Posted inA mix

The rise of the female trader

Being a mother can be incredibly hard work, and trying to fit even the shortest activity into a busy schedule can be tricky.

Trading can make earning money and raising a child come to life

Many mothers who work in full-time or part-time jobs often find that with childcare, they don’t have the time to do anything else, especially something which could net them additional income.

Most people think that working mothers are in roles like nursing and administration, but for a growing number of women making sizeable profits from trading the markets, they’ve managed to dispel this stereotype.

Trading was often seen as the preserve of men, but as this infographic supplied by City Index shows, there has been a massive increase in the number of women traders, and the level of success which some of them have achieved has been astonishing.

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Posted inA mix

Sponsored video: How to teach children about alcohol

Summer’s here and the school holidays are just around corner…and for older children who are independent and able to keep themselves occupied without parents, boredom and extra time spent with friends can mean getting up to mischief.

20120628-121214.jpgFor many teens, alcohol will pay a role in that mischief. According to statistics, the average age that children start drinking is 14 years of age. So how do you teach children about alcohol and drinking safely?

7 tips for busy mums to get more done and fit even more into their days
Posted inA mix Family life Starting and running your business

7 tips for busy mums to get more done and fit even more into their days

The juggling never stops, and the tiredness and wishing there were more hours in the day. So how do you get more done as a busy working mum? How can you fit even more into an already busy day?

how busy mums can fit even more into the dayThe truth is, it isn’t always easy plain sailing – there will be times when you feel like you’re so busy that your feet don’t even touch the ground. But, how you manage your situation can make the difference.

Here are seven tips that can help you get more done:

Posted inFamily life What's in the news?

Cherie Blair’s right…all mums should work…in a way that works best for their family

Are mums who stay at home just using their children as an excuse to retire from their careers? Are they making their children less independent?

Cherie Blair may just have a point about the importance of mums working-081418.jpgIf you’re Cherie Blair – former prime minister Tony Blair’s wife – then you’ll say yes to that. In fact she has been quoted saying the very thing, and. She’s not apologetic about it either.

But does she have a point, or is it just another attack on stay-at-home mums from a working mum?

Summer sales slump? Two ways to boost your online sales overnight
Posted inA mix How to sell online Starting and running your business

Summer sales slump? Two ways to boost your online sales overnight

Are you getting ready for the summer sales slump? If your business isn’t seasonal or doesn’t peak in summer, there’s a good chance that you’ll have to work a little harder for your money in summer.

make more sales with these two great tricksSchool holidays and people going away to get some summer sunshine, or just a break in general means you need to find a way to get the customers and website visitors you have spend more.

Posted inA mix Careers Coach Blog

Do you mean business? Why haven’t you got a business mentor?

No matter how good you are at your craft, there really is nothing like being able to have a mentor who can help you turn your expertise into a financial success.

Most business owners and successful online entrepreneurs will admit that a mentor was a big part of their success.

business mentorA lot of people feel like they can do everything on their own and this is something that can lead to a lot of problems. An enthusiasm to get stuck in and get your hands dirty is great, but do you have to learn all the hard lessons the long way, making avoidable mistakes along the way?

Posted inA mix Starting and running your business

5 things you should know abut social media

If surveys and site traffic from social networking sites are anything to go by, we now spend a significant amount of our time on websites like Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook…and so do our customers.

social media tipsThe majority of business owners now use social media to grow and promote their businesses – from the mumpreneur online store to big global brands, they’re all doing it.

If you want to tap into social media successfully, it’s therefore essential that you know how to effectively use effectively so you don’t waste your time updating your Facebook page, and sending out tweets when no one really has any interest in reading them.

Here are the five social media tips to get you started and to improve the results that even experienced social media butterflies can gleam:

Posted inMoney - how to keep it and how to make it

3 tips to save time, money and hassle

As a working mum, you may be quite familiar with the feeling that you’re always trying to keep up with something – your child’s social calendar, your work commitments and managing the family budget.

There will doubtless be days when you feel that the demands of your family life are pressuring your work life, or that the same thing is happening in reverse.

20120618-154419.jpgThere are some things you just won’t be able to avoid, but you can avoid a good deal of the stress by managing your business and financial life with care. This sounds obvious, but often finances can take a backseat to other tasks.

If you’re busy all the time taking the kids to school, going to work, picking them up from school, etc., you may find it hard to take the time aside to make sure that you are budgeting your finances well, and doing things to save money.

However, spending a little bit of time on these things can pay off in the long run.

A good place to start is by looking for simple, easy ways to save money on everyday expenses or products. Of course, this is easier said than done, but here are a few specific ideas that may help you to get started:

Posted inBusiness ideas Starting and running your business

10 hobbies that can become a business

If I had a fiver every time someone said “it’s only a little hobby” I’d be a rich investor on Dragons Den!

