A month ago, if you had asked me what my dream job would be, I would probably have replied with something flippant like Johnny Depp’s personal secretary or a chocolate taste tester. Well, my friends, be careful what you wish for, because sometimes dreams do come true!

Thanks to the magic of Twitter and the British Mummy Blogger community I heard that Green and Blacks were looking for blogging taste testers. Without hesitation I volunteered my services and several weeks later, quite unannounced, a large jiffy bag arrived in the post, bursting at the seams with scrumptious chocolate! Since then I have been on a culinary chocolate journey, using my Green & Blacks bars to nibble, suck, scoff, melt and bake.

My surprise parcel contained 11 bars of chocolate – 8 to eat, and 3 bars of cooking chocolate. First off I ate the ‘flavoured’ bars – Butterscotch, Cherry and Almond.  Now I am a firm fan of Milk Chocolate so found both the Butterscotch and the Almond bars quite divine – both creamy and sweet with the perfect amount of burnt toffee flavour crunch in the Butterscotch and whole almonds in the other. Last up I tried the Cherry bar. I normally find dark chocolate too bitter for my taste, but the bittersweet tang of the whole cherry pieces made this bar really enjoyable, and not harsh in the way I normally find dark chocolate – in fact it’s definitely a combination I could get used to!

Onto the plain bars – Milk, Cream Milk, White, Dark 70% and Dark 85%. Now I could have just eaten these – no problem – but I thought I’d be a bit more creative and use some to bake with (although I’m ashamed to say the Cream Milk did disappear in a single sitting!). The Dark 70% was lovingly turned into Valentines Molten Chocolate Pots (see right) by being melted down and mixed with butter, ground almonds, 1 egg, 1 yolk, caster sugar and Baileys liqueur. Once melted the 70% Dark was like pure, black silk and the resulting pudding was incredibly rich but not in a sickly sweet way. Needless to say, my ‘Valentine’ was very impressed!

The Dark 85% was both eaten and baked. I felt I had to try the 85% because I don’t think I have ever eaten chocolate with that high cocoa content before. However the 85% Dark is ’softened with Madagascen Vanilla’ which you could really taste and did take any bitter edge away from the chocolate. The rest of the bar, along with a bar of G&B cooking chocolate, was melted down and turned into Best Ever Brownies (see left). When I make Brownies I normally use cocoa powder so I needed a recipe that used real chocolate  – and boy could I tell the difference! When I got them out of the oven I was too impatient to wait for them to cool down completely so cut them up while they were still warm. The insides of the Brownies were still gooey but they cooled to an absolutely perfect velvety chocolate consistency which was met with lots of appreciative “ooohs” and “aahs” when I took them along to one of our Mum’s The Boss meetings for some of our members to sample. And to make them even better they also contained chunks of the Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate bars for good measure – chocolate cake heaven personified!!

Which just leaves me with 2 bars of cooking chocolate left. One of these is earmarked to make some chocolate cornflake cakes with the girls and the other will be used to make our signature cake at meetings, and the most popular search phrase that leads people to our blog – Chocolate Fridge Cake!

When I excitedly posted on Facebook that I would be taste testing for Green and Blacks one of my friends replied “What’s to review? It’s chocolate. ‘Nuff said!”  Turns out though, that there’s more to this chocolate lark than meets the eye - and I’m more than willing to learn!

Popularity: 6% [?]

“It’s all about Attitude” states the back cover boldly of Making it – Women entrepreneurs reveal the secrets of their success. This book has been written to examine why and how some women have managed to create very successful businesses, whilst juggling their family and home lives, but also, more importantly how you can join them in being a success too.

Attitude is the acronym that has been used for the chapter titles, Accentuate the Positive, Total belief, Trust, Innovate, To aim high, Unstoppable, Determined and Enthusiasm, and is very much the dominant theme running throughout the book. It is all about how YOU are in control, and YOUR attitude can determine whether or not your business is a success or a failure. If you are lacking motivation, or feeling a lack of focus or direction then this is certainly a good book to pick up.

