Read the Business Mums liveblog feed here

Good evening all. Just logging in to test our platform

It’s easy to follow Twitter but we’ll be reporting from all the events from our laptop. Plus anyone using the #BMS2011 tag will feed here, so you won’t miss a thing.

Interesting preview of one our key note speakers. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7530384/Laura-Tenison-stays-true-to-her-roots.html

I’m such a tinkerer!

Morning everyone, WE’RE LIVE!

Nicky welcomes the room and encourages a few woop, woop!!

Nicky gives us over a few stats of their family life since last year and arranging the BMS

‘Mumpreneur has made its way into the Oxford Collins Dictionary

What are mums good at? Multi tasking, skill swapping for mutual benefit

£5m turnover in the room right now

Hands up who works late? !! the room laughs

Dont’ think about selling, forge partnerships and arrange skill swaps!

scholarship sponsored places so other can attend

All info to be available on download later on

Please use #bizmumssummit and #mumandworkingaward to keep in touch via the live blog

Beth from Hewlett Packard is first speaker

Noticed unique jewellry and noticed a business gap and bought pieces back - started own business but new challenegs on how to make it work

Passion is a key to starting a new business

Moving into different geographical areas and transferring business idea to them

Small business, enterprise solutions and realise that they have the same technology needs as big business

Access is important - on the go, in the office

Products for small business - hp printer, office jet for biz documents, invoice printing - with a touch of colour. Touch of colour can draw the eye so paid faster

Marketing Materials - examples from the businesses in the room Littlefidgets and urban explorer.

Launche e-print a year ago, if you can email it you can print it from anywhere in the world. Print from smartphone, e-print can send between business partners

Laura from JoJo Maman Bebe representing women who ‘have it all’ Trying to have it all is a nightmare

Mumpreneurs are Business Women who happen to be mums, don’t dumb down

It is a nightmare but you thrive on it

Juggling your life is not ideal, we are juggling it as our different ‘personalities’

Trying to do it all, whilst still being a control freak

Rushing through the day, always busy, always the next meeting

Trying to fit it all in, saying yes to everything, all fast paced and go go go

Chaos and stressful but wouldn’t change it

How do you define success? Retail is only as good as last weeks trading.

Started with 50k to invest, innovation has led to growth

Strive to be the best, don’t accept mediocrity, need to have inspiration and inspire others. Engage people you work with

Happy team = happy customers. Fancy dress party for all the team to encourage team spirit

Imagination is also the key, freshness is important. Don’t reuse last years marketing plan

You need the ability to keep on top of things. You can have it all but you can’t have it all and a good nights sleep

Started making clothes and selling them. Banks didn’t support the business and didn’t have enough room to grow

Looking for a fashion gap, was energetic and enthusiastic. Suppliers extended credit terms, worked 70-80 hours a week for 10 years when starting out

Takes 3 years to break even with a new business

Pays on who deserves it

Was my own business, could work around the kids, reality is very little sleep. Took children to work

Board recruited 6 years ago are still with them

Work with the team and cautious not to over extend with finances, growing organically. Turnover 30m a year with this organic growth

Wanted to expand JoJo Maman internationally, pre-conception of female environment biz is to patronise

I am a woman, I am feminine, I don’t want to be a man, want to pursue my business with empathy

Team are like my friends, important that people like working together, not because ordering staff but working with them

Sales growth during recession, return on capital investment, it is possible to do well whilst doing good, having good value

Retail original features of the stores, environmentally friendly, trying to make the most of the property, try to educate customer without marketing ploy

Reward through profit share scheme, USP design and retails to our niche market customers, offer customers what they want, social networking, online stores

Design and innovation, attention to detail very important.

Can’t bear spin

Moral code of conduct, Responsible corporations are taking environmental sustainability seriously

Consumer wants to know companies are acting responsibly, common sense

By cycling and using the train Laura saves £40k a year and 9.4 tonnes of co2

#clothnappies haven’t been a good seller but didn’t want to sell disposibles so they support the nappy recycling scheme

Prebuilt landfill - promote recycling machine for disposibles

Developed recycled materials for clothing

Run a charity that staff get involved in. Giving something back. Making working life more interesting,

Reality is if you have a interesting time at work then low turnover of staff

Lead by example, can do attitude, delegate within a blame free culture, keep team motivated

Time for questions: Lawyers for Mumpreneurs who has benefiited from some mentoring from Laura via charity opportunity

Did she have a mentor?