20120608-090228.jpgHobbies are often a goldmine that people just cast to the side as something they do for themselves, or help friends an relatives out with and that’s it. But if you’re looking for a way to make some extra money, why not earn it doing something you love doing?

Here are 10 hobbies that you can turn into a business or use to make extra money:

1. Organising – call it obsessive compulsive if you like and laugh off your organising skills, but use them wisely and you could be laughing all the way to the bank!

Don’t take your skills for granted – people will pay (a lot) to have someone come into their homes and businesses and organise things for them – wardrobes, filing you name it!

Are you making money online, but not letting the taxman know? You have until 14th June to let them know before they find YOU!
Posted inA mix Money - how to keep it and how to make it

Are you making money online, but not letting the taxman know? You have until 14th June to let them know before they find YOU!

Making money online is a perfect way for many mums to get around issues with childcare and earning a crust. And it’s a great way to earn extra money if you already work for someone else. But, it doesn’t mean you can get out of paying tax.

online traders pay taxIf you sell things online – eBay, Amazon, Etsy among others – or run your own online store where you’re not just getting rid of old possessions, you need to get in touch with the tax office (or HMRC).

Posted inReal mums

Real mum profile: Anna Wreford, Big Bird Boutique

?Running a hobby/craft-based business sounds like fun, the cost of supplies or ingredients leaves you laughing all the way to the bank…right?

Anna Wreford
But is it really that easy – married mum Anna Wreford, 33, talks about running Big Bird Boutique and and how she makes sure she doesn’t get left out of pocket – even when doing favours for her friends.

What work did you do before you set up your company?
I was the design director at a furniture consultancy company that specialised in the education sector.

?How did you fund the business?
I’m funding the business with my personal savings, and using my hoard of fabrics I have been collecting for years.

5 ways teenagers can make money this summer
Posted inFamily life Money - how to keep it and how to make it

5 ways teenagers can make money this summer

Next week sees the last half term of the school year, and with it a closer step towards the school Summer holidays…which means spending more money for childcare, and coping with bored teenagers.

Lazy teen: time to earn their keep!

While we might not be able to do much about childcare costs, we can do something about the bored teenagers, and they’ll love the extra money their time spent with a summer job will do, too! So, if you child would have finished their GCSEs at the end of the school year, here are some ideas for summer jobs they’ll likely enjoy:

Posted inA mix Family life

Hand-me downs just got cool again

Hand-me-downs often conjure up feelings of resentment – being the one who has to wear or use something that someone else has taken the best years out of…but times are changing, and it seems that nothing’s off limits these days!

Hand me downs just got cool again

So just how and what should you hand down to children? Here are some tips on handing down gadgets, clothes, scooters and more:

Posted inReal mums

Real mum profile: Yuliana Topazly of Phase 1 Enterprise Training

Married new mum Yuliana Topazly, 31, is passionate about entrepreneurship and is the director of Phase 1 Enterprise Training and juggles this with managing enterprise activities for London-based universities. She tells Motherswhowork.co.uk how she has managed to juggle a new business with motherhood, and how it has helped her overcome postnatal depression.

Yuliana Topazly Phase 1 Enterprise TrainingWhat work did you do before you set up your company?
I have worked in high education sector lecturing small business development most of my working life, managing students’ enterprise curricular and extra-curricular activities in London-based universities. I have a large portfolio of businesses I have supported from pre-startup stage, so I decided to use my knowledge and experience and my passion for entrepreneurship to start working for myself.

Posted inA mix

Get your car seat kids fit and exercising the fun way…on a scooter! They won’t even know they’re exercising!

Research shows that the number of children travelling to school by car in the past 20 years has doubled, and the number of children walking to school has reached its lowest level ever. Just 47% of primary school-aged children now walk to school, with the figure falling to a paltry 36% among secondary school pupils.

So, it comes as no surprise, then, that the government’s Chief Medical Officers say that 68% of boys and 76% of girls aged between two years and 15 years do not meet the minimum recommendation of an hour of moderate physical activity per day, and that they are therefore at risk of obesity, weak bones and future heart disease.

micro scooterIf walking is too much of a chore for your child and becomes a bone of contention, scooting is the latest craze, which has become a must for most primary school aged children. If you haven’t seen, bought or been gifted with a Micro Scooter then you you’ve really missed a trick!

Posted inA mix Courses for mums What's in the news?

Free courses and support to mums – can you afford to miss out?

If you answer yes to any of the questions below then you need to book yourself onto one of our courses (prices start from FREE!):

  • Are you at a bit of a crossroads in your life and need some help and support to propel you to the next level?