 Each chapter is made up of Mentoring moments, Entrepreneurs experience and an in-depth section where the authors meet and discuss business with a range of successful businesswomen.  Whilst that in itself is interesting, it is really the last section of each chapter which is most useful. It is all very well reading about successful people, but that can leave you feeling even more flat and confused about what to do next. The final part of each chapter takes what has been achieved  and breaks it down into a few simple bullet points and demonstrates you how you too can model that success. You then have to complete an ‘attitude exercise’ to see where you score, and finally you are given 3 steps to help improve your performance in this area.

This book has been co-written by Lou Gimson and Allison Mitchell. Alison is an inspirational coach and trainer and an NLP Practitioner. Lou is an experienced and accredited business trainer and coach and is a founder member of the charity foundation ‘Dream Buddies’ which helps individuals realise their potential. They have a wealth of experience which they have bought to this book and offer both professional advice and personal insights.

Popularity: 3% [?]

As the list of business books we receive, read and review grows, what I am always keen to find is something a little bit different or something written from an original angle.

The main focus of this book – Secrets of Successful Women Entrepreneurs: How Ten Leading Business Women Turned a Good Idea into a Fortune - is, of course, the 10 successful female entrepreneurs in the title. However the book does not use a traditional ‘biographical’ approach to their stories. Sue has set out ‘Seven Steps to Success’ which start with ‘The defining Moment’ and finishes with ‘Maintain fitness and focus’ and ‘Reach your goal – what next?’.

The reason for this Sue explains in the introduction;

These steps focus more upon the softer issues related to motivation and mindset ………..There are already many good business books which offer advice on how to write a business plan or create a marketing strategy – but not many that actually model people making a difference

By applying the same set of criteria to each woman’s business journey you get a consistency which allows for comparisons and a contrast of approaches and key situations in a range of businesses. Not surprisingly there are some consistencies throughout the different women; how hard work it is, the sacrifice of personal time, the need to persevere in all circumstance, and the central role of money, and in particular cash flow in business.

Each woman gives some tips at the end of their chapter, and these are usually very reflective of their own personal journey and key things they have learnt along the way. The final chapter takes you through the Seven steps, and how to apply them to your own business.

An interesting book, and despite being relatively short, an informative one which does not leave you feeling inadequate by virtue of being ‘in awe’ of what these women have achieved, just a little wiser as to how they got there.

Popularity: 4% [?]

In August this year Mum’s The Boss member Helen Lindop, owner of Business Plus Baby, gave birth to her second baby. Helen was at our very first networking meeting in September 2008 and we lived her second pregnancy with her, watching her bump grow monthly at each meeting!

To celebrate the birth of our first “Mum’s the Boss baby” we ordered a personalised print from business mum & artist Carla Daly.  The print is from one of Carla’s original designs and contained a whole host of personalised information, including the name of baby, mum, dad and his sister, as well as the time he was born, the name of the hospital he was born at, and his weight. But the whole thing is done in a wonderfully quirky way which is perfect if you aren’t a fan of the more traditional pastel shades and teddies.

Carla specialises in art for your baby’s nursery or your child’s bedroom, and her main theme is jungle animals, with the odd octopus or farm animal thrown in for good measure! The colours used are bold and vibrant and the pictures have lots of detail so children will delight in discovering new elements within them all the time. Carla also produces alphabet wall stickers, growth charts, personalised door signs and maps, all of which would brighten up any childs room and make an unusual and thoughtful gift.

For a full range of Carla’s work visit her websites www.carladaly.com or www.carladaly.co.uk

Popularity: 3% [?]

If the title didn’t grab your attention then the bright pink & orange colour scheme on the cover certainly would!  Every mum I know would love to be given an extra hour in the day – either for all the things they haven’t done – or just for themselves. This book just may have the answer…..

One of my first thoughts was – if I was manic how would I find time to read this book?  Well the answer comes in the Introduction where that very point is addressed; Allison offers several suggestions, including a technique to speed up your reading.  The book has been organised to be read in a variety of ways, including sequentially with ‘homework tasks’, however it is also possible to dip in and out of the specific chapters that take you fancy.

So what qualifies Allison to write this? The answer is a long one, but top of the list comes mother of 3 and successful businesswoman (founder of a parent coaching company www.mumsanddads.biz), as well as a masters degree and an NLP (neuro linguistic programming) Master Practitioner. 

