Parents in Business Magazine

ISSUE 10 • OCTOBER 2020

IN CONVERSATION WITH

Sunita Harley Coach and Professional Development Consultant

Networking, still key for small businesses

Parents share their top tips for social media marketing How to get your business seen this Christmas 1

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CONTENTS ISSUE 10

•

www.parentsinbiz.co.uk

OCTOBER 2020

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Parents in Business

NETWORKING

magazine is available

Still key for small businesses

6 SPOTLIGHT Donna Anderton of Donna Herts Social

7 BOOK REVIEW The 5am Club

10 IN CONVERSATION Sunita Harley Coach and Professional Development Consultant Cover image photo credit Carly Michael Shoots www.carlymichael.co.uk

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SPECIAL FEATURE Why is social media marketing important

IN CONVERSATION John Hudson CEO of Hudson Procurement Group

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CHRISTMAS How to get your business seen this Christmas

FINDING SUCCESS The success story of Kimberley Mason

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IN CONVERSATION Tommy Balaam Founder of Captain Fantastic

DIRECTORY Parents in Business directory

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Don’t forget to follow us on social media, we love getting to know you!

BRAND How to create a luxury brand experience for Christmas

in digital and print.

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CONTRIBUTORS SHONA CHAMBERS, MARKETING CONSULTANT Shona Chambers is a Marketing Consultant and owner of Shona Chambers Marketing, a Marketing Agency based in Nunhead near Peckham. Specialising in helping Small Business Owners and Freelancers with their Marketing. *Photo credit Portrayed Photography www.spaceat61.com JOANNE DEWBERRY, AUTHOR, SAGE BUSINESS EXPERT Joanne, Author, Sage Business Expert and multi-award-winning, 30 something coffee lover lives in rural Dorset with her long-suffering partner and three children. When she isn’t writing or networking, she is partial to a bag of crisps and a crime drama. www.joannedewberry.co.uk KIMBERLEY MASON DIRECTOR OF INCREDIBLY COOL EVENTS AND THE KIDS FESTIVAL Kimberley Mason mother, wife, and chocoholic. Kim is an event specialist, businessperson, compere, and presenter. Born in North Yorkshire and now living in Staffordshire, she’s passionate about empowering people through events. After the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed the initial launch of The Kids’ Festival, Kimberley is committed to delivering it even bigger and better in 2021. www.incrediblycoolevents.co.uk FIONA MINETT, CONSUMER PR EXPERT Fiona Minett is a Consumer PR Expert and long-time supporter of small business. She spent six years running Peachy PR, an agency specialising in working with small businesses and start-ups and helped her clients make their mark through canny PR. Now, she wants to help you do the same. www.bossyourpr.com JACQUIE LAWES BRANDING EXPERT & DESIGNER AT BAILEY & ROO Jcquie Lawes is a branding expert and designer with over 15 years expertise in product branding, from visual merchandising and creative content production to branding identity and packaging design.

Jacquie works with other creative females entrepreneurs and product based businesses to take you from feeling like a hobbyist to having a successful business doing what you love and attracting the right clients with a luxury brand experience. www.baileyandroo.com BHAVINI LAKHANI , GRAPHIC DESIGNER Bhavini is an independent graphic designer specialising in branding and design for print, and is a mum of 2. She’s based in Milton Keynes, with a client base that spans global brands such as Conti Espresso, Barclaycard and British Gas, as well as local businesses across the UK. www.b81designs.com

Do you like what we do? Why not become a guest contributor.

Let’s collaborate contact bridget@parentsinbiz.co.uk Magazine designed by B81 Designs www.b81designs.com Disclaimer views expressed in the articles are those strictly of the authors. Every effort is made to ensure that all information given is correct but Parents in Biz limited accepts no liability for inaccuracies, errors or omissions that may occur or their consequences. This publication is copyright and may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Copyright includes (and not limited to) the content syndication of the RSS feed of this publication. The content and images used in any of the articles of this publication. The Parents in Business Magazine logo and any of its derivatives.

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EDITOR’S WELCOME Welcome to the Parents in Business magazine Where has the year gone? It's that time of year again, and it's come round quicker than ever. This is the last issue for 2020. And it's packed full of guidance from industry experts and inspirational stories from real-life parent business owners.

Joanne Dewberry explores why networking is still key for small businesses. Consumer PR expert Fiona Minett gives practical, actionable steps on how to get your business seen this Christmas.

This issues special feature focuses on social media and why it's so important parents share with us their top social media tips.

We are shining the small business spotlight on Donna Anderton Donna Herts Social.

We have inspirational interviews with Sunita Harley, a mother of 2 who is a Coach and Professional Development Consultant, Lucky ThingsÂŽ. John Hudson, CEO of Hudson Procurement Group and Tommy Balaam, Founder of Captain Fantastic, who speaks about how his business was affected by COVID and how he has had to change his business model to adjust.

Whether you are thinking of starting a business or own a business, the Parents in Business Magazine offers the best advice to support you on your business journey.

Bridget

Bridget Daley Editor

www.parentsinbiz.co.uk

We are a Work for Good Partner and give a proportion of proceeds to charity.

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Networking, Still Key for Small Businesses With lockdown, many of our small business activities have had to move online, networking being one of them. In the beginning, we all embraced Zoom and social media, it was fun and exciting, but it doesn’t look like many networking groups will be opening anytime soon. It can be easy to think what’s the point? But the benefits of building your small business networking community are vast, from business growth to health and wellness, too. So how can you bridge the networking gap until we can see each other face to face?

6 ways to keep networking in a COVID safe way.

#1

Facebook: Most networking groups will have a private Facebook Group, these are great for helping you keep building relationships and connections outside of the group meetings. We keep Lemur Linkup’s Facebook Groups private which means posts don’t show up on your main Facebook feed, a safe haven to talk about your ideas and worries. Given the current circumstances, this setting is really useful, there are some things you just don’t want to share with your friends, family and potential customer base.

#2

Zoom: My networking group, Lemur Linkup, moved our monthly meetings onto Zoom and will continue to do so for the foreseeable. Zoom has a free basic package for 40 minutes.

Other benefits of Zoom include

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being able to set up a waiting room so no-one can enter if you don’t know them or signed up prior. You can mute attendees so they can’t talk over the speaker and organise break out groups for smaller networking circles. Zoom is a really great way to network and still “see” each other. Plus there is the added bonus you don’t get with social media of being able to read peoples body language and hear their tone of voice.

#3

Twitter Chats: 1. Sometimes referred to as Hashtag Hours, are an excellent way to network with a multitude of people within your genre, local/ regional or the broader small business community. A Twitter chat is basically a fast-paced, interactive conversation between multiple people using the same hashtag # at the same time. For that hour, you are encouraged to follow the hashtag, tweet replies and comments using the

hashtag and network with new and old faces. A great supportive chat if you are new to this is #elevenseshour weekdays 11am-12pm.

