I was an official Finalist at the Make Your Mark in the Markets competition with Enterprise UK: sadly I didn’t win this Award, but it was an enjoyable event with some speakers from the various organisations for market traders and I had the opportunity to meet some of the other finalists. I took the kids along (school holidays!) and they insisted on appearing in the Finalists photo!

Finalists for Make Your Mark in the Markets Awards

Enterprise UK

I’m very happy to have been given a pitch at Spitalfields Market, twice voted Best London Market, which is in my opinion the coolest and most stylish market in London. It has fantastic stalls, great shops and beautiful architecture: what could be better? Also, speaking as someone who’s done a lot of outdoor events, I will be very happy to be under cover and knowing that my lovely products won’t be blown away by breezes or rained on!

Dates for Mimimyne at Spitalfields Market this May confirmed so far:

Friday 14th May
Sunday 16th May
Monday May 17th
Tuesday May 18th
Sunday May 23rd
Monday May 24th
Tuesday May 25th
Friday May 28th
Sunday May 30th

If you’re planning a visit to Spitalfields over the next couple of weeks, look out for me! Hope to see you there.

The Women on their Way Awards, for which I was nominated as one of the Best Online Businesses, was a great day out and very inspiring. I didn’t win the award, but had a very enjoyable day catching up with some of the fantastic people that I’ve chatted with on Twitter and met at other events. We listened to a talk from Caroline Marsh (from the Secret Millionaire series). From a difficult start in Africa after her family fell on hard times, she went on to work as an air hostess, move to the UK and then build up a million pound property portfolio. She is very active in her local area doing charity work as well, helping young people get a start in business. One thing I enjoyed about the Awards was how varied they were, taking in so many different areas of business and charitable work. Here is a photo of all the nominees and award winners together, from the day!

Women on their Way Awards 2010 Nominees and Finalists

Wednesday 9th December 12 noon to 2pm
Venue: Ping Pong Dim Sum (Private Room) 3 Appold Street London EC2A 2AF tel: 020 7422 0780 Nearest Town: London

Reserve your free ticket to the Mumpreneurs Meetup on Eventbrite here

After the great success of our first Mumpreneurs Meetup as part of Business Mum Week, Mimimyne is running another informal networking lunch for mumpreneurs/ businessmums and all women running or interested in running their own businesses.This event is aimed at encouraging women who might not otherwise have considered attending a networking event to consider starting their own businesses, however men are also welcome.

Speakers (to be confirmed) will include Sadie Knight from Glassraven to talk about ecommerce and web design and Natalie Lue of Self Employed Mum to talk about how to make a living as a blogger. These are informal ten minute talks and there will be opportunities to network as well.

BTTradespace will also give a short presentation about how to create your free Tradespace and maximise your online presence.

The event, in the gorgeous private dining room at Ping Pong Dim Sum (www.pingpongdimsum.com), is free to attend and includes a delicious Dim Sum buffet sponsored by BTTradespace! Spaces are limited but babies are welcome (there will be hot drinks served, so we ask all attendees to watch their children carefully) and there is space to leave prams.

Join us in this private room for dim sum!

Had a wonderful time at the Mumpreneurs Networking Event to celebrate Business Mum Week 2009! We had about 30 guests including four babies and toddlers, already keen networkers! Guests included Natalie Lue of Bambinogoodies,
Vicky Linnett of Flamecat (www.flamecat.com), Olivia King-Boateng of the Excelsya Women’s Business Book Club (www.excelsya.co.uk), Wanda Hu (http://www.sweetpotato-archimedia.com), Oleander William (www.creativelifestyle.org.uk), Sarah Dawnay
(http://www.kid-shops.com), Iveta Tancheva (www.mumslikeyou.com), Fiona Monks
(www.bttradespace.com), Suzanne Dibble (www.lawyers4mumpreneurs.com), Alexandra Tham and Caroline Wall from www.green-eyed-monster.co.uk, Birgit Medele (www.clearofclutter.com) and Christine Pitzer (www.mandamania.com), Jo Molloy of Pea Productions. Such was my excitement on the day that I managed to lose my list of all the delegates, so please contact me if I’ve inadvertently left you out! Antonia Chitty gave a great talk about how she set up her own PR business and became a successful author (her books include the latest The Mumpreneur Guide): I found it particularly interesting that she plans her activities each day very carefully to stop her wasting time staring at the PC in the morning and trying to work out what to do first (so easy to do!). Alison Rothwell of the SEO Training Club had some great tips for time-saving tweeting if you are using Twitter in business. Some good tips: use Hootsuite to schedule tweets and Tweetdeck to read them, so you don’t have to wade through everything. Alison also confided in me she runs four businesses at the moment – how amazing is that! Lana from the East London Small Business Centre gave a short talk on how to access funding in the area. We all had some delicious dim sum and jasmine tea and enjoyed hugely having the chance to connect with other business women in a friendly and relaxed way. Next time I hope to have experts talking about blogging, law for small businesses and ecommerce, so watch this space!