Despite this frightening sounding array Allison writes in a very friendly, down to earth and direct way. Every chapter starts with ‘An ode to……….  my favourite one being ‘An Ode to Plans’ which begins;

I’ve got snot on my skirt, and sick on my shirt,
Everything’s covered in kiddie dessert,

….something only a mother could write and understand! In addition to these hilarious poems are a series of ‘Tips’ and quotes from both  Mum’s  and Kids which add some lightness.

However, as well as the humour there is a real message and methodology here about gaining control of your life again. At the core of that is valuing your time, evaluating where you currently are and reigniting your dreams, which most mums lose in the life after children. Allison guides you through using some ‘tools’ including the ‘Eye of Time’ (very similar to the Wheel of Life model)  which is used to focus on 8 specific aspects of your life, and The Shopping Basket of Life which helps you to prioritise tasks.

This book is great for making you find time to identify old habits that have led you to the current chaos and taking you gently but firmly by the hand and guiding you back to a more orderly and calm way of life. Any book that has a Wine bottle Theory of Time Management and a weekly task that involves buying and eating a box of chocolates can’t be bad – just don’t forget all the other bits!

Popularity: 3% [?]

September 1st saw the launch of Antonia Chitty’s long awaited book, The Mumpreneur Guide, which was perfect timing for mums considering their working options now the school holidays are over and want to start a business that fits in with their family.

Mother and business advisor Antonia has put together this ultimate guide for parents which is full of practical advice to help you start a business. This book is for you if you are short on time and resources and have to stop at 3 every day to collect the kids, or can only work when the baby naps. 

The first thing that struck me, when my copy arrived, was that this A4 Guide is much more a workbook than a bedtime read. While it is undoubtedly packed with information, every chapter contains almost as many practical exercises, which, when complete, would form the foundation for your short and long term business plans.

For any mum who is literally right at the thinking stage of being her own boss, this book is perfect. Even if you don’t have a business idea yet, Antonia offers over 30 suggestions in the first chapter alone. She then guides you through the process of setting up your business step by step. And if you needed any more encouragement, peppered throughout the book are case studies of other successful mumpreneurs, which readers will find motivating and inspiring.

After talking you through getting that all important great business idea she then goes on to cover How to start a business, Business planning and organization, Business finance, Finding customers, Business on the web, Looking after your life & Taking your business to the next level. As many mumpreneurs look to the world wide web as a means of doing business, I found the sections on building a website and promoting your business online particularly useful. And for mums selling products or services there is great information about expanding by Party Planning, Franchising, Wholesaling and Affiliate Schemes.

The book is written in Antonia’s trademark practical yet accesible style. As a mum who set up her own business after the birth of her daughter back in 2002, she asks you to look realistically at your abilities and resources, such as time available and cash to invest, right from the outset. And being a year down the line already myself, I can fully appreciate the importance of getting it right from the start. Having a clear and realistic overview of your costs is something that simply cannot be underestimated.

I only wish this book had been available a year ago, as it would undoubtedly have saved us hours trawling through the internet for the information all new businesses owners need. However, this is not a book to read then put aside – if you are serious about starting your own business it will probably be the book you reach for, work through and refer to throughout the whole of your start-up year. So I would definitely recommend this book to any budding mumpreneur and it will make a popular and indispensible addition to our business book library.

And, if you buy TODAY, 8^th September,  your get MORE THAN £600 OF BONUSES: 

BONUS 1: ACCESS TO THE MUMPRENEUR GUIDE’S SECRET BLOG: VALUE £300
When you buy the book, you also get a link to The Mumpreneur Guide’s Secret Blog. In this blog, I share extra advice and answer your questions.

BONUS 2: ONLINE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME: VALUE £5
The Mumpreneur Guide Online Business Development Programme will give you confidential help and expert advice to develop your business. Trial this programme to see how it could help you. 

BONUS 3: SORT YOUR WORK-LIFE BALANCE: VALUE £120
It is a dilemma for everyone – how to balance being a mumpreneur and having time for the family. In Bonus 3 coach Sam Pringle of Beeleaf Consulting helps you sort out your own balance. 

