ACPR Blog

Mumtrepreneur figures set to rise

More than 50 per cent of new mums are keen to set up their own business, according to new research from Tesco Baby & Toddler Club.

In fact, the survey of 2,000 mums* has revealed one in ten working mums are sick of David Brent bosses who overlooked them for promotion simply because they were a parent.

More than ten per cent of those questioned complained they’d been discriminated against at work by female colleagues (who were actually worse than men). And one in five mums had struggled with employers who demanded they work longer than their contracted hours.

The research carried out by Tesco Baby & Toddler Club to mark the launch of its new website suggests the current one million women-owned businesses in the UK** is set to increase – and six per cent of those questioned claim to already have enterprising ideas ranging from hand-painted cribs to pet hotels.

The research also revealed that 20 per cent wanted to be work-at-home mums because of the flexible hours. The mums were especially internet savvy, and with the end of the extended family and 24 hour access to websites, 40 per cent said they turn to the internet for help on baby/parenting matters. This compares with just 34 per cent talking to their doctor, 29 per cent turning to other parents and one in five seeking advice from their local health centre.

A spokesperson for Tesco Baby & Toddler Club said: “While we know from official figures that the percentage of working mums has increased over the last five years***, it seems we’re not so keen to work for someone else when it comes to the practicalities of winning the work/life balance.

“It’s in direct response to the demand for mums seeking parenting help and support online that Tesco have launched the baby club website offering advice from some of the country’s leading baby experts, plus the opportunity for mums to talk to other mums, including work-related experiences.

“We know from our own members that being able to talk to other mums in similar situations can give them the confidence to make changes that are right for them.” The survey also revealed that when it comes to role models, the top 10 working mums are:

Just a quick reminder about this month’s competition to win a great selection of parenting books. If you want to take part, email antonia@acpr.co.uk with PARENTING BOOKS by the end of the 30th of September. 

The NCT and Working Families  want to understand the experiences of mums returning to work in order to develop practical free tools to help mums who choose to, return to work as easily as possible and employers to be able to support them through this sometimes tricky transition period. If you can help, visit http://www.mumsgoingbacktowork.com/. As a small thank you - everyone who completes the survey has a chance to win £200 of toddler and baby products from the NCT shop plus 10% off all orders placed before Christmas 2008. (more…)

Reviews are starting to come in for Special Educational Needs: A Parent’s Guide. This one is from TotztoTeens
Special Eductional Needs: A Parents Guide by Antonia Chitty & Victoria Dawson
ISBN: 978-1-86144-057-0 £8.99

As many as one in five children may at some time need extra help with their education, but does this mean they have Special Educational Needs?
Using expert advice and the latest information, this book brings together the facts on Special Educational Needs, looking in detail at the different types of additional needs and how parents and carers can cope with it in daily life.

Find out which professionals can help, how to get through the ‘system’ and gain support, how to handle behavioural difficulties at home and school, and how to get the best education for your child’s needs.

Whether you are worried about your child’s development or work with children and want to know more about the subject, this book will guide you through helping a child with special educational needs.

Totz2teens Member Review: Wondering if your child has special educational needs is a complicated and difficult time for any parents. Reading this book was very helpful. It is clearly written and explains some of the different difficulties that children could be facing. Even eyesight problems are covered within this book. The way the book is written is so helpful as it is easy to understand and to pick it up as necessary. Totally a useful book and happy to recommend it.

Totz2teens Member Rating: 5/5

Do you think selling chocolate bars with customised wrappers is a great business idea? I’m not convinced, but over 200 people have signed up for a My Little Wrapper business.

 My Little Wrapper is brought to you by Sue Botterill, founder of MyMag and Raring2Go franchise opportunities. Together with husband Nigel, who spearheads theBestOf website business op, I suspect Sue does know what she’s doing in the way of business, whatever my doubts.

Anyway, this month Sue has over-ordered the chocolate for My Little Wrapper. Not a big problem? Well, it is if you have over ordered by a factor of 10 due to a fax error. So, if you can get the money over to them by the end of Monday 29thth September, you can get a My Little Wrapper business for les than half price:

Mini Business Pack   WAS £1,999 with 1 box of chocolate     NOW £800  (plus VAT & P&P)  
 INCLUDING 4 boxes of chocolate (that’s 400 bars worth over £140!) that’s a saving of over £1,200 

Professional Pack       WAS £2,749 with 4 box of chocolates    NOW  £1,400  (plus VAT & P&P)  
INCLUDING 8 boxes of chocolate (that’s 800 bars  worth almost £300!) a saving of over £1,400 

You can get the full details about My Little Wrapper on the website www.getmylittlewrapper.co.uk.
To take advantage of this ‘one off’ offer  call Steve or Thom on 0121 765 3400 and tell them that you’d like to take advantage of Sue’s Incredible Chocolate Coated Deal. They’ll be able to take a card payment over the phone and get the Pack shipped to you straight-away.  If you prefer, you can buy online here. And if selling chcolate bars doesn’t appeal, read about lots of other flexible home business ideas at Family Friendly Working.