#4

Accountability: 1. I’m part of an accountability group we have kept up by meeting on Zoom. For these ladies, I am super grateful (I’d never have completed my second book “Networking A Successful Small Business” without them), making yourself accountable to others really helps you get through your to-do list. When you tell someone else you will do x,y,z the people pleaser in us doesn’t want to turn up without completing the tasks. Start an accountability list with your networking group or even just one person you trust (not a family member), have a check-in time and make sure you go back and shout about what you got done.

#5

Pick Up The Phone: Most of us will use our phones to do a vast majority of our business, but how often do you actually call someone and speak to a real person, this interaction will increase your happy hormones far more than an online one.

#6

Small Groups: Arrange to meet up with 3 or 4 other small business owners.

Grab a coffee or go for a walk.

When you spend time with someone who makes you feel happy, positive and enthused, you want to repeat that transaction

again and again. Why is that?

Because of the positive feelings, you generate by being friendly to one person extend beyond the actual interaction. This is what I get from networking, and this is what I want to share with others.

Joanne Dewberry Joanne, Author, Sage Business Expert www.joannedewberry.co.uk

Ensuring that on a daily basis, we keep utilising, building and developing our connections is paramount for any small business.

For more tips and advice on networking for your small business check out Joanne’s new book “Networking A Successful Small Business” which can be purchased via Amazon: https:// amzn.to/2zlhEtO

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SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT My name is Donna after 22 years in Fashion Retail Management, supporting with training and projects.

I gave up my career to be a stay at home mum to my 3-year-old daughter. Becoming a mum gave me a new purpose, I didn’t want to miss out.

What inspired you to start your business?

Tell us about your niche?

A love for Social Media, Art, Fashion and Photography inspired me to embrace a new career direction.

Fashion/jewellery, Beauty, and lifestyle brands but can apply my knowledge to any business.

In December 2019, I completed the ‘Foundation in Social Media Management’ course with Digital Mums. I’m privileged to be featured as a case study for future courses. I then completed remote learning with ’Tech Pixies’ and ’the Hub for Social Media Managers’ enhancing my skills. I specialise in Instagram and Facebook.

March 2020, I launched DONNA HERTS SOCIAL. Working with a business coach helped guide my journey and vision. Now I’m looking for and working with small/medium-sized businesses owners and entrepreneurs who are passionate about their products, services and continued success online—helping them grow their brand through social media and outsourcing tasks.

My niches are:

I’ve worked with fitness coaches to a spelling app.

My most recent customer is setting up a Pregnancy membership programme.

What I do Work with businesses looking to expand their SM offering, • Need content help and ideas • Rebrand their social account • Who want to engage their following and encourage interactions • Design visual and branded templates • Promote brand awareness, • Manage inboxes or start up new accounts online • For those who want to run their own Instagram account, I offer 1-2-1 zoom training calls in 20 mins chunks • Support businesses to drive their key business objectives of growing and give them time back.

Donna Herts Social

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www.instagram.com/donna.herts.social

Book Review

Have you ever felt like your mornings could go better? Whether you are a parent or not, you may hear others talk about yoga routines, and herbal tea for breakfast or they snuggle down further into bed with a triple shot coffee next to them.

The 5am Club by Robin Sharma has the strapline ‘Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life”, and this really might be the book that finally reaches the parts that other books can’t.

nutshell

The story in a

The 5am Club is very different from other management books.

It follows the story of two people, an entrepreneur, and an artist, both feeling out of control of their lives, and generally unhappy.

They attend a conference and hear life advice from a guru, The Spellbinder. Whilst there they also meet a man they assume to be homeless. The remainder of the story sees them jetting off around the globe with a mysterious billionaire benefactor teaching them the secrets of his success.

Why you should read The 5am Club • You will learn the science behind why early rising is a real benefit to all people • You will learn which areas of your life require priority to ensure success • You will find out why the people who say you shouldn’t multitask are right • You’ll learn how to get up early if this has eluded you previously

• The format delivers an enjoyable change in business book reading After 20 years working in Marketing for both large corporations and as an independent consultant, Shona Chambers shares her experience here in 100 Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners.

Shona Chambers shonachambersmarketing.co.uk

• If you enjoy reading quotes from successful people, this book is stuffed full of them.

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In Conversation with

Sunita Harley Coach and Professional Development Consultant, Lucky ThingsÂŽ Lucky ThingsÂŽ is led

by Sunita, a Coach and CIPD Professional Development Consultant as featured on the BBC, with over 15 years' coaching and workshop delivery experience in the corporate, media and independent business spaces. She also works with a range of people on developing their skills, CVs and LinkedIn profiles.

Sunita is married and has 2 children.

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Tell us about your business journey. How did you get here?

I’ll kick off with where I am now.

I’m a trained Business, Career and Confidence Coach who also delivers workshops for a variety of organisations and individuals.

In 2015, I launched Lucky Things®, an online and events space all about looking after our confidence, career, businesses and wellbeing. I’m proud that Lucky Things® is known for being inclusive, inspiring and informative through my coaching work or the workshops I design and deliver.

Over the last 20 years, I’ve worked in senior HR and professional development roles at Aviva and major law firms Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and Slaughter and May in the City of London.

It’s at these organisations where I discovered my energy for coaching and developing others.

With a background in TV, music and media, I feel comfortable being in front of the camera and delivering these sessions online.

I’m lucky to have studied Anthropology and Human Geography at University College London whilst being raised by a solo parent. After uni, I worked at a magazine (in Shoreditch before it was cool), then at a record label and the last phase of my media career focused on fashion. I learned so much from working with incredible client brands and teams at Nike, The

Body Shop, Italian Vogue, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Body Shop, Sotheby’s and Debenhams to name a few. I then wanted to focus on a corporate career after finishing my MA in HR Management so swiftly moved into my first corporate HR role.

Well, the GCSE career survey at school said I should be a librarian, but I was keen to do other things.

I’ve been brought up in a statusfocused high-achieving culture which didn’t support creative or entrepreneurial careers, so I was determined to prove people wrong. My media career has been invaluable for my corporate achievements and running my own business as networking and being versatile is so important in these unusual times.

How do you spread the word about what you do?

I use different online spaces and tools to spread the word about what I do. Word-of-mouth has been amazing for my business.

My coaching work comes from recommendations from ex-colleagues, managers or personal recommendations from those in the Lucky Things® network. My friends play a key role in sharing my coaching, CV/LinkedIn writing services and also recommend me as a workshop leader for different organisations. Social media has also played a huge role in growing my business. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (and sometimes YouTube!) have enabled me to

reach wider audiences. I’m proud that about 64% of the Lucky Things followers, which I prefer to call my ‘audience’, have met me in real life, attended one of the Lucky Things Meet Ups or masterclasses, or seen me speak at conferences. It reminds me of how authentic and engaged my business ‘following’ is.