BONUS 4: MORE ME TIME: VALUE PRICELESS
Every mumpreneur feels short of ‘me time’ at times. Bonus 4 will help you look after yourself. Follow your plan from Heather Bestel, psychotherapist, stress management consultant & founder of A Little Bit of Me Time to become Calm, Confident and In Control 

BONUS 5: 3-PART MARKETING COURSE: VALUE £150
Your business is nothing without marketing. If you BUY TODAY you can also get a three part marketing course, created especially for The Mumpreneur Guide by Louisa Bird of The Women’s Marketing Forum.

BONUS 6: WIN A PLACE ON THE MUMS IN BIZ TRAINING COURSE
Everyone who buys the book TODAY will get a chance to win a place on one of Mums In Biz’s definitive ‘Start Your own Business’ Days.

BUY THE BOOK

Popularity: 3% [?]

We recently posted a blog post, “From Mummy to Yummy in half the time!”, in which Tanith Carey, the author of “How to be an Amazing Mum…” shared some quick tips on how to look your best when the clock is ticking.  Having read the whole of Tanith’s fabulous book of time-saving tips from cover to cover, we can now give you a few more reasons why this book may be just what you have been searching for to help you find a few more hours in each day! 

Tanith’s book deals with the most common cry from mothers everywhere of ‘I just haven’t got time…….’ and focuses on 10 of the most common time hungry tasks we have to juggle as working mums. The book is written in a very friendly and straight forward manner, but also manages to remain light hearted and humorous. There is a distinct feel that all the suggestions have been implemented personally by the author, and with success! However there is not a one size fits all attitude as Tanith explains in her introduction, ‘Some ideas will apply to your life and other won’t. Dip in and out and try a few at a time. ‘

Part 1 looks at how to keep your home & children under control. Like many great books there is nothing radical and nothing complicated – just lots of practical and straightforward ideas. I like the style of this book because it is similar to talking to my friends; it is like hearing how other people manage things, and being given ‘permission’ almost to cut corners, make things simple and just to focus on the important things. There is a good mixture of advice – some is simple and straight forward and will have instant results, while other ideas are about changing your perspective on ‘the bigger picture’, and implementing ‘systems’ that in the long run will pay dividends.

In the chapters dealing with ‘child management’ there is a lovely balance of sound parenting advice, discipline and also knowing when to relax a little, for the sake of your children and your sanity! It recognises how tough consistent parenting can be, and ‘The Seven Most Likely Sins of Harassed Parents’ is very accurate. It talks about some of the most common adult reactions to children’s behaviour but then explains why that isn’t the best approach and offers a Time saving solution

I love the fact that part 2 is devoted to you – the mummy. Often the last on our own to-do lists we tend to always be the last to eat, get dressed, sleep, relax, go out ….and so the list goes on!  This section of the book looks at 4 of the most common areas we neglect – beauty, clothes, body image and time for you and your partner. In the clothes section there are no niceties about ‘jelly belly’ just ways to deal with & disguise it!

More than anything else, when life is sweeping you off your feet, your to-do list is getting longer and you can’t see up from down I think it is really worth reminding yourself what is important: your children. ‘There is no perfectly prepared meal, no freshly ironed outfit or spotless kitchen floor that can replace the hours and minutes you spend with them.’  

I have a feeling this may be a very popular addition to our Business Book Library!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Numerous people I have met harbour the desire to write a book at some point in their life and I am no different. However a whole book can seem a daunting prospect, leaving many people shelving their writing dreams altogether. Recently I have decided that in order to pursue my writing seriously I need to start looking at it from a business perspective rather than an artistic one – and to that end Antonia Chitty’s book Commercial Writing – How to Earn a Living as a Business Writer is precisely the book I have been looking for.

A successful business writer herself, and author of several parenting and business books, Antonia’s book is full of proper ‘nuts and bolts’ advice. From advertising campaigns to blogs, press releases to magazine articles, training manuals to SMS marketing, there is a whole world of writing opportunities out there and through the course of the book Antonia guides you towards the right avenue for you. In her book Antonia speaks with a quiet authority which is both knowledgeable and trustworthy. At no point do you feel anything has been added as ’padding’ – everything in the book is pertinent, useful and to the point.