Visit My Baby Radio to hear me talk about A Guide to Promoting Your Business.

The Bump and Beyond Bag Company Ltd is attending The Baby Show, Earls Court, 17-19 October 2008.  Alongside launching our all-new website and unique maternity bag range to a fanfare of PR, we will be promoting a small selection of complementary organisations, like your own, and would like to gauge your interest in our service offering, which includes literature distribution, brand affiliation, web promotion and bespoke data collection.

The Baby Show attracts the following people:
26,559 attendees - 84% A, B and C1 socio-demographic groups
45% of visitors are pregnant- 40% already have children (58% aged 0-1 & 37% aged 1-5)
74% female with an average age of 30
Average income: £43,550.47 - Average spend at show: £214.82 - Average spend after show: £289.62
(The Baby Show, ABC Audited)

As you can see, a fantastic and receptive target audience for all baby and child related products and services. Our packages are as follows;

Your A5 postcard / flyer in our promotional show bag – Distributed to 5000 individuals.
Fantastic exposure for £199

Your A5 postcard / flyer included in 5000 of our promotional bags.
A 5cm logo on our promotional bag - Distributed to 5000 individuals.
A feature in our e-Newsletter in the run-up to the show.
Data from our Baby Show lifestyle data collection – Very clean data collected from all visitors to our stand and entrants into our competitions to win maternity bags and free weaning and training courses.
Management of competitions to win your free gifts - for extra exposure!
A link to your site from www.bumpandbeyondbagcompany.co.uk
All of this for just £399

Feature in our exclusive “Best of the Industry” A4 Directory leaflet.
Link on www.bumpandbeyondbagcompany.co.uk homepage –  A 155×100 pixel button linking to your site.
10cm logo and contacts on promotional show bags.
Promotional material in our retail maternity bags for one whole year.
Features in The Bump & Beyond Bag Company Newsletter and brand affiliation for 1 year.
Data from our Baby Show lifestyle data collection – The same clean data as with Silver, but also includes bespoke data requirements from yourselves.
Management of competitions to win your free gifts - for extra exposure!
Distribution of your literature.
All for only £599

Should you require any further information, or would like to discuss our services, including your promotional material requirements in greater detail, please call Clive Astin at Middle 8 Marketing Communications on 0115 714 9878, or 07903 222 302.  Alternatively, e-mail clive@m8mc.co.uk.

Here are a few promotional opportunities from the NCT.

User Representatives Forum- Sponsorship and Exhibition Opportunities

This one-day forum is expected to bring together 120 user representatives on committees

and structures influencing maternity, family and child health and support services throughout the UK.

As well as informing user reps the forum will be a great opportunity for reps to come together to discuss topical issues and share new ideas and experiences of projects and activities in which they are involved. Reps are well informed and highly motivated to meet exhibitors both to exchange ideas and recommendations and to discuss and buy products and services.

The cost for an exhibition stand at this event is £150 plus VAT and includes:

• A six foot table and two chairs

• Two delegate passes, including refreshments and lunch

• The inclusion of 50 word company profile in the delegate pack

Inserts may be placed in the delegate pack at a cost of £75 plus VAT.

Headline and other sponsorship opportunities are available to suit, please email commercial@nct.org.uk for more information.

NCT Members magazine, New Gen, 2008 - 2009 media pack released

NewGen is read by a predominantly ABC1 unique, professional, well-educated, highly influential and informed readership of parents. The magazine acts as a direct link with the NCT whilst also providing advertisers with the opportunity to promote their products in a highly trusted and effective environment.

For more information please see  http://www.nct.org.uk/support-us/corporate support/advertising or email nct@mongoosemedia.com

For further opportunities see http://www.nct.org.uk/support-us/corporate-support:

Are you more productive when you work from home than you were when you worked in an office? Here are the working from home distractions, as revealed in a survey by iVillage.co.uk:
The Kitchen
The children
Personal calls and visits
Housework
The skiving urge

“The first thing you must do when working from home is set up a designated work space”, says Ronita Dutta, editor at iVillage.co.uk. “By having a designated work area, you are mentally putting yourself in an office environment even if you don’t have a separate room. This is especially important for women who work from home as they tend to want to multitask to save time”. (more…)

Women are playing a bigger part in small business in Ireland. According to the latest GEM report for Ireland, female early stage entrepreneurial activity rose from 4.2% in 2006 to 5.9% in 2007. A policy spotlight on female entrepreneurship is said to have played a significant factor in the growth. County Enterprise Boards are reported to have been very active in this area and have for example seen membership of their enterprising women networks rise to almost 6,000, having doubled in just one year. The report calls for an additional policy focus now on high-growth female entrepreneurship Sixteen per cent of male-owned companies in Ireland expect to employ more than 20 people over the next five years compared with just 8% of women-owned firms.