New topic - Make It Your Business

[KateMumsnet]

Hello hello,

Welcome to our new topic. We’ve teamed up with the folks at Make It Your Business, who have just launched, and who aim to help women who want to start their own business. It’s a non-commercial partnership between Mumsnet and Make It Your Business - we’re giving MIYB members a forum to chat with others who are keen to go it alone, and they’re letting their members know that Mumsnet is a great place to exchange ideas.

Make It Your Business offers women who are looking to set up their own business information, advice, inspiration and a chance to network. They put on events around the UK, and offer videos, blogs and a monthly newsletter for those who register (it’s free to do so). It’s founded by entrepreneur Alison Cork.

Alison and her team will be posting in this topic from time to time to give you a heads up on events or news you might be interested in, or to answer your questions - they’ll go by the names AlisonMakeItYourBusiness and SophieMakeItYourBusiness.

Most importantly, we hope that those of you who are thinking about going it alone and are looking for some support and companionship along the way find this new topic really helpful.

Thanks
MNHQ

@AlisonMakeItYourBusiness We (in partnership) run a hospitality/tourism type business. Been going since 2013. My question is how do you go about relinquishing some control in order to grow? At the moment my partners and I do everything. This way we know that quality is 100%. But we are at a stage where we need some help. Mainly admin and cleaners (likely to be some "grown-ups" and some younger weekend/holiday staff). But this scares me! How do I take this step upwards and maintain standards?
Also in the same vein and in a true entrepreneurial style I've seen another business I'd like to take over, but again, I cannot be everywhere at once. I would need more of a team. But I like to do everything myself!

@BrassicaBabe - can I ask what your end goal is in terms of growth / sale/ staying as the 100 per cent owner etc?

@AlisonMakeItYourBusiness growth and staying 100% owners :-) But also with the space to take on other opportunities

@BrassicaBabe well I think the good news is that the areas of work you want to subcontract sound fairly straightforward, so there is a good chance you will be able to recruit high quality cleaners and admin staff. I would identify one area at a time, and see if you can get that working smoothly, before divesting further control in another area. Realise too that perhaps no one is going to do something as well as you would yourself as the owner of the business, so manage your own expectations. Make sure you take up at least two references for each employee and have a proper contract, as well as a detailed Job Description - that way you can measure precisely if the person is delivering on what was agreed, in writing. Start with a probation period and then extend to a full contract if you are happy with their performance. Be clear about their employment status and rights - are they full or part time, employed by you or self employed? There’s lots to consider both administratively and also psychologically in terms of ‘ letting go’, so my advice would be to take one small area at a time and see how you get on. For sure though, if you want to scale up you will have to divest some of the tasks to others.

Hi, I started my business when I was 24 and will be celebrating 10 years next month.
I love hearing other people's business stories .

@Penguin34 so you are already way ahead of the curve as the vast majority of businesses do not make it past the 5 year mark. Would you be prepared to share what you do and how you did it for Mumsnet users to read?

@Penguin34 That's incredible! Do you me asking what is your business about?I am 22 and starting a fashtech company - very keen to hear more on the lessons you've learnt during the first years on your business.

Hi everyone. We’re covering lots of the topics you’re asking about at our events - the next few are being held in Barnet, Central London, East London, Wilmslow in Cheshire and Cardiff. If you’re interested in coming along or receiving our newsletters/info about our mentors, you can sign up here. Just to be clear, it’s free to register and we’re not-for-profit . Hope that helps.

Hi @Penguin34! Great to see someone else who started their biz at a young age- I was also 24 and am still here 5 years later. I started mine whilst I was working part time- it was alot of hard work but the long nights were all worth it! Perseverance pays off :)

Hey guys - general question for the group, whp are your female business role models? Do you have women in your life encouraging you to pursue your goals, or do you get support elsewhere - maybe supportive men, or forums, or something else?

Xenia of course!

It is very wrong that no one has linked to the “why not make £1000 a day” thread.

Hello, I am a mumpreneur and have just launched www.wekandu.io which is the 'tinder for startups' - we match early stage digital first startups (ie you at least will do most of your sales online) with advisors and experts to chat to, on a pro bono, contract and/or advisory equity basis.

We have some great retail experts on the system including a former product lead at Not On The High Street, and Ebay. They are both lovely women and if you sign up and get matched with them I am sure they will be happy to message.

Its free for you to use, all we hope that you find someone you can partner with going forwards or someone who will help you shape your business, especially as many of the experts are solopreneur mums too.

We also have people who can help with market research and user research, if you have an idea but are not sure if you can sell it in enough scale to make it worthwhile.

We are relatively new but want to help support early stage digital first startups wherever they are in the UK. We'd love your feedback.

Hi
I have already 3 year old with 15h blessing nursery and in a month will welcome baby girl. I was thinking to become virtual assistant. Is it possible to be mum of 2 small and do little hours (I want to do just 5-10h a week) or is it totally crazy idea? Also is it better to do freelancing or work for Time etc, or other esablished agency.

I’m following along. Hope to launch my skincare business in 2018.
I’m a natural skincare formulator finalising my start up range, which cost money for safety certs and stock, marketing, website etc etc. On social channels trying to build a following in advance of launch. Insta @thehbco or twitter @thehappybodyco
Hoping to see some great inspirational and practical advice emerge on here.
Good luck everyone....