She didn’t have time! but she mentors now. ‘Ask questions’ don’t be afraid. She rang everyone to ask advice.

If you can take what she has said and use it to your advantage, then she’s happy

Don’t be afraid of competition.

Question: was there ever a time when you thought, god this is hard, is this the right thing?

Laura: last night? (room mumurs laughter)

A large glass of wine helps. After all the stress, she says to herself, she loves what she does and would have it any other way

If you can achieve to spend time with kids and family, then that is the main thing.

I really feel for those women who have to take the early morning flight to Brussels because they’re in banking. She can arrange her schedule to cook the kids their tea.

Next up: Karen Skidmore

in her guise as a coach!

Antonia welcomes her on stage ‘what an introduction’

She’s got 20 minutes, Laura was a bit long!!! Nevermind, she was TOTALLY worth it. We could have listened to Laura all day!

We have spent money and organised our kids/ lives to be here. So you need to think about how you can change your business!!!

Who considers theirselves to be a conference/ networking veteran?

A few……..first timers? lots of first timers raise their hands

Karen is at the web-tech club stand, to help with internet marketing ‘stuff’

www.candocanbe.co.uk is Karen’s website

Hands up who had to organise school bags last night. A few grunts of agreement and laughter

‘We had a lovely day’ - comments after the event……

‘I met some really nice people’

‘The coffee was delicious’

But Karen doesn’t want you to go away feeling you didn’t ‘get much business from it’

It’s not the conference that’s the issue, it’s your networking technique

(Ed - she’s right though!, glad she’s being that honest).

Your business needs you, eating cupcakes and meeting nice people won’t change your business

What are you objectives from the day? Whether you’re looking for a bookeeper/ website manager - they are here, get some support, skill swap, get some initial advice.

What are the main reasons for you being here today??

Who got the questionnaire? There’s one in the programme. Aimed at making you think about what you are going to get out of today

Who has come here with real objectives? A few swots raise their hands. Are they SMART? we all know what that is!! Specific Measurable Achievabble Realistic and TImebound (my former corporate life)

(Ed - now I’m the swot, as I shout out the ansa to the SMART anachronim)

Has everyone written down one objective? Karen threatens no coffee or cupcakes unless you write one down!! Now there’s a real bribe.

(Ed- mums are good at bribes, they are essential childcare tools, no matter what Supernanny says)

Relationships DO matter - there is a balance between People and Business

The issue with women’s conferences can be they are really ‘fluffy’ and maybe we don’t come away with hard goals and actions - Karen Skidmore

Learn how to get conversations in balance. Find out about other people’s busines but make sure you tell them about YOURS!!!

Look at EduCast seminars, they have some on how to network effectively.

Karen will be asking what people have gotten out of today, there’ll be a test later!!!!! EEEEK

Applause, another great speaker…….bingo! Already worth the ticket price.

You could go home now and feel satisfied with the speakers but it’s the networking that counts!!

Antonia ‘make the point of talking to people’

Time for questions for Beth/ Karen

Question for Beth: Meg from the US as well, web designer
Because she’s doing two different businesses, how do you prioritise which business to spend time on?

Beth: not very well right now!!!!

It does feel manic right now. She needs help with time management.

The job that pays the bills is the most important.

Making sure you’re being as effective as I can be in that role. She delegates as much as she can. She is a control freak but learning to delegate.

Giving people autonomy. (Ed - I wonder what her staff would say about her?).

Prioritise looking at e-mails/ texts - they can be distractions.

Beth: with my side business (which is literally where it is, to the side), its her business but needs to relook at her business model.

No more time for questions: COFFEE TIME!!!!

Workshops next!

Hello, I’m back

PAMS - Planning, Advice, Mastergroup, Self - we’re going to learn what this means exactly.

Write things down when planning your objectives

Encapsulate what your business does in 30 seconds, have your definition ready

I’m in Key Mistakes that Start-ups make

Do your research,not just your best mate saying ‘that’s a great idea’

Research your customer base, what kind of return on investment are you looking for? What is achievable? Do you know this before you start spending money on your business?????