What are your biggest pain points that you have been dealing with in your business these days?

With our Covid-19 economic environment, there are so many financial unknowns. So I’ve been focused on the best expertise and skills I offer and what clients really need from me, bearing in mind their own challenges. I’m currently coaching a number of small business owners on their market resilience and business strategies.

A business worry for me is exposure. I’ve implemented my PR strategy this year, but I’m also conscious that there’s more work to be done with representing businesses and leaders from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

How do your values show up in the work you do?

Lucky Things® is all about feeling confident and looking out for your career, business and wellbeing. I strongly believe you can’t have one without the other. In my 20 years working in senior HR teams and being part of executive teams, my main values have been collaboration,

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progress, resilience and creativity.

At a number of firms, I’ve played a key role in their employee engagement values projects, and I love discussing individuals’ values in coaching meetings. My coaching clients love my practical and calm approach when helping them to move forward with their aims. My corporate clients often comment on my flexible approach when designing workshops that keep their teams engaged and interested in their work.

This month, I’m delivering my Professional Confidence is the New Normal online workshop for one of my main corporate clients. I know being flexible, collaborative and creative will be key to this piece of work too.

From your own experience, what would be your biggest piece of advice to parent business owners just starting in business?

It’s absolutely OK to start with small actions as success takes time, so be patient. Work out what you literally need to do first and if you’re not sure, get some friendly support from another business owner or a business coach (you won’t regret investing this time upfront). Secondly, work out how much time you actually have to work on your business.

Thirdly, your wellbeing as a business owner is paramount, so please prioritise this even when you feel ‘too busy’. When I run the Lucky Things masterclasses, I often talk about tools to help

business owners and parents with their confidence levels, imposter thinking and the work-family juggle! Running your business will have its ups and downs, so it’s important to to be kind to yourself and stay focused on what you can achieve when time isn’t always on our side as parents.

How do you manage your time between family and business?

I stay flexible! Most weekends we keep fairly free, so we can decide on the day what we all feel like doing. This means ‘saying no’ or ‘sorry we can’t make it this time’ on a regular basis. I’m actually running a Lucky Things® Masterclass on Saying No this Autumn. Both me and my husband Mr.H carve out time where we do something good for our own physical health like yoga, boxing, and I love my gym dance classes.

Although we worked in the City for years, we’ve now carved out careers where we both work from home, so this helps us manage school life especially as we don’t have any other family support nearby. I’m excited about running the new Lucky Things® Masterclass on Getting Organised as I’ll be sharing lots of tricks that I’ve tested out over my parenting-working life.

What was the last thing you did that made you really proud?

My 7-year old told me “Mummy, you help people to feel confident and feel much better about themselves when you work”. It’s great to hear her view on how my business benefits others.

Oh, and the other day, I spent 10 minutes in the car thinking about my diverse career achievements over the last 20 years. I’m proud that I took time out to reflect on this as we all need confidence boosters as parents in business!

We rarely take time to reflect on our achievements, but maybe that’s why I’ve ended up working as a coach and skills trainer. I sometimes forget the brilliant team highlights like working alongside business experts like Naomi Campbell, Gok Wan, Graham Norton and Alek Wek. I am extremely proud that in 2019 and 2020, I have been working with a wonderful social housing organisation Commonweal, a key mental health organisation supporting City workers and one of the UK’s well-regarded borough councils. Thanks, Parents In Biz for reminding me that I also feel proud of flexing my coaching and workshop expertise between so many different sectors.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I love my ‘spare time’ whether it’s 10 minutes or 2 hours out and about. I enjoy prepping the Lucky Things podcasts and sharing

confidence boosting tips on the @luckythingsblog Instagram/ Facebook corners. As a retired DJ, I love my music, so hold lounge discos for our daughters! I run a Saturday morning kitchen art club for my daughters which is actually a good way for me to switch off.

My friends are very important to me, so catching up with them is invaluable. Meditation has become a new wellbeing hobby for me after completing a wonderful supportive course with my old post-natal yoga teacher Karina Randall during lockdown.

Who or what inspires you?

The people close to me inspire me the most, whether it’s my husband, Mr H (we had to wait 5 years to have children due to the IVF process) or my friends. Both of our lives haven’t been easy, but we stay focused on what’s really important. My Sister-in-law, who battles with a number of

health issues, has just launched her own business. I’m so proud of her determination, and she also inspired me to start going to the gym last year! They probably don’t realise it but all of my coaching and corporate clients over the last 20 years inspire me as they really want to invest in their learning, skills and know-how. In my corporate career in HR, I haven’t grown up with many female or male business leaders or rolemodels of South Asian or Black/ African/Caribbean heritage, so I’m grateful my mentor from Deloitte in 2019 gave up her time to inspire me as I successfully navigated a change in career focus. Everyone I collaborate with through the free or masterclass Lucky Things® events also inspires me. I love hearing about their career and wellbeing journeys.

Lucky Things® is led by Sunita, a Coach and CIPD Professional

Development Consultant as featured on the BBC, with over 15 years’ coaching and workshop delivery experience in the corporate, media and independent business spaces.

She also works with a range of people on developing their skills, CVs and LinkedIn profiles.

In 2020, the free online Lucky Things Meet Up events (for women) are running fortnightly Thursday lunchtimes 1pm-2pm BST time (Thursday 15 October 1-2pm BST, Thursday 29 October 2020 1pm-2pm, Thursday 6 November 2020 1pm-2pm and fortnightly Thursdays thereafter).

You can book a free space here: www.luckythings.store/ collections/events You can contact Sunita at sunita@ luckythings.co.uk or via @ luckythingsblog on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

You can access the Lucky Things events, coaching, CV/LinkedIn writing services and the new Lucky Things podcast via www. luckythings.store/ Photo credits Carly Michael Shoots www.carlymichael.co.uk Kelly Reeves Photography www. kellyreevesphotography.com

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Contact us info@parentsinbiz.co.ukÂ

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Is this YOU? DO YOU WISH YOU FELT MORE SUPPORTED WHILE RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS? DO YOU FEEL ISOLATED WORKING ON YOUR OWN? The Parents in Biz Hub is an online community of parents who are running a business, it’s a supportive place where you will feel empowered and thrive.

When you join as a member, you will benefit from workshops, masterclasses and have access to resources designed by industry experts.

Join here www.parentsinbiz.co.uk/pibhub

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Social Media Marketing Why Is It Important?

Social media marketing is one of those things which is pretty important to get right. You need to make sure that you have a proper social media marketing system in place. But why is this the case? Let’s talk a little bit about why it is important.