Part One of the book looks at how to become a business writer. It looks at setting up your business and your office, the financial and legal requirements of being self-employed, along with the equipment you will need. It then goes on to look at the skills, knowledge and experience must have (or acquire) as well as looking at good business practices such as writing contracts, setting fees, doing your research and getting paid. The final chapter then covers in some detail how to go out and find those all-important clients, both on and offline

The second part of the book gives a comprehensive and detailed insight into all the different markets for commercial writing – Advertising, Corporate Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Journalism, New Media and other areas of related work. Antonia explains how to break into each market based on the skills, knowledge and experience you will need for each, as well as the type of work you could hope to attract, and the relevant training opportunities and professional organisations which can help you find the work you want.

A really interesting aspect of the book is where Antonia highlights the different personality traits suited to the different markets. Some people want their writing to lead to fame and recognition, but for many the thought of being in the limelight horrifies them. For people like this, she suggests Corporate Communications or Ghost Writing may appeal, or even related industries such as Indexing and Proof-Reading. Antonia encourages you to look honestly at your abilities and your weaknesses right from the start, to save you wasting time in pursuing avenues not suitable for you.

Having read the book I now feel better placed to pursue my writing in an area which suits my circumstances as a work at home mum, as well as my personality, and feel confident that I have identified an area and a niche on which to concentrate. All in all a must read for anyone serious about taking that leap from spare time writer to earning a full-time living from writing.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Our next book for review is another one generously donated by Crimson Publishing. How They Started – Global Brands  was published last year and looks at some of the biggest global brands in the world today.

One of the most striking things I noticed was that almost without exception all the brands featured were ones that I buy, use, eat at, or have in my home somewhere – from Pizza Hut to ebay and Coca-Cola to Google these really are the biggest brands of all that really do dominate the global economy.

Each brand has its own dedicated chapter, which follows roughly the same pattern - start up, growth and the story now.  However, the journey that each went through is completely different.  It charts the progress from the first idea, to choosing a brand name, how the business was funded, the expansion to the global market place, what happened when things went wrong, and what the founders view as the key to their success in their particular field.

There is a massive diversity in this book, and an interesting insight into to how some of the worlds most known names started, as all great ideas do, from an individual with a vision, and then the determination to succeed.  An interesting read which should encourage anyone to persevere as it might just be them in the next edition!

Popularity: unranked [?]

Spare Room Start Up: How to Start a Business from Home is written by Emma Jones, the founder of Enterprise Nation, the UK’s largest website for people starting and growing a business from home. Emma also runs the Home Business Awards, produces the annual Home Business Report and advises Government on the topic of home-working, so has a fine pedigree to be writing a book on home-working.

My first impression of the book was that it would look just as good on your coffee table as it would on the bookshelf in your office. To me this book was more than just about starting a business from home – it was about making a lifestyle choice and this was illustrated beautifully by the informal photos of Emma with her family, friends and colleagues.

Like the Enterprise Nation website, the book is split into 3 categories – Business, Lifestyle and Technology. The Business section takes you step by step from getting an idea for your business and writing a business plan through to marketing your business and making that all important first sale. The Lifestyle section discusses setting up your home office, work life balance and taking care of yourself while the Technology section helps you choose the right equipment for your business, at home and when on the move, as well as a good website.

I particularly liked the Lifestyle section, which is something that doesn’t tend to be touched on by other start-up books. For a mum it is SO important to look after yourself, as you are the pivotal person in the family. So advice on eating healthily, exercising and balancing work and home are just as important as choosing the right printer or phone. I also loved the home office section. Working as I do on a laptop on my dining room table the idea of having a designated working space is heavenly to me and Emma was the first person to introduce me to the concept of ‘shed-working’, which has now become the working environment of my dreams!

Emma ends each chapter of the books with links to useful website resources. For a busy mum starting a new business it is so helpful to have someone do all the time-consuming internet research for you – and being a year down the road of my own home business I still picked up some really useful resources which I know will help me out in the future. In addition there are numerous pages of templates at the back of the book to help you write your business plan, marketing plan, press release etc…

Spare Room Start-up is a useful guide from someone who is clearly passionate about helping others achieve their home working dream. This passion is further accentuated by the numerous inspiring case studies of successful home business owners who have walked the walk and now wouldn’t dream of returning to the rat race. Other start-up books may go into finer detail about each individual topic but this may be the book you return to time and time again, as a friendly reminder that you CAN live the dream!

Popularity: 3% [?]