Our next meeting date is finally confirmed! We will be meeting at the fabulous, purpose built space at the Women’s Business Centre in East Ham on Tuesday the 17th of May 2011 between 10am and 12noon for informal presentations, networking and tea and coffee with likeminded entrepreneurs and business women. The Women’s Business Centre is a venue designed specifically to help women in business and we are very grateful for their support. Our first Confirmed Speaker is Alex Tham of the fabulous Green Eyed Monster who will tell us about setting up a shop in East London: this will be of interest to everyone thinking of opening a shop and anyone who is thinking of designing childrenswear, as Alex also runs a clothing company. Tabitha Potts of Mimimyne (that’s me!) will also be giving an introductory talk on using social media to promote your business. Other speakers to be confirmed.

You will be able to learn about how to set up a small business, work from home and be your own boss AND have a family life: not an easy thing to do and best learned from people like you who’ve been there and done it! We’re happy for men and women without children to come along too, of course – all are welcome. The Women’s Business Centre has arranged a private area where you can feed or change your baby if necessary. We will have a comfortable conference room to relax in. Older children are welcome but are parents’ responsibility!

ADDRESS
Women’s Business Centre
Newham College of Further Education
High Street South
East Ham
London E6 6ER

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We will be charging £4 entry fee per visitor to cover admin costs and there will free tea and coffee while the networking meeting and expert speaker sessions go on. You can pay online through Eventbrite or pay on the door.

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I just wanted to report back on the Mumpreneurs Meetup which I organised for the Tower Hamlets Mums Business Club. It was hosted by the excellent Ping Pong Dim Sum in Appold Street, who as usual gave us their lovely Private Dining Room ( I can’t sing their praises enough, they provided lovely flower teas for the mumpreneurs and they really do their best to help groups like ours).

Our first speaker was Leanne dal Santo from Smartbags. Leanne gave up a safe corporate career as an accountant to start her business after being inspired by a visit to Australia where she found out about eco friendly non woven polypropylene bags. These are made using much less toxic processes than normal plastic bags and are reusable and fully recyclable. Leanne approached the company who were importing them in Australia and set up a handshake deal to start up her own site in the UK and import the bags from the manufacturers in China (who work from an independently audited factory and ship rather than using air freight). As she had manufacturers and designs all ready to go, Leanne’s start up costs were low. Leanne works with her husband, who focuses on sales, giving her time to concentrate on PR, strategy and design. She also has two children, and has to juggle a lot! She has lots of tips for mumpreneurs wanting to follow in her footsteps:

• Know your competitors
• Focus on sales and target your audience
• Being green is not always enough, you need to look at cost as well
• Packaging is really important for your products: make sure it’s sustainable
• Communicate with your customers: don’t forget to stay in touch!
• At some point you are going to have to pick up your phone and ring potential customers! Don’t be shy!
• Outsource the things you can’t do well to give you time on the things you do do well
• It makes life easier if you don’t hold stock!

Our second speaker was Hannah McHalick from Oh Baby London. Hannah was a graphic designer for 15 years but was on maternity leave without pay when she had the idea for Oh Baby London. She designed her babygrows (including the fabulous “Inside for 9 Months”) and came up with the company name – and designed the catalogue – while pregnant. Hannah didn’t get start up funding and just went for her idea, getting samples made up and taking them around baby shops to get whole sale orders. Her brother-in-law designed her website and she started taking orders – and getting press – right away. She was offered her shop premises two years later through the workshop where Hannah was based. However, her shop and website weren’t initially Hannah’s main priority, she was focused on wholesale orders. After a near-disaster where an order wasn’t produced in time for a big wholesale customer, Hannah realised it was time to grow the retail side of her business and switched to retailing. Her turnover was the same, but her profit was much larger. It also meant she has more than one route to market.

Hannah’s tips for mumpreneurs:

• Have some money before you start, so you don’t run out in a crisis!
• Constantly monitor everything you are doing
• If something goes wrong, try to see the positive side
• It’s really important to believe in what you are doing, and keep your eye on the prize
• Know where you are going and how to get there
• Wear blinkers: be aware of your own route and don’t spend too much time looking sideways at your competitors
• Don’t ignore scary stuff; learn to love spreadsheets and profit and loss forecasts and be aware of your cashflow
• Remember to relax and look after your health and your mind: yoga and running are both recommended by Hannah
• Switch off when it’s time to pick up the kids

We had some great mumpreneurs attending the talks, including Jennifer Robertson from Scamp Baby Gifts, who makes gorgeous embroidered and personalised pictures for babies (you can follow her on Twitter too ), and Samantha McCulloch from Virtually Optimized, who offers virtual PA services for stressed mumpreneurs like me! We also had several lovely ladies who are thinking over ideas for their new businesses (including one with a nine month old baby, and one with an eight week old baby, our youngest networker yet!) and hope to add their links when they launch. All agreed that it was an inspirational event, and we hope to meet again during Business Mum Week with advice about PR, SEO and social media.

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PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tower Hamlets Mums Business Club Networking and Coffee Morning for Mumpreneurs and Businesswomen

URL: http://towerhamlets.mumsbusinessclub.com

Category: Business

Description:
Tabitha Potts, owner of Mimimyne (http://www.mimimyne.com), the online store for kids, is now Tower Hamlets Representative for Mums Business Club (http://towerhamlets.mumsbusinessclub.com). The first Mums Business Club Tower Hamlets Networking and Coffee Morning for mumpreneurs, start-up entrepreneurs and business people in Tower Hamlets will be held in the gorgeous venue of Ping Pong Dim Sum in Appold Street, near Liverpool Street Station, on Tuesday 14th September from 10am to 12noon.

There is a £4 entry fee per visitor and Ping Pong Dim Sum are providing free tea and coffee while the networking meeting and expert speaker sessions go on. The first confirmed expert speaker will be Leanne Dal Santo of Smartbags (http://www.smartbags.co.uk) who will talk about how she started up her eco friendly company and combines it with working from home and taking care of her two young children. Attendees will be able to learn about how to set up a small business, work from home and be their own boss while still managing to have a family life. Men are welcome too!

Ping Pong Dim Sum has a baby buggy parking area, a toilet with baby changing facilities and a lift to the Private Dining Room on the first floor where we will be meeting. Children are welcome but are parents’ responsibility! Each guest who chooses to stay on and buy a delicious lunch at Ping Pong Dim Sum after the networking session will be offered a complimentary cocktail, alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

Address :
Ping Pong Dim Sum Appold Street
3 Appold Street
London
EC2A 2AF
Tel: 020 7422 0780
Tuesday 14th September from 10am to 12noon

Contact Name: Tabitha Potts

Contact E-mail: towerhamlets@mumsbusinessclub.com

Contact Phone: 0208 133 0961

Tickets: http://mumsbusinessclubtowerhamlets.eventbrite.com/

ENDS

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The National everywoman Conference 2009
Wednesday, 18th November 2009

Business success comes from creating winning ideas, learning new techniques, sharing experiences and making them work for you. Join us on Wednesday 18th November at this year’s National Everywoman Conference and you will be giving yourself the space and time to do just that.

You will hear winning ideas from inspirational speakers, as well as attend Masterclasses that will teach you how to be a more creative thinker, work on your leadership style and plans to promote your business and raise your online profile. And of course you will be able to network and share ideas with over 300 like-minded business owners. If you’re a woman running or interested in running your own business, you can’t afford to miss this! I will be presenting on the topic of online networking and marketing, can’t wait…

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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.

More info about Business Mum Week 2009 events here

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