Communication

Inexpensive Promotion

One of the big reasons why social media marketing is such a useful tool is because it helps with communication. Being able to effectively communicate with customers, there is definitely something that you need to have a good handle on.

Another good reason why social media marketing is a sensible option for you is because it offers inexpensive promotion.

Because most social media channels are free to sign up to, you won’t be paying a lot of money to market your content or brand on special media.

With social media marketing, it becomes much easier to communicate with customers when you have access to a network of channels that you can communicate from.

There are quite a few reasons why someone should consider social media marketing. It’s definitely one of the more helpful methods of promoting content out there because it gives you access to a potential audience base you would not have had previously.

Social media transcends regional gaps, which is good for anyone trying to expand globally.

To help you work out exactly how to use social media marketing in the best way, we have asked nine parent business owners who have shared their tips and tricks for using social media.

You would definitely be wise to listen to what they have to say, as they can help you to figure out exactly what strategies you can employ to get the most from social media marketing. Let’s see what they have to say!

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SPECIAL FEATURE Martha Silcott, CEO Fab Little Bag, www.fablittlebag.com

Tip Do more videos, even if it doesn’t come naturally - they always get more engagement!

Guy Woodcock, Marketing Freelancer at GW, www.gwthemarketingguy.co.uk

Tip 1 Find your local town's Twitter hour. For example, I live in Rochdale and use @oldham_hour and @tameside_hour to promote my business. It is one hour a week, and I have been doing it two weeks and nearly doubled my Twitter followers.

Tip 2 Canva.com - This is a design piece of software with a free package or a premium package for £10.99 a month. It has social media dimensions and templates programmed in and allows you to make high-quality social content, including videos and gif, really quickly and without a lot of design experience.

Sophia Procter, CEO, Munchy Play, www.munchyplay.com

Tip Consider social media as an extension of your brand and business. This means bringing your brand palette of colours into posts, using friendly and welcoming language and most important of all - interacting with your followers.

Also, use it to share your brand success stories, for instance, Joe Wicks recently posted a picture of his children using our plates, which we were very excited to share with our followers on.

There’s a balance between sharing useful content and giving followers reasons to shop with you.

Jack Sutcliffe, Co-founder and CEO of Power Sheds, www.powersheds.com

Tip Social media accounts are a great place to build up B2B relationships. I would often follow potential B2B customers on Instagram, ‘like’ their posts, comment on them (ensuring the comment adds value to the conversation where possible)… and then at some stage in the future I suddenly receive a message saying ‘we want to sell your sheds’. Use the platform as a free and easy way to connect with both existing and new B2B customers and not just the end consumer.

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Social Media Marketing Why Is It Important?

Lisa-Marie Mallier, No Fluff Communications, www.nofluffcommunications.co.uk

Tip Remember to be social - the clue is in the name! Do not broadcast, focus on building relationships. Learn about your audience - understand what they want and what you can offer them. Think about their problems/needs, how you can fix them and provide decision support and credentials to demonstrate why you're right for them.

Sanjay Aggarwal, Spice Kitchen UK, www.spicekitchenuk.com

Tip Customers love to see authenticity from small businesses and freelancers, it’s what sets us apart from the larger corporates. This means we are free to share a little bit about who we are as people when it is appropriate. As a parent of a toddler and owner of a spice business, I was keen to introduce my daughter Zara to a wide range of spices at an early age. So, I developed a specific Baby Spice Tin which has spices and blends suitable for the younger palette. On social media, I’ve shared images of me cooking with Zara, and these posts have been very popular with our audience. So my tip would be to parents who are business owners, don’t be afraid to share, even if it is to share the challenges of parenting and running a business. We are all human, and customers enjoy connecting with that via social media.

Nicky Chisholm and Sara Guiel, The Mumpreneurs Networking Club, www.mumpreneursnetworkingclub.co.uk

Tip 1 Plan your diary for the next 3 months and then plan your social media content around the activities of you and your business, this will ensure you can spread the word about your events as you lead up into them and peak peoples curiosity.

Tip 2 Use a mix of messaging to keep interest up, use questions, quotes, images, lives, mini-movies and photos.

Tip 3 Be consistent – set an alarm in your phone to remind you to post of schedule posts if you are out and about.

SPECIAL FEATURE Charlotte Nichols, Harvey & Hugo, www.harveyandhugo.com

Tip Content is king, but engagement is queen, and everyone knows the lady runs the house! Essentially, don’t forget to engage with your target audience through liking, sharing and commenting on their posts.

Jill Hudson, Santa Academy, www.thesantaacademy.com

Tip Be authentic – When using social media to promote your brand, it's vital that you remain authentic. Social media can be a crowded place, and your messaging can be lost. Having a focussed message that your audience can relate to will help you to create high-quality content. Not only that, demonstrating authenticity is more likely to make your brand resonate with your audience, helping you to connect with them on a more personal level than just brand to consumer.

Be consistent – No matter which platform you are using, it is important to remain consistent with your content and the frequency of posting. Some platforms such as Instagram and Twitter favour accounts who post multiple times per day. Other platforms, such as Facebook don’t require as much urgency. When setting up your social media strategy, consider how the platform algorithms work. You also need to consider whether the content is presented chronologically in the user’s newsfeed or if other factors come into play. For example, you don’t want to spend time creating a series of posts that only makes sense in a chronological format, only to let Instagram decide which order your audience will view them in their newsfeed.

Lastly, think about your audience and the platform itself. When considering this, it’s not simply a case of understanding your demographic, but asking yourself what your audience is using the social media platform for. We all use different social channels for different reasons. For example, when using Instagram, the user is probably in a relaxed environment, actively seeking to digest content. They’re viewing using the platform by holding their device portrait, and they don’t want to have to negotiate tilting their device to view your content. This is crucial to consider when developing your Instagram video content strategy in particular, especially when using stories or IGTV. When your audience is using Twitter, it is likely that they are looking for information. This could be news updates or tracking the current trends. Here, your audience wants to see short bursts of information that tells them exactly what they need to know without searching for it.

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How To Get Your Business Seen This Christmas Christmas is almost upon us. Some of us will feel that it can’t come quickly enough after such a tumultuous year, and others will be wondering how they can make the most of the final quarter of 2020.

If your business relies on having a great trading period around Christmas or if you’re wondering how you can get your business seen in order to make the best of difficult year, listen up. The world has changed, but there is still so much opportunity for you and your business to thrive. Many small businesses and indie retailers rely on fairs, markets, pop ups and shopping events in the run up to Christmas. With all of this in doubt, what are the options for achieving this kind of customer connection and sales traction?

Virtual Pop Ups: With retail looking very different and mass gatherings off the table, we are just not going to see the thriving pop up and market scene that we’re used to as we head towards Christmas, so what’s the answer? Networks, such as Mama Tribe, and new businesses, like The Wonderlist, are stepping into the breach to fill this in-person void by offering virtual pop ups and shopping events.