Green Canary Day

Now in its eighth year, Green Canary Day 2009 will take place over 2 days on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd October 2009 in Canary Wharf. There will be activities, stalls, giveaways and demonstrations from environmental companies, charities, energy companies and others to help you learn more about environmental issues and how to be greener at home and at work.

Saturday will be a day for all the family with extra activities for children and adults alike. We can’t wait – look forward to seeing you there!

Totally Tots Baby and Child Fair

The Totally Tots Baby and Child Fair will bring together small businesses and national brands showcasing a huge variety of innovative products and different activities for you, parents who want to know more! They have secured sponsorship from Capture Images and Bright Horizons and will be supporting the Oxfordshire Playbus.

There will be so much to do on the day…

* Have your portrait taken with the Capture Images team.
*Jump aboard the Playbus for lots of fun (FREE)!
*FREE Goody bags for the first 500 visitors.
*Meet exhibitors, business & charity stands
*FREE demonstration sessions.
*WIN in the Playbus charity prize draw.
*Facepainting, hair braiding, pottery painting.
*Meet Bertie Bear of Perfect Party Solutions.
*Leave your dad in the Daddies Creche sponsored by Scally Rally.
*Quiet room for changing and feeding.
*Refreshments available all day.
*Special show offers and discounts from exhibitors

It’s going to be a great day and we very much hope that you can join us there!

See you there

Business Mum Week 2009

Mimimyne has set up a Mumpreneurs Networking Event in East London as part of Business Mum Week 2009!

Wednesday 7th October 12 noon to 2pm
Venue: Ping Pong Dim Sum (Private Room) 3 Appold Street London EC2A 2AF tel: 020 7422 0780 Nearest Town: London

Informal networking lunch for mumpreneurs/ businessmums and women running or interested in running their own businesses, come along and meet Antonia Chitty, author of The Mumpreneur Guide, who will be giving her top tips for mumpreneurs.

Antonia Chitty will have a prize draw for her book, The Mumpreneur’s Guide, retail cost £18, and some other prizes, so bring your business cards to enter the draw!

Alison Rothwell, of the SEO Training Club, is also going to attend and give her tips on Twitter for business.

Lana Hersak-Mullins, Business Counsellor for the East London Small Business Centre will give a short talk on what is currently on offer to entrepreneurs in East London, and will be happy to answer any questions women might have about starting up a small business.

The event, in the gorgeous private dining room at Ping Pong Dim Sum (www.pingpongdimsum.com), is free to attend although you will have to pay for your own lunch, however the menu is very reasonably priced and delicious! Free copies of eco-directory The Book of Green and the Business Mums Journal will be available to take home.

Join us in this private room for dim sum!

More info about Business Mum Week 2009 events here

Mimimyne will have a stall at the Ruxley Manor Family Fun Day, in Sidcup, Kent on the 18th July 2009: we’re donating 10% of our stall takings to Demelza Children’s Hospice which is the charity the event is supporting.

A fantastic FREE day out for the entire family!

Be entertained by the magician, laugh with the clown and enjoy the lively atmosphere created by the Phoenix Dixie Land Jazz Band!

For sheer family fun get ready for the challenge of the 65 foot long inflatable assault run – can you complete it?!

The event will also feature some local groups and crafts people, including the Ruxley Beekeepers, who will be bringing their observational hive, a Kentish Wood turner who will be demonstrating the ancient craft of “bodging” and Roundwood Orchard Pig Company – a rare breed pig farmer offering great quality pork. Too many others to list here so please join us on the day!

Ruxley Manor is also a garden centre and will be offering 50% off selected pots, plants and compost!

NO NEED TO BOOK