Mums the Business: Robyn Hatley's Blog for Mums Working from Home, Mumpreneurs and Home Business; Inspirational Stories, Business Tips and Resources from Robyn Hatley, the Business Coach for Mumpreneurs

Hello and Welcome to Mums The Business Blog!

Thanks for visiting the Mums The Business blog, we are delighted to have you here.  This is where you will find everything you need to know to start and grow your own home business.  We intend to equip you with loads of advice, tools and resources especially suited to mumpreneurs.  We will also inspire and motivate you with stories of other mums who have successfully launched a business from home.

Have fun sharing, connecting and learning from business mums - just like you! 

Hot Tip no. 7 - Remember the "Why"...

Whether challenging times or good, remember why you are choosing or chose to work from home... Most times it has to do with the F word...

FLEXIBILITY!

Whether your reason was better work-life balance, to spend more time with your family, to develop your own lifestyle business, to have a more flexible career, etc., remember why you chose to work from home in the first place and make sure that your working style is achieving that for you.  If not, seek advice or practical support from some of the top tips or potential team members that I’ve mentioned here.

Keep your sense of humour, persevere and be patient with both yourself and your business, keep your business goals in sight – and enjoy the journey, every step of the way.  With the right infrastructure and boundaries in place, working from home really can be child’s play!  And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

 

 

Tip No. 6 Get Out More! No Excuses....

Working from home can be lonely and isolating at times…. Make sure that you include in your work schedule for each week, a visit to a client, a coffee with your mentor, or attend a networking event.  By getting out more you are working ON your business (compared to working IN your business) and this is also key to your home business success.  I am a big fan of networking with other like-minded business women – besides the opportunity to share what my business has to offer, the mutual support, advice and motivation I give & also receive is a weekly “feel good factor” for me.  It keeps me motivated.  Check out www.theathenanetwork.com (I’m being terribly biased here, but they really ARE the best!)

Hot Tip no. 4 - Embracing Technology. Whaaaat?

For a moment there, I really wasn't sure about including this particular top tip!  Just when I was ready to post it - about 3 weeks ago (!), Murphy (the one of Murphy's law fame)intervened and I've had a frustrating time with a badly behaved laptop!  At 1 stage I hoisted the laptop above my head, opened the window and ......

Hot Tip number 3 on working from home

Being a rugby player's wife, I am acutely aware of the benefits of being part of a team!  Whether its in a practice session or a competitive game, a team is highly effective when the workload is shared and everyone knows what they need to do.

It's the same for a mum working from home and running a home-based business - having a highly effective team means that as a working mum we can have it all (at times) - BUT not if we try to do it all, all of the time!

Read on for top tip number 3....

Hot Tip no.2 on working from home

Following on from my recent post on My 7 Top Tips on working from home, here is tip number 2!  Enjoy!

7 Hot Tips on Working from Home

I recently was the guest speaker at an Athena Network lunch meeting for local business women in the Ealing area...

Nearly half of this group of inspirational business ladies work from home, so when giving my talk I wasn't at all surprised to see nods of acknowledgement and smiles of agreement, around the table!

I hope that you too, over the next few weeks, enjoy my 7 Top Tips on working from home - and please feel free to add your own!

Read on for tip no.1...

Sir Edmund Hillary and I have climbed the same mountain...

Listening to the breakfast news on Wednesday morning, announcing Sir Edmund Hilary's death, I was struck by one of the most poignant quotes he had ever said....

As a mum who decided to leave the corporate world and set up in her own home-based business, I sometimes feel I have climbed & conquered many mountains, and I will continue to do so as my business grows and develops.  But perhaps my greatest challenge of all is captured in what Sir Edmund meant when he said.... 

Back to School? Now back to Business....

Like me, I know many of you have little ones that have returned to Nursery or School over the past few days... So I'll keep this short & sweet!  Whether you are thinking of starting a business, have just taken the plunge or are a good few months into it, I'm quite sure you'll find this inspiring at the beginning of an exciting 2008!

There's a quote I am going to share with you that you may have heard before, but even if you have, I've read it many times and think it is just as powerful each time.

It's a quote written by Marianne Williamson in her book A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.  (It is often incorrectly credited to Nelson Mandela).

"How Do You Eat an Elephant?"

Answer: One chunk at a time!  This was the title of a recent blog, by a really sassy lady and business mumpreneur, Karen Skidmore of "Can Do Can Be" fame.  Karen was talking about that overwhelming feeling that us working ladies & working mums often get, when trying to juggle so many balls and spin so many plates, simultaneously!  As someone who has started 2 home-based businesses in the last 24 months, It felt awfully familiar to me too....

It's also a common feeling around this time of year, when we often feel so compelled to come up with "New Years Resolutions" for our businesses.

Marion Ryan is my Christmas Blog Angel!

What is a busy mumpreneur to do when the end of the year is fast-approaching, and all but one of her 2007 goals has been attained?  Call in the experts, of course!