Social Media Positioning: Your social media is infinitely more valuable now that it has

ever has been. We are all relying on the connections that we have cultivated on social media; so let’s leverage that. How can you actively give more through your social media and to your followers in the run up to Christmas?

Perhaps this might look like retail centric special offers, new launches, purchase incentives.

Perhaps you want to go a little bit further and think about the value and energy that you’re able to give to your audience to draw them into your online space, to allow them to get to know you, to allow them to connect to your vibe

and allow you to then ultimately convert those followers to fans.

Who can you collaborate with?

Collaborations are a brilliant way of growing your audience.

Collaborating with a like minded expert, brand, entrepreneur will allow you access to their warm audience. Collaborations can vary hugely; it may be a series of IGTV interviews, live sessions or social media takeovers. It might be a joint competition or purchase incentive. It may be a product or collection collaboration; or perhaps an ‘influencer’s edit’ from a current collection. How could collaboration be integrated into your social media strategy?

Print and Online Media: In the media world, PR for Christmas starts in June/July, when brands and PR agencies showcase their Christmas offer to the media. Not all of the media will start their Christmas gift guide content (or general Christmas content) at this point, but it is a marker that sets the tone.

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The remit of print and online media typically breaks down into three sections; Long lead, short lead and immediate. Long lead print media, which is monthly magazines, which includes titles like Tatler, House Beautiful, GQ and Woman & Home, will work on content anywhere between three and six months in advance of publication. Short lead print media, which covers weekly magazines and newspaper supplements such as Stylist, Grazia, Stella and Woman’s Weekly. Then you have the more immediate media which can include digital platforms, bloggers, influencers and such.

So, there is still plenty of scope for you to share your product, your service and your story with the media from now until Christmas.

Pin down some target media.

Who is the customer you want to reach and how are you going to reach them? Knowing this cuts down on the amount of outreach you end up doing.

What is your Christmas offering?

What products are you going to pitch for gift guides?

What service do you offer that has a festive angle?

Could your expertise be relevant to Christmas? Maybe you’re a stylist and you can talk about theChristmas day outfits. Perhaps as an interior designer/stylist you can talk on Christmas table layout

inspiration, the ideal Christmas decor or how to festive up your house on a budget. Maybe you can provide expert comment on mindfulness and wellness through the Christmas period and how to deal with any anxieties that arise through Christmas; particularity with the current climate.

Do you have a Christmas themed real life story? If you have a human interest story or an inspiring business story that relates to Christmas, then there will be opportunities for you to share this story.

Do you have the right imagery?

You will need high resolution images or you will not get through the media door. There is no way for print media to include you or your products if there is no high resolution visual content to accompany your pitch.

Search on the hashtag #journorequest on Twitter and on LinkedIn to keep an eye out for opportunities to share your expertise, your service or your product.

Maintain Your Visibility: Maintain your visibility on all fronts over the next couple of months.

It can be difficult, especially when it feels that the online space is getting so ‘noisy’ with so much information flying from all directions. It can be easy to drop

back to avoid taking up space or to steer clear of bombarding your audience with content, but don’t drop back. Remember, your audience are following with you in order to see your content. Keep putting it out there. Keep showing up for your business. When you get busier coming up to Christmas the tendency can also be to drop off social media and to focus on serving the customers you’ve got, packing your orders and all of those things that leave you working in your business and not on it. It goes without saying, that all needs doing; however, do not lose visibility, keep telling your story, keep telling the story of the product, the story of your offer.

Tell your story, in order to sell.

The know, like and trust factor is critical in any key sales period, including Christmas. Allow people to get to know you. They will build up trust. They will build up loyalty. Then, they will purchase from you. Make sure you nurture your audience through this cycle.

So stay focused and stay visible.

Fiona Minett Consumer PR Expert www.bossyourpr.com

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In Conversation with

Tommy Balaam Founder of Captain Fantastic

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How did you get started in business?

I trained as an actor I went to East 15 acting school. When I came out of drama school, I did a lot of theatre and education, a lot of pantomimes, that sort of stuff I did two adverts I was in Doctor’s, and I did a profit share theatre show.

I think I made about six grand in one year and was like, I need to make some money.

My friend was doing kids parties for another company I just thought, I can do this. I’d done lots of kids entertaining. I really enjoyed a children’s audience.

I thought I’ll go it alone, and Captain Fantastic was born. That was ten years ago now March this year was our tenth anniversary.

We were like, this is going to be our year and then locked down happened

Tell us about your business?

With hard work and luck, we were voted UK’s number one by a Freeindex. We won best children’s entertainer by Junior What’s On for Kids. We do kids’ parties for Nickelodeon, Pokemon, JP Morgan, Citibank, all these big brands. We just want to spread fun, joy, and happiness, that’s all we’re about. We want to make special memories for families around the UK. We do around 50 kids parties a week we’ve got 11 franchises that go from Gloucestershire to all of Kent, up to Cambridge, down

to Brighton. We’ve got about 40 entertainers that work for us just in London that’s on our books.

I didn’t realise you were a franchise?

The reason why I franchised it was that we set someone up in Brighton, they went and got an acting job, and then all of a sudden I had to go rush to Brighton. I live in West London, and It’s like, I’m covering Brighton’s area now. When someone owns the area, they are responsible and committed to it, and they manage it. So franchising works a lot better for us.

How do your values show up in the work you do?

Very simply. We’re there, and we are spreading those smiles. Mums don’t want to organise a party because it’s stressful. The thought of 30 kids running around If they do it in their house, smashing up their home, chucking the TV. It’s like having old school rock stars in a hotel that’s what a kids’ party is haha. So yeah the value is quite instant, you know straight away that the kids are happy, it’s fun.

You’re bringing that atmosphere of joy. That’s the value for me.

And then there are other values.

For our franchises, we’re giving them the security of financial security and they can stay in acting. They can carry on their career, they can turn up to their auditions, but don’t have that desperation when you need

the money because they’ve got the security of running Captain Fantastic in their area. Different parts of the business have different values.

What are some challenges you faced early on, and how did you overcome them?

I think early on, I was trying to be a one-man does everything, and I can do it all myself, I have to write all the shows, I have to come up with all the ideas, and then still I’ve got to do the admin, got to sort the accounts to give to the accountant. I think the biggest challenge was I wanted to grow, but I didn’t know how to build a team. I didn’t know how to get the right people involved.

Before lockdown was introduced, we started asking our entertainers, What skills have you got? What can you do for us? We started doing social media lives.

We started asking other people to start creating content. We’d never really done that before. The key is building a team.

I’m not very good at admin, but when I started the business, I was doing all the admin. I’m much better at going out, selling, marketing, doing free events, or just doing the performances.

