being invited by Sarah Brown to attend the Downing Tweet Christmas Party on 4^th December. Honour quickly turned to excitement, trepidation and a full scale shopping and pampering spree the like of which neither of us had never seen before! And now the party is just a memory - but for posterity we wanted to record the event so we never forget how amazing the 10 days leading up to it, and the party itself, made us feel.

Now, I don’t know about you, but we haven’t been invited to Downing Street before. In fact we haven’t been invited to many places where we’ve needed to get really dressed up. So it’s safe to say we don’t have that many cocktail dresses hanging idly in our wardrobes, which can only mean one thing – SHOPPING! We both bought everything new – dress, shoes, undies, bags, jewellery, the lot – as nothing we had was suitable, and it was the most amazing excuse to splash out and treat ourselves. As mums we often come last when it comes to treats and me-time, but it highlighted just how important it is to treat yourself once in a while – it really is good for the soul!

The other big culture shock was the personal grooming side of things. We are both pretty low maintenance when it comes to beauty regimes – soap and water, a splash of moisteriser, and some rudimentary makeup to cover the bags under our eyes. However the week before the party we defuzzed, exfoliated and moisterised in preparation for our very first spray tans! We had our hair cut and coloured, our cuticles removed and our nails buffed and polished. And the worrying thing is - I think we both actually enjoyed being a bit girly for a change. I fear this could turn into an expensive hobby!

Last but not least we booked ourselves into a hotel for the night, so we didn’t have to travel down to London on the train in our glad rags.  This was an expensive luxury as London hotels don’t come cheap, but it proved the perfect excuse to gather together a group of other mummy tweeters, most of whom had travelled down on their own, for some pre-party drinks in the hotel bar. With safety in numbers (and a glass or two of dutch courage inside us) we were ready for our short taxi ride to No 10.

Now practically everyone in the Twittersverse who went on Friday night has already blogged about their experiences so we won’t attempt to reinvent the wheel by repeating what celebrities were there (but yes we did talk to Beverley Knight, Richard Bacon & Brian Friedman) and how amazing walking up the staircase is, looking at all the portraits of previous Prime Ministers (although it was absolutely fabulous and surreal!). Sandy at Baby Baby stayed in the same hotel as us and shared a cab with us, as well as a chat with the Prime Minister himself, so her account of events if almost identical to ours! Gigi at Mums Rock also gives a fabulous account of the night. And finally, let’s not forget the great lady herself, Sarah Brown, and her account of why she gathered us all together in the first place.

What we will tell you about though, are some of the amazing mums we met who are working tirelessly for some truly inspiring charities. @Sarah_E_Milne campaigns on behalf of Live Life Then Give Life, encouraging people to join the organ donor register, after her 5 year old son was given the gift of a bowel transplant earlier this year. This Christmas is the first time she has ever had William at home, and her story was heart-breaking and inspirational at the same time. You can follow her story about William’s second chance at life on her blog.

We also met @only1lucylocket, aka Lucy Smith, who, in 2007, founded Thomas’s Fund – a charity that provides music therapy in Northamptonshire for children and young people with life-limiting illnesses or a disability. Lucy started the fund after her own son Thomas died, aged 10, in 2004 of a life-limiting neuro-degenerative condition. His 11 year old brother Harry has the same condition and is the fund’s junior ambassador. You can find out more about the work Thomas Fund pays for and donate at www.thomassfund.org.uk 

All in all our visit to No 10 was undoubtedly one of the most exciting experiences of our lives. It was an honour to meet the Prime Minister and Sarah, as well as all the amazingly brave and giving people who work tirelessly for their own charity’s and campaigns, in addition to the Million Mums Campaign which ultimately brought us all together.  The atmosphere in the room was just so positive – there were no egos amidst the eclectic mix of bloggers, journalists, techies, campaigners, celebrities and polititians – and everyone seemed as thrilled to be there as we were.

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