Think carefully about where you going to spend your business capital

Think about how you are going to run this organisation.

www.businesslink.gov.uk - go here today, advice for start-ups

Your mastergroup

These are people that can support you, look after you, elevate you

Surround yourself with the right people, those who are going to be realistic but supportive. Family, friends, mentors

Ensure that whaterver you’re doing is ecological for you. Does it fit with your core values?

Don’t do things because you think you should, because you’re passionate about it, because it fits with your family life or ultimate life goals.

Look after yourself. Look after your physical, emotional well-being.

You are allowed to sleep!!! and take the afternoon off.

www.mte2.co.uk - free analysis for your business - no commitment

If you sign up today you get 60% off the starter module.

www.mtc2.co.uk - sorry, I gave the wrong one out before.

Chris Harvell from Natwest, Business Relationship Manager

Works with small businesses, forgot his powerpoint slides in electronic format #fail

Chris says: Research your market, there’s a wealth of information out there

Turnover is vanity, capital is sanity, cash is king

I think I got this right

Critically important to have cashflow. You should never hide behind a cashflow problem.

The tabloids are distorting the reporting on banks not lending, they are not lending to businesses who were failing before the recession. (Ed - hmmmm, I will be asking a question on that later).

Don’t let one major supplier be most of your business i.e. Tesco who are price breakers…….(Ed - don’t we know it!!!, don’t shop there, never will)

Work out where you’re going to hold your cash plus you know what needs to be paid and when. Make sure the money is there. Call you bank and ask for their advice.

The bank will work alongside you, your accountant and solicitor

(Ed - I’m in the wrong business, should be an accountant and solicitor rolled into one!).

Sell your business, sell yourself. When you watch Dragons Den often they like the person behind the business equally if not more than the idea.

You will have to stump up some cash yourself, it shows committment to the business. Any venture capitalist would want to see that.

In a nutshell: do your homework, have a plan, stick to it, revisit it, ask yourself is this where you want to be/ go? Do you need to rrevise the plan.

Penina Shepherd from Acumen Business Law http://acumenbusinesslaw.co.uk/company/home/

Speaking now in Breakout 1. Chelle @brightonmums is in Breakout 2 - promoting your business, follow the tweets

Penina eats, breathes and loves business. But the legal world is lagging…

She took the step to launch her business after her third child, on maternity leave. (Ed - sound familiar? lots of people here today are in exactly that position).

She spent possibly a year reading and researching her business before launching.

Her reading list authors: Michael E Gerber, Seth Godin, Jay Conrad Levinson

E-myth revisited, Purple Cow, Guerilla Marketing

Won the Brighton Business Award, Director of the year for south east from ioD. Financial times listed them as one of the most groundbreaking law firms in Europe.

(evidently her fave accolade

Top Seven tips:
1. Give (Ed - difficult for lawyers)

2. overestimate yourself
3. Take full responsibility
4. Have a positive mindset
5. Be extraordinary

Penina: I didn’t want to open up ‘just another law firm’

6. NEVER give up

7. Enjoy the ride

She decided to set up a law firm specialising in business

Remarkable doesn’t have to be BIG it could be small but have the WOW

She made a list of all the frusrations of her clients working with lawyers. She reccommends to do the same, you could provide a servce that meets their needs.

In other words LISTEN to your market.

That doesn’t mean cheap, because you can only be cheap once.

How can you resolve this? Offer value for money

Or look at your pricing structure/ commitment - they scrapped the hourly rate, they quote fixed fees from the outset.

She didn’t need to invest in it, she’s not losing money - she’s removed the fear of the open chequebook system for lawyers fees, i.e. ‘don’t call the lawyers unless you have to, it may cost money’. Non-contencious issues, (not suing someone as that can be open ended) but terms and conditions, employees handbooks etc

Lawyers live in their own bubble, she wanted a firm that was approachable!!! (Ed - music to our ears)

They scrapped the hierarchy, did away with the job title ethos, they don’t have secretaries, they do everything.

Penina gives examples of her business and being ‘remarkable’ - thinking differently and outside the box for the industry you want to operate in.

(Ed - by the way, I am walking around with the Phil & Ted’s toddler seat attachment as well as my handbag and my blogging gear - true mum!!)