Because every performance I do generates work, it was much better for me to get someone in to do the admin straight away. That was one of the big challenges then also it’s finding the people that you want to work with, make

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sure you have a stringent audition process because you don’t want to have people that go out and deliver your parties and they’re not good enough. That’s your brand messed up they have to be the best people.

With your business being part of the entertainment industry, what has been the impact of COVID? We were doing 200 parties a month that’s was normal for our head office which covers London and surrounding counties.

Lockdown hit, and that went down to zero we literally had no money, nothing coming in. My business partner runs a dance company that’s worldwide. We saw lockdown coming just a bit before everyone else. We decided to do a party but do it virtually. We did it on Zoom we tried it on Skype, but Zoom worked the best for us. We got on Zoom, and we partied out.

We literally just gave a few free parties on the Zoom. This was the week before lockdown during that week we thought about how we could promote our parties going online the first one we did was a toddler group live on our Facebook channel. We had over 10,000 people tune in and watch it live.

That kind of helped us launch okay, now we need a PR stunt because we’ve got all this traction. A few, like Sky, BBC, rang us up. We did a 24-hour live kids party on a Saturday. Our entertainers went live and did

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1-hour slots. We did it just for 24 hours live on our Facebook page.

Because of that, we got to go on Sky News. We were interviewed by the Telegraph and loads of papers picked up our story too.

Lockdown was then announced we just got everything in place.

We had a nice promo video. At first, It wasn’t nice it was rushed it’s a bit nicer now. Because we got in the news, we had a 3.5 million reach on our social media.

It helped with our SEO, if you search for us on Google now, we’re a lot higher up in other places that we weren’t before, just because we’ve had those really nice articles written on us.

The first month of doing virtual parties, we did over 400 in one month. We doubled what we usually do. It just continued to increase. It went up and up we have done 1500 online parties.

That saved our business now the weather is nice, and lockdown is kind of in limbo, we’re doing a lot of social distancing ones and the online one’s kind of died off now.

Our followers went from 5,000 to 65,000 on Facebook alone. We got nearly 10,000 on Instagram.

In lockdown, we sold four franchises, not sold, but they put a deposit down until they can work properly.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

I think it’s really tough being self-employed to be motivated.

That’s why you have to set yourself goals and set yourself new challenges. We always sit down and have meetings and have business goals. It’s that accountability. Now I’ve got a team, it’s different because we have our meetings and make sure our conversion rate is a specific rate, and if it’s not, what can we do about it. When you’re a one-man-band, it’s literally just setting goals, what do you want to achieve this year, and make sure you’re following them. When you build a team, it’s making sure the team are doing what you want.

"You have to set yourself goals and set yourself new challenges."

How do you manage your time between family and business?

I’m the main carer my other half is a nurse she’s at the hospital a lot, especially with COVID going on.

I’ve had the kids a lot more, I usually have them every Monday anyway, but I’ve had them Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Thursday, Friday, all week basically. But I still want to do all these things, so I’m literally just looking after the kids in the day and work in the evening.

When I’m with my kids, I’ll try not to be on my phone, and trying not to let work in the way. I just blitz it all in the evenings. The key is when I’m with my kids, they have all my time. Then the weekend is just relaxed.

What does a typical day look like for you?

It depends. Now, it’s like I’ve slowed down a bit we’ve got things in place. When COVID hit, and lockdown hit, it was just manic nonstop, every day. I’d have the kids. I’d have phone calls. In the evening, I’d make sure everything was sorted out.

A typical day is I get up at half six, make sure the kids are all right, it also depends on the day of the week because Abby’s mum has the kids now as well. Thursday, Friday, I’ll have the kids, and she comes at ten and has kids. Then I’ll head to the office, do a bit of work. It’s literally whatever project or whatever campaign we’ve got

going on at that minute is what we’re working on. We’re doing some work at the moment for Petey Playhouse, they are a drive-thru theatre. I live in the moment, to be honest. I write children’s books. I just like creative stuff.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I sing a lot, and I also write kids albums and play the guitar. I play tennis and other sports. But my main hobby is singing, and I sing in a band. We were doing quite well and getting some nice gigs, and now that’s all stopped as well.

Who or what inspires you?

Friends, and family inspire I read a lot of business books they’re quite inspirational, but I still think I like the people that are close by me. My family, and people that are just there for me they’re not all about making loads of money or being ambitious. They just love their family, and they give you their time. Aunties, uncles, have all been really good to me.

I’m fortunate that my family have always given me time I want to give that back to my kids.

Tommy Balaam Founder of Captain Fantastic www.captain-fantastic.co.uk

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How to create a luxury brand experience for Christmas It’s that time of year again, and it’s come round quicker than ever! As business owners (particularly those who are product based!) now is the time to start making those plans for Christmas!

This year with the global pandemic and many people being furloughed from their jobs, there has been a huge increase in the number of new businesses starting up. So this means more competition and a lot more noise online with business owners trying to get more visible.

So how can you stand out from your competitors? How can you increase your visibility online to make more sales? How can you increase your prices without running the risk of losing clients because of it?

Now is the time to really think about your brand experience!

If there has ever been a perfect time to look at your branding, it’s now. I’ve been working with so many business owners over the last few months who are ready to take their business to the next level with a beautiful brand that not only perfectly reflects what they’re all about but also attracts their ideal clients.

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What would your current clients say about their experience of working with you?

Are they blown away by the care and attention to detail with your packaging, your client welcome packs, your service, photography, messaging, even the order or booking process?

Is the experience of ordering from you or working with you memorable? If not, think about how you could make it a luxury brand experience! Because a WOW experience is what people remember. It’s what they say about you to others. It’s also often the difference between them not bothering to leave a review at all, or leaving you an amazing one!

So what can you do to create a luxury brand experience for Christmas?

Firstly, take a step back from your business. Look at the bigger picture. The first thing you need to establish is who you are trying to attract. Who is your ideal client?

Once you know this, review your brand identity (your essential brand elements - colour palette, logo design, fonts, graphics etc. If you have a logo but not an actual brand identity, this is an essential thing to have in place for your business).

Does it speak to your ideal client? If not, the first thing you need to do is to create a brand identity that does resonate with your ideal clients.

In order to attract your ideal clients, you need to have that full brand experience that they will be drawn to. Your design, colours, photography, social media content and messaging needs to have a consistent look and feel to help your audience get to like, know and trust what it is that you do.

If you’re service based and you don’t already send out a welcome gift or thank you pack to your clients, this is something to consider. Creating a beautifully wrapped little bundle of goodies for your clients is often completely unexpected and will definitely make them feel so happy they’ve booked with you!

Photography is also key. If you’re service-based and YOU are your business, you need to make sure YOU are featured throughout your website and social media because your clients need to connect with you and know what you’re all about.