Hi there. I’m about to start a natural skincare business, I’m a formulator so will design, produce and sell my own stuff. Great to see another beauty entre on here. 🙂

Hi every9ne . I would like to thank you for adding me to this community. I have 4 children ages 14- 3 . I am a teacher, and have started my online business as an affiliate marketer last November. Huge potential online, and alot to learn. I am seeking freedom in money and time. look forward to inspiring and being inspired by your stories.
Thanks
Fatma

I’ve only just found this thread – it’s fantastic! I’m in the process of setting up an online retail business, so all the resources that have been posted will be really useful. I have done a lot of research around the products I will be selling and I’ve built a great website (well, I think so anyway) but I’m still scared that I will launch my site, do all the marketing stuff, then sit there tapping my fingers while precisely zero orders come in. Then I'll be down the market, flogging all of my stock off at rock bottom prices!

To those who asked about PPH – I have done a bit of work on there. I was lucky that my first couple of jobs were big chunks of work and relatively well paid (compared to a lot of the dross on there) but I still only ended up earning about £5 an hour. Since then, I haven’t bothered with it much. I think you have to be really active, bidding for jobs constantly to be successful on it.

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Hi everyone . Hope you are all doing well. I have read alot of your messages and learnt abit about you from yout stories. I just want to say how impressed and actually astonished by the ambition and success you ladies have .I guess as parents we do want to provide the best of possibilities to our children to reach their potential, jobs nowadays are just not fulfilling and we pay alot of our income towards child care which sometimes doesn't do it for us especially when we have late shifts like doctors or nurses or teachers on parents evening nights or if we have work in the weekend. I have tried starting my own business from home , catering for coffee shops . My theme was healthy meals. But as the ball started rolling I realised I just got myself an even more intense job . I have to deliver the foods early in the morning before the rush hour . Then again for the lunch hour,And in the evening i catered for dinner parties. The profit was not too bad but It was too much work and I just couldn't spend any time with my kids anymore. I am either making food or delivering it or shopping for the next order. The worst part it was like pay as you go. So if I got sick , no work ie. No money. If I want to go on holiday no work means no money. I.e. I am trading my time for money. I thought there must be another way to make money . So I went to the Internet to find opportunities. I stumbled across affiliate marketing . I think it is the best business model especially if you dont have your own product online , you can just advertise other people's products and get paid a commission. I feel free. I wake up in the morning finding emails from different companies telling me about commissions being paid into my account , due to an email I sent two weeks ago. I am not trading my time for money anymore, finally I can afford to take my kids and go on a holiday in the summer, we can travel and check different historical places. Can't wait.
If you would like to learn more about affoliate marketing check this link .
You will receive a 7 day video series by my mentors Stuart and Jay which will teach you more about affiliate marketing when subscribe .
abundancewithfamily.com/Fatmazubia/?pg=video-series&ar=awlist4917755&t=Mumsnet+

Hey @TuppennyButterquim, Thank you for sharing your story, what are you retailing? It sounds like you've put in the founding work but now you're having a crisis of confidence. I can remember feeling a similar way before launching Venture Cinema, my pop-up cinema business. I'd done lots of research and found a niche I thought would be really cool, but I was terrified I'd set up this event and no one would turn up. Or worse, they would and they'd be unimpressed, I'd get bad reviews and the company would be a complete failure. I sat on the idea for months, worrying about it's success. One of my friends finally pointed out, since I was already spending my time worrying about it, I might as well give it a go and the worst case was I could carry on worry about it, or it would be a success and I could stop. I launched the event and not only did people think it was a good idea, the event sold out in 4 days, and my company was featured in all the local press which gave us a great start. I have had MANY other occasions where my concerns proved right, and things did not work out so well, but the thing is, if you are passionate about setting up your business, you're not going to stop worrying by not taking action. The sooner you try something the sooner you'll know if it's working, and if it isn't you'll start trying something else. Personally, when I accepted that worry was just unresolved questions I became extremely proactive and productive - no question can be left unanswered!

Tell the community more about what you are retailing? How much market research have you done? Who would you like to sell your products to? Why wouldn't they want them if they knew they existed? Chances are, if you've done your research, you know they will want them.

x

Hi @katrinasale. Congratulations on your business success. It sounds like a very ambitious project, so well done you! My story is that I worked in the IT industry for many years and grew to hate it, so one day on the spur of the moment I handed my notice in. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say... so I went to trade shows, researched trends and enlisted the help of my husband who has an MA in marketing and decided upon high end children's gifts and homewares. It sounds like a cliche, I know. But it's not because I'm a mum (because I'm not) - it's a cold hearted business decision. The children's market is buoyant even in times of recession and I believe there is a target market of style conscious affluent parents out there. I have bought my first batch of stock and I'm setting up my website at the moment. Have a look if you want. it's called www.nicerthings.co.uk. Sorry, I'm on the app on a train and I can't see how to add a proper link. There are no prices or descriptions but it gives you an idea of what I am selling. I honestly believe there is a market for my stuff but I am not confident that I can get people to my site by social media alone.

@katrinasale

here's a link www.nicerthings.co.uk

it's just the development site, but you can still browse it.

@Tuppenny Social Media is a great advertising tool & relatively cheap. Instagram & Pinterest would probably work well for your product, good photos, great style. Facebook ads are also great, but it takes a bit of swotting up, how best to target the right sort of people. Set up a FB business page & get reading & Googling. Well done 👍

Thanks @MyEffingkids. I use instagram but I've never bothered with facebook until now. When I'm up and running I plan to do some facebook advertising. Finding out about facebook ads is on my list of things to do, but not got round to it yet. It would be great if I could target women, late twenties to early forties, in certain geographical areas. Do you know of any blogs or youtube channels that are particularly informative on the topic of social media for business?