Penina’s favourite tip ‘take full responsibility’

she launched a business during the recession and decided to ignore it!!!

when you work for yourself, you can’t blame anyone else

you are where you are because of the choices you make

if you think you can, if you think you can’t then you’re right - Henry Ford

positive mindset goes alongside ‘doing’

(Ed - she’s been reading Napoleon Hill, the original NLP author before the concept was defined)

(Ed - plus I’ve breastfed four times today already)

Enjoy it, if its not fun, it’s not worth it, go and get a job!!!

14.00 opening address from Kate Garraway

We’re here, back with Kate Garraway!!

She’s telling mumpreneur jokes!!

She bigs up an appluase for absent partners

Like many of us, Kate set up a business on maternity leave.

Kate: pregnancy has a massive effect on brain and body, elevating moods for a prolonged period of time.

All those hormones that give as baby brain, can give us the freedom of spirit to set up our own business, not just immediately after giving birth but for years to come.

(Ed - that explains alot!!!)

Kate: when she had a boy, she went clothes shopping and realised their clothes are rubbish. She wanted to start her own clothing business ‘my little gentleman’

She talked this through with a number of people, shared the idea around to generate interest.

Next step: how did she put it into practice? Her mentor said look at what you do on TV. You tell them about what you’re doing, make in interesting, keep them interested otherwise they switch channel. Kate realised there’s an element of truth in that theory

(Ed - like to say I grabbed a video interview with Kate and she is very lovely, very down to earth)

Lots more people using the #BMS2011 tag!!

Learn from your mistakes, the biggest things to learn from

£4b worth of business run by mumpreneurs

staggering

What changes are taking place that can help mums be involved in the challenge (of being in business)?

The internet has transformed all our lives but especially those of mums

Half mums questioned by a Harvard Bus. School say that would not have been able to return to work or start their own business without the internet.

(Ed - Antonia tells us earlier that BBC TV and Radio plus Meridian are covering the event today, watch your screens)

Working women and mums need the right support from employers, government and society.

If you have an idea, launch it now. ‘Your country needs you girls.’ - the room claps and cheers.

Question: networking, has Kate’s position in media opened doors?

When dealing with retailers, there’s an element of curiosity, that makes them think what Kate’s got to say, so a foot in the door.

Being a celebrity/ well-known can work for and against you. High expectations.

Question: how does Kate fit it all in?

Daybreak is a terrible job if you’re a single person. She gets up at 2.30am !! (gasps all round the room).

But she has got a chunk of the day, so she spends time with her kids.

goodypass.com has taken a big chunk of her time while setting it up.

When does she go to bed? Before the kids!!!

Question: Claire from BabyBallet.com

Do you prefer working for ITV or yourself

Kate laughs, it’s a bit of a trap of a question! She loves her day job, who wouldn’t??

But is looking forward to the challenge of setting up her business.

Panel: Yummy Lollies, good old local company

Sussex company which provides a really good product, how did they make a success of it??

Yummy Lollies started in 2006 with idea for healthy ice lollies suitable for kids.

Walked into local business and asked if companies would sell it

In December 2007 got first order for April. Local outlets, producing 1500 lollies per day. Growth over 5 years..

32 distributors, 1000+ outlets and 100+ schools

Getting branding and trademark before launch is very important!

Now outsource the manufactor and concentrate on marketing

Identify parts of business that you can make more cash flow to reinvest

Don’t feel bad from mistakes, learn from them

What have we learnt : know your market, research, time is the enemy - be patient, confidence

What advice Yummy Lollies have: What do you want from it? What can you commit? What is the cost? Aim high and think big! Never dream small.

Look bigger then you are!

Identify the areas where you are lacking

Delegate to other people if you need to

List and prioritise

Never ignore the white elephant in the room

Shazia runs Third Door. Runs a shared office space and on site creche

Idea came while brainstorming with a friend and had that lightbulb moment!

More people working from home and self employed. Still want to network with others as can be a lonely

No business loan as nothing to compare business to

Pooled resources, launched in May 2010

Shazia very nervous but very determined

Now expanded and had first birthday. Can’t plan personal stuff

Various types of members, some dip in and out to working 5 days a week

Main point is that there is flexibility and parents are happy with work/life balance