Even sending out a small gift to this year’s clients as a Christmas gift can really help to boost your visibility and engagement with your clients highly likely to share photos of their gift on social media and credit you!

For product based business, you know photography is key.

Without those beautiful images online, it’s going to make selling your products so much harder.

If you walked past a shop with a messy window display and poor branding you’re probably only going to go in there if you’re looking for a bargain!

But what about after your clients have made their purchase or booked your service? What experience do you want to create for your customers?

Your branding doesn’t just stop at your logo. Every touchpoint in your customer’s journey needs to reflect your brand style and personality.

Packaging is key for product based business. There are so many options for packaging design, and many of which are green too, which is an added bonus!

Branded stationery and packaging is available in a variety of materials from greaseproof paper, tissue paper and boxes to ribbons, labels and stickers.

Having beautiful packaging and branded stationery really does make all the difference, especially at Christmas!

A handwritten thank you note on a branded notecard can really create that luxury experience for your customers. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune either! There are so many materials and print finishes to choose from there’s something to suit all styles and budgets.

When creating graphics on social media or for your website, make sure these are in your brand colours and fonts to create a consistent look and feel.

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You want your audience to see an image or product and recognise it’s yours just from the look and style of the image, without you even having to put your logo on there.

Consistency is key to create a luxury brand experience.

So to summarise, how can you create a luxury brand experience for Christmas?

Step 1 - Know and understand who it is you are targeting. Who is your ideal client? Create an ideal client profile or avatar so you can visualise this person.

Step 2 - Check your brand identity fits with your ideal client profile. If not, make sure you prioritise this by having a brand identity design that’s perfect for your business is essential to give you the stepping stones you need to create your brand (either creating this yourself or working with a designer)

Step 3 - Review your packaging and stationery designs. Make sure these fit with your brand identity and create that ‘WOW’ factor for your clients, encouraging them to want to leave a review and shout about you and your services!

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Step 4 - Review your photography - does it fit with your brand style? If not, make sure you either find a brand photographer or product photographer to do this for you, or you can take some yourself if you are a confident photographer. Investing in a brand photographer is so worthwhile to give you a gallery of images that you can use with confidence. Just make sure the photographer you book has a style that fits with your branding!

Step 5 - Consistency is key! Your social media feed, website, blog etc. are your online shop window.

Make sure from the second they first see you you’re creating a consistent luxury experience through every touchpoint of your customer's journey with you.

Jacquie Lawes Branding Expert & Designer baileyandroo.com

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In Conversation with

John Hudson CEO of Hudson Procurement Group John Hudson is responsible for our business planning and development. Hudson procurement operate ten sector-specific tender tracking portals, along with a dedicated Bid Writing service.

Initially starting in the Creative and Digital sector, they have now moved into Professional services and the Technology sector, locating public and private business opportunities and making them available in one central place. He has a team of lead generators who work seamlessly to constantly populate our portals with unique contract opportunities that won’t be found anywhere else in the public domain. John is married to Jill, and they have 1 child.

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How did you get started in business?

15 years ago, during my second year at university, I decided to set up a media production company to help fund my tuition fees. A few years after completing my Masters, I met my now wife, Jill. Over the past decade, we have run multiple business ventures together.

Tell us about your business?

We operate 11 sector-specific tender tracking portals, along with a dedicated Bid Writing service. Initially starting in the Creative and Digital sector, we have now moved into professional services and the Technology sector, locating public and private business opportunities and making them available in one central system. We have a team of lead generators who work seamlessly to constantly populate our portals with unique contract opportunities that won’t be found anywhere else in the public domain.

Our dedicated account management team differentiates us from anyone else in the industry.

Our approach includes personally assisting clients in their search for new business. We do this by really getting to know our clients, fully understanding their needs and objectives in order to locate the best possible opportunities.

Our success has snowballed, and we have launched further portals for Healthcare, Research, Consultancy, Facilities, Finance, HR, Hospitality, Construction and Logistics industries.

In 2018, we launched Tender VLE, the UK’s first Virtual Learning Environment, dedicated to all things tender-related. Our creative thinking and innovative ideas continue to push us forward as a constantly evolving business.

What are your biggest pain points that you have been dealing with in your business these days?

Obviously, like most businesses, Covid-19 has had a substantial impact on the company. We had literally just opened our Boston office in February of this year to help support our international client base in America. We currently operate and support businesses in 14 countries who are looking to navigate, source and secure UK based contracts.

The majority of our 700+ client base, however, is based in the UK, and we have had to recruit additional staff to cope with the demand on our bid writing team.

How do your values show up in the work you do?

By leading by example - Myself and Jill have carried out every role within the company at some point. From manually searching for and uploading tenders to calling businesses who are potentially looking to put out work to tender, we believe that it is important to understand every function in the business.

We also believe in supporting businesses of all sizes. Our goal is to make the procurement landscape as fair and transparent as possible. To do this, we put an all-year-round 50% discount on all our tendering portals for companies with 2 or fewer employees. We did this to help smaller businesses grow by ensuring our systems are affordable.

Additionally to this, our bid writing division, Hudson Succeed, offers five services to ensure that we can support any business. Beyond simply writing and submitting a bid, we offer bespoke packages to help businesses who are new to tendering, those who need to improve their success rates and organisations who simply don’t have the resources to tender consistently.

As well as our client-facing values, I also believe in projecting our values internally. Not so long ago, we implemented our Hudson Culture Code. We did this to create an environment that would increase productivity but also aid

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the wellbeing of our team. Before Covid-19 and the restrictions we adhere to now, we were big believers in team gatherings. We would greet each new starter with a “welcome takeaway”, and we still celebrate birthdays with a professionally-made cake, creatively personalised to represent them. We also believe in providing our team with opportunities not just for company development but for their own personal development too.

Pre-Covid, we encouraged our team to go out to events and seminars both across the UK and internationally.

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How do you manage your time between family and business?

What was the last thing you did that made you really proud?

This is something I don’t do very well in all honesty. This is very difficult due to the fact I own businesses with my wife. I would say in the past few years we have managed to pull together a great management team which means that when I do go on holiday, I am confident that the business continues to run smoothly in my absence.

I think the way myself and Jill have handled the recent Covid-19 situation is something I am proud of. We have added five new members to the team and have grown as a business. We also supported almost 100 new clients with their bid writing efforts during the lockdown period.

However, I’m more proud of my team, especially some of the junior members. For many of them, their roles at Hudson are their first jobs since graduating, and the way they have pulled together to continue securing

work for clients and operating under very difficult circumstances is something I will always be grateful for.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I do love my football, and I am a keen runner. It is important in business to try and stay as fit and healthy as possible in order to run your business effectively. When I hear people say they “don’t have time” etc, unfortunately, I believe you have to sacrifice something else in your day that is not as important and exercise.

