When you work from home around a family, time is always against you. There are never enough hours in the day to please your kids, your partner and your customers – not forgetting yourself! So when you need answers or inspiration you don’t want to spend ages trawling the internet looking for it For this reason we have put together 10 of the best web resources for business mums, where you should be able to find the practical business advice, the inspiration and the support from your peers that you need.
Pure Business Advice
1. www.startupdonut.co.uk
If you’re thinking of starting up your business then Start Up Donut is a great place to begin. Bright, fun and easy to navigate this site covers all aspects of running a business including You and Your Idea, Formation, Finance, Law, Business Planning, Sales & Marketing, Premises, Employment and IT. There is a forum where you can chat to other business owners, a search facility to find a local business expert and a series of useful templates to help with your planning, including templates for your Business Plan, Start-Up Costs Calculator and Cashflow Calculator.
2. www.businesslink.gov.uk
Business Link is a free business advice and support service, available online and through local advisers. It is developed in partnership with subject experts within government and relevant business-support organisations to help you comply with regulations and improve your performance. If you are thinking of starting your own business or are in the early stages, then you would be well advised to contact Business Link and arrange a free session with one of their business advisors. The website really is a one-stop-shop for people new to business and has a number of very useful resources such as the Business Start-up Organiser where you create a personalised list of tasks to assist you when setting up your business, and the Grants and Support Directory to pinpoint potential sources of help. However it also deals with an extended range of topics, beyond that of just Start-Ups, so when you are ready to grow your business, employ people, trade internationally or eventually sell your business then the Business Link site is definitely one to remember.
Information about Home Working
3. www.enterprisenation.com
Enterprise Nation is the UK’s largest website for people starting and growing a business from home. Its founder, Emma Jones, runs the Home Business Awards, produces the annual Home Business Report and advises Government on the topic, so has an excellent pedigree to be advising on the subject. The site is split into 3 main sections, Business, Lifestyle & Technology and is an excellent resource for keeping bang up to date with what’s currently affecting home business owners, and the newsletter is also well worth signing up for. If you need any reassurance that working from home is the lifestyle choice for you then this is the website you need!
4. www.funkyangel.co.uk
Funky Angel is a fabulous site containing a wealth of articles and advice aimed directly at Work at Home Mums. The founder, Claire Burdett, started this website long before WAHMs were fashionable and now is considered an expert in the field, offering business coaching as The Business Midwife, as well as running the Funky Agency which offers online marketing and communications support to business owners. And, if you are a single mum wanting to set up a business, Claire tries where she can to coach single mums free of charge, just because she knows how hard it is doing everything yourself!
Online networking & cost-effective promotion
5. www.mumsclub.co.uk
Mumsclub is THE business club for mumpreneurs! Inspired and created by mum Jane Hopkins, MumsClub provides everything from home business opportunities, business tips & information, a thriving community forum. It provides an online place for mums to meet, network and discuss the daily issues faced when juggling business and family life. Mumsclub also runs a Mumpreneur Directory where business owners can advertise at extremely reasonable rates. They also produce The Business Mum’s Journal, a quarterly magazine for mums in business, which includes an inbuilt directory of mum-owned businesses, and is distributed through Mothercare stores.
6. www.netmums.com
In my mind Netmums is a must have resource for any mum, and if you want to work for yourself they have a good overview section in their Work & Money section about all the different work-at-home options available. The Working For Yourself section of their Coffeehouse chat forum is particular good if you want to talk to other mums in business and is particularly popular with those mums involved in Direct Selling. And if the target audience for your business is mums too, you should take advantage of the free business listings and cheap advertising to their massive online audience of mums.
7. www.everywoman.com
Everywoman is the UK’s leading provider of training, resources and support services for women in business. They work to increase the number of women in the UK economy and raise their status, using their experience and expertise to help women achieve their aspirations and realise their business ambitions. The website is free to join and allows you to promote your business and network with other businesswomen online. It offers a range of business advice as well as a database of local networking groups and organisations who support women.
Informative Blogs
8. www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk/acatalog/blog/ & http://www.acpr.co.uk/pr-blog/
With Antonia Chitty you get 2 for the price of 1! Antonia has written a number of books about being your own boss including Family Friendly Working and Commercial Writing – How to Earn a Living as a Business Writer, and has another book being launched on 1st September called The Mumpreneur Guide. She also runs her own PR company ACPR providing DIY PR tools for business owners. Both Antonia’s blogs are always bang up to date with practical tips and articles on business and family, as well as motivating mumpreneur profiles. If you subscribe to Antonia’s blogs you will never be without a daily dose of information or inspiration!
9. www.selfemployedmum.co.uk
Self Employed Mum is a great blog if you want sensible business advice, in bitesize pieces. Set up by two mums juggling various business activities, Alison & Natalie wanted to provide “opinions, advice, and solutions in quick, easy to digest short posts” which is exactly what busy work-at-home mums need. Alison runs 3 businesses – a SEO Company, Tribal Mash, which provides SEO services for small businesses - Arabella Miller – manufacturing organic baby clothes – and a baby bedding retail website. Natalie is a prolific blogger, writing Baggage Reclaim, Bambino Goodies ,Nest Goodies and Style Bambino. So between them they have the experience and the pedigree to write a blog that’s well worth reading!
10. www.mumstheblog.co.uk
Well, a little self-promotion never did anyone any harm, did it!
So, there are our 10 Top Web Resources for Work at Home Mums. If we’ve missed any good ones then please leave a comment – we’d love to hear about them!
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If you are looking for business help and advice, then the web has literally thousands of resources, so where do you start? 
