ACPR Blog

The New York Times has reported on a woman who, instead of taking maternity leave, has set up a room for her children next to her office. The paper reports Carla Moquin, the founder of the Parenting in the Workplace Institute, as saying, “This has been going on for 15 years in a limited fashion, but in the last two years it’s really taken off.”

Mothers in the US are only entitled to three months unpaid maternity leave, which I can see would encourage women to look at this sort of solution. One business mentioned in the article, “Borshoff, a communications firm in Indianapolis with 40 employees, has a Bring Your Baby to Work program for infants ages 6 weeks to 6 months. The firm pays 80 percent of an employee’s full salary when the child is in the office.” Having reduced pay may be an accurate reflection that parents with a baby in tow will spend less time working, but also reduces the incentive to go through what seems to be a stressful scheme.

For more - and probably better - ideas on how to combine work and family, visit www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk

One of the great upsides of freelancing is that you can drop everything if you need. Sick children, neighbours who have locked themselves out - everyone will think that you can drop what you are doing and help. Trouble is, you then end up working into the small hours to catch up. It can be hard to set aside time for holidays too, when a break from work equals no income. With practice you will work out a way to be around for the family without letting your work slip too far: after all, that is one of the benefits of freelancing.

Antonia Chitty is author of Family Friendly Working (www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk), A guide to Promoting Your Business (www.prbasics.co.uk) and a number of parenting and health books. She has a book on earning a living from writing, The Commercial Writing Guide coming out in July 2009. You can find out more about her own freelance writing career at www.antoniachitty.co.uk and her PR business at www.acpr.co.uk.

It was all so different when you were employed. Now you’re master of your own time, time management is key. One of the big ups of freelancing in the chance to take time off during the week, to go for a swim when the pool is at its emptiest or meet a mate for a long lunch. However in order to do this AND have money to pay for the treats you need to plan ahead. Work out how much you need to earn each month to pay your bills and have spending money. Allow for tax and National Insurance too. You might wonder what this has to do with time management….but time is money. Your income will depend on the hours you put in. It may take a while to work out how much work you need to do to earn the amount you need to live, and it can take time to build up enough good contacts to have a ready flow of commissions too. You may spend more time pitching or generating business in the early stages so try to have some cash in reserve.

Antonia Chitty is author of Family Friendly Working (www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk), A guide to Promoting Your Business (www.prbasics.co.uk) and a number of parenting and health books. She has a book on earning a living from writing, The Commercial Writing Guide coming out in July 2009 . You can find out more about her own freelance writing career at www.antoniachitty.co.uk and her PR business at www.acpr.co.uk.

If you’re considering renting an office, think about the pros and cons. It is lovely to have a clear office space, but can make a great difference to your business finances. Your earnings now have to cover rent every month.

If you find working from home an isolating experience a shared office is ideal. You get the buzz round the watercooler and the chance to chat to others. Do visit a few times to see the office in full swing, though, to find out whether you desk would be next to a loud sales person. And if freelancing is just the start of grand business ideas, you should incorporate the cost of an office, business rates, insurance etc into your plans.

The Guardian has been focusing on the issues surrounding mothers returning to work.

In a feature based on a Unicef report on childcare, Geraldine Beddell says, “Many women look at the pay gap, at their own inclination to balance, at the impossibility of two parents being distracted most of the time, and choose to work part-time, or at any rate with less zealotry. And most parents manage to cobble something together that more or less works.”

She highlights the problem where most men are unwilling or unable to change their hours, leaving women with limited options. She also points out that, “The Unicef report is flawed in not taking into account informal, home-based, or neighbourhood childcare - grandparents, child minders, au pairs”.

Josephine Murray looks at the women who have been driven back to work to balance the bills. She quotes a study published last week by insurer Scottish Widows that claims the rising cost of living has forced more than 4 million mothers back to work, and passes on advice from child development specialist Amanda Gummer who suggests that it’s important to make the right choice for your family’s well-being. “If you’re stressed and fractious because you can’t afford to do the things you want to do then going back to work will be beneficial for the baby or children. If going back to work makes you stressed that’s not going to help them.”

If you’re in the position of needing to earn to stretch the family budget, have a look at www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk for some ideas and inspiration, or sign up for the free e-course to find out your rights to flexible work plus much more. Going back to work does not have to be traumatic, and there are way to avoid having to put your children in childcare 8-6.

It is ideal if you can have a separate workspace. Depending on how noise resistant you are you may need a desk in the corner, a separate room or even a garden office. Make sure you have space for record and filing. I like to have a bookshelf for work books too. Because my children are younger I actually do a lot of work in the centre of the home, and I’m used to punching out quick replies to emails and writing in short bursts. This doesn’t work for every project so I save in depth research for when the kids are out. I do have an office, though, where I can leave papers and ongoing projects out.

Direct selling gives you the chance to run a small business that is set up for you with low start up costs. Antonia Chitty of Family Friendly Working offers some advice on how to make your direct selling business a success:

1.       Talk to your manager about ways to sell your products. This will vary for each company. Think about who will use your products and where you might find them. According to the Direct Selling Association, about 85 per cent of sales are made in people’s homes.

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I think it is important to take a business-like approach to freelancing from the start: you make your life much easier in the long run. Set yourself some realistic working hours. Build in breaks and make it a strict rule to turn off the pc at the end of your work period. It is all too easy to end up burnt out. Obviously there are always exceptional deadlines, but if you can keep work for weekdays and evenings and weekends to relax you will feel better and work more effectively too.

Direct selling gives you the chance to run a small business that is set up for you with low start up costs. Antonia Chitty of Family Friendly Working offers some advice on starting a party plan business that is right for you.

If you want to begin your own direct selling business, you will be able to get started with many companies for somewhere between £25 and £50, especially if you watch out for special offers. You shouldn’t have to invest more than £200 in the first week to get started. Here are some tips to help you choose the right opportunity and start earning. (more…)