Personally, I go out around 6am most mornings for a run. I feel this

sets me up for the day and helps “clear my head” to make sure I am in the right frame of mind to make multiple decisions during the day and problem solve effectively.

Who or what inspires you?

Its cliché to say, but my wife and my son. My wife, Jill, has always been a great sounding board and is a true innovator in general.

John Hudson CEO of Hudson Procurement Group www.tenderconsultants.co.uk

We believe in supporting businesses of all sizes.

Our goal is to make the procurement landscape as fair and transparent as possible.

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THE SUCCESS STORY Kimberley Mason Hi, I’m Kim, Director of Incredibly Cool Events (ICE). I live in Staffordshire with my husband and two sons.

I didn't plan to become selfemployed, however, when I look back, it isn’t that much of a surprise. My first entrepreneurial endeavour was at the age of eight. I used my pocket money to buy bottles of pop, then charged my family for drinks from my ‘bedroom café’. Over time, my range grew to include biscuits and - when I hit the big time - cake.

That was just one of several early ventures into the world of

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self-employment. In my teens, I started dog walking; not the wisest choice for somebody scared of dogs. Realising it wasn’t going to be a success, I moved on to car washing with my friend.

This worked out better. We got lots of regular customers and used the profits to invest in better equipment. So, whilst I'd dabbled in business to top up my pocket money, things really came to fruition much later through doing what I loved.

Growing up, I loved dancing and won several national titles. I spent a lot of my childhood taking part in shows and competitions. At the age of 18, I passed my teaching qualifications then set up weekly dance sessions for local children in the church hall. I really loved helping them learn something new and seeing the joy on their faces when a routine came together. It was great to be part of a community.

My love of dance grew into a community interest company, Maddison’s. My project worked in some of the most deprived areas of the West Midlands and provided exciting opportunities to young people from disadvantaged communities. They performed at the Birmingham Hippodrome, and alongside The Wanted at the Canon Hill Park Olympic Torch party. Five young people from the project ran alongside me with the Olympic torch after I was nominated in recognition of the work I'd done in the community.

Maddison's really took off. We'd trained 20 coaches, and at one point we were running over 100 sessions each week in numerous schools and community venues.

The project also delivered end of term shows and festivals, which is how I discovered my real passion and expertise was in events.

Always one to take a chance, in 2015, I decided to launch ICE. ICE delivers affordable dance and cheer events throughout the UK. The aim is to get people involved regardless of background or ability. I wanted to take some of the expense away and make sure the experience was accessible to everyone. It gives those with a passion for dance and cheer their opportunity to shine.

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Setting up wasn’t without its challenges. A month after launching, I discovered I was pregnant with my first son George. I ended up delivering the last event of our first season 11 days before my planned caesarean. Looking back, I don’t know how I did it. I think passion and determination got me through.

Over the last four years, ICE has gone from strength to strength.

Up until the pandemic, we were delivering up to 16 competitions each year nationwide. Before lockdown, I was also on the cusp of launching another arm of the business called The Kids' Festival.

The events organised for April and June were put on hold for obvious reasons. I've been using this extra time to plan how to make the festival even better than I first anticipated. I also have a few other things in the pipeline.

This is the thing about being an entrepreneur; I'm always thinking of new ideas, how I can help people, and what gaps I can fill.

Looking back, I think like a lot of first-time mums I had no real idea what to expect. The mum I had planned to be (in my head) was in for a bit of a shock. For example, I wish I hadn’t convinced myself that babies sleep through the night at eight weeks (no idea where that idea came from), or that working with a baby by your side is easy (it's not). Nonetheless, I continued running ICE whilst George was a baby. With my second son, I had a bigger team

in place and found it easier to let go of the reins a little, so I took some proper maternity leave.

If anybody else is setting up in business, my recommendations would be to do something you love and take advice. The business might be your baby but accept you can’t be an expert in everything. When I was younger, I thought I had to do it all. To be honest, that didn’t feel great. I wasn’t good at some things, and frankly, there were some bits I really disliked. I soon realised I don’t need to be skilled in accounts, law, marketing, or a host of other things. There are other people out there who are accomplished at those things and can help me.

Kimberley Mason Director of Incredibly Cool Events (ICE) www.incrediblycoolevents.co.uk

PARENTS IN BUSINESS DIRECTORY

You can find these businesses and more on our online directory

Leanne Parry Werk Lifestyle Management

Shannon Reed Mockingbird Makes

Michelle Molyneux MJM Virtual Solutions

Werk Lifestyle Management offers a new, modern approach to personal and business support, supplying you with transparent and uncomplicated assistance when you need it most. A service for businesses, entrepreneurs or anyone who finds themselves needing business support, has a need to offload tasks, or bring structure to their home life.

Shannon of Mockingbird Makes, and I mindfully Make beautiful bespoke hand knitted crocheted or embroidered handicrafts, co-creating alongside my clients (partners, really). Mockingbird Makes have been called "sunshine in product form" that have a 'huge feel-good factor.'

Your everyday virtual admin solution providing personal assistant support to conquer general admin tasks, so consultants and small business can focus on growing their business.

What you'll find

Handmade keyrings

Business support Lifestyle admin Social media Event management www.work-werk.com

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What you'll find Handmade cardigans Handmade hats Handmade sunshine products and more www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ MockingbirdMakesCo

Services offered General administration Research Proofreading and editing Virtual personal assistant www.mjmvirtualsolutions.com

Louise Worsley Worsley Training

Nadene Martin Format Services Limited

Bhavini Lakhani B81 Designs

Worsley Training is run by Louise Worsley, a professional teacher with an instinctive ability to make learning First Aid memorable and enjoyable. She has over fifteen years of hands-on First Aid experience, both as a global expedition leader and as a parent.

Format Services is a Virtual Assistant Company taking care of all of your administration needs.

Offer various services which can support you to grow your business, and you can view them further in the Services section.

There are many benefits of outsourcing your administration, and this is something that we can discuss further as every business is unique.

Bhavini, is a Milton Keynes-based graphic designer with a shed-load of passion and the experience to match. She loves working with clients of all shapes and sizes, from the likes of Barclaycard and British Gas to business-to-business start-ups.

Some of the courses offered Baby and Child First Aid Paediatric First Aid Mini Life-Savers (first aid for primary school children) Teen-Aiders (First aid for teenagers & secondary school children) Basic Life Support with Defibrillator First Aid Training So many other courses are on offer so be sure to check out the website. Notebooks and planners

Services offered Email Management Transcription Project management

Services offered Branding Marketing material design Business stationary design Advertising design www.b81designs.com

Venue Bookings And so much more be sure to check out Nadene's website www.formatservices.co.uk

www.worsleytraining.co.uk

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