Mums into Business

MUMS INTO BUSINESS Project report December 2021 Mums into Business are a phenomenal group of women! The group started in 2018 with the goal of supporting mothers, facing multiple barriers to set up and run their own successful,

sustainable

businesses.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic which wreaked havoc and disruption across the globe, Mums into Business have survived and thrived.

Meeting regularly throughout lockdown, continuing to support and inspire each other, growing, developing and innovating.

What we are all about...

Mums into Business is all about providing highly creative and tailored business support to a group of women facing multiple barriers who want to set up their own businesses. At the heart of this is helping the women to increase their confidence and self-esteem alongside their knowledge, abilities and skills.

We work with women to identify the specific barriers they face and collectively come up with creative and practical ways to overcome them. We work with these same women to identify the knowledge, skills and expertise they need to take their businesses to the next level; then we deliver sessions to upskill the women in these specific and identified areas.

A bit of background...

Prior to lockdown, in March 2020 Mums into Busines had 12 active members and an average of 5 children attending our free creche on a weekly basis When lockdown hit we switched from in-person to zoom sessions and held them once a fortnight, as the challenges of homeschooling and other covid related stresses made this much more manageable for the Mums.

Despite our best efforts, our numbers dropped, down to a core of 4 members but while the number of mums dropped, with all our kids at home, the demand for child care/child-friendly activities grew.

DTAS Pockets & Prospects Mums into Business were delighted to receive £20,000 from the DTAS Pockets and Prospects fund, in February 2021, to support the group over two years.

This could not have come at a better time. With the various covid related restrictions in place, the needs of the group were changing both in terms of childcare and the ability to trade.

Some mums were able to adapt their businesses and use online platforms to sell but those with service-based businesses were hardest hit, most were home-based, without salons and were unable to trade from home.

DTAS Year 1 For our first year of funding we had 3 clear objectives : To work in partnership with Edinburgh Play and Wellbeing to develop an online crèche including creative play sessions and activity packs for the kids, which would run alongside the Mums into Business meetings.

To improve, enhance and develop our online presence across various social media platforms and to create Mums into Business Online markets. The aim is to increase our membership and provide more trading opportunities for our members.

To support Yvonne Bostock who has offered to provide one to one coaching sessions for Mums into Business members on top of the work she already does with the group.

The Funding We divided the funds as follows: £3000 to Edinburgh Play and Wellbeing to develop and deliver our innovative online play space £3000 to the legendary Yvonne Bostock - business consultant, mentor, life coach and trainer who has worked with the group delivering

business

sessions,

advice

and

coaching

since

our

beginning in 2018. The £3000 was specifically for her to deliver her incredible 'Business in Bites' sessions and a series of one to one support sessions for MIB members £4000 to Sindy Santos, a former group member who is now our freelance group facilitator and manages Mums into Business social media

Online Playspace Working in partnership with Edinburgh Play and Wellbeing we developed our innovative online play-space - a virtual creche where kids could be entertained while the mums focused on their online business sessions.

This playspace was a big hit - particularly with the school-aged children who were entertained with live music, storytelling and simple arts and crafts activities. Some of the younger ones found it harder to engage and would often return to their mums in the business sessions.

7 MIB members children attended the online playspace and when the schools re-opened we offered places to other local children - 5 more joined in the sessions - until June when we started some in-person activities.

Increasing our membership Our second objective was to improve, enhance and develop our online presence across various social media platforms and to create Mums into Business Online markets to provide more trading opportunities for our members. Our overall aim through this was to increase our membership.

Sindy our group facilitator has worked tirelessly on our social media growing our Facebook community and setting up our YouTube channel.

While some members have set up shops on Etsy and Facebook, we have not yet progressed far with the online markets, however, we have been incredibly successful at growing our membership and now have a whopping 23 members in the group!

Business in Bites We were delighted to be able to offer some of the funding to Yvonne Bostock who has worked with us, predominantly on a voluntary basis, since 2018. With this funding, she has delivered an incredible series of 'Business in Bites' sessions, where she distils the often daunting and complex aspects of setting up a business into simple, manageable bitesize chunks, all delivered via zoom, So far her sessions have included goal setting, confidence & selfworth, basic accounting for business, tax returns & HMRC, creating an elevator pitch and effective selling techniques.

One to One's On top of her 'Business in Bites' sessions, Yvonne has been offering one to one sessions to any Mums into Business member who would like one.

So far, four mums have signed up for the one to one sessions. The main benefit of this approach is individual focused attention and support. Yvonne has helped some of the newer members really think about their business ideas getting them to think about the why, what, where who and how questions that are key in developing their business ideas "She is an inspirational woman and I'm grateful for her time, wisdom and input"(I MIB member)

What difference does it make In a survey done in June, we asked the women if they felt more confident since joining the group? If they felt more connected to their community if they had learned new skills/knowledge or expertise; if MIB had helped them on their journey to setting up their own business and if they had started their own business. Answers options ranged from 'A great deal' (5 points) to 'None at all' (1 point).

80% scored 5 points and 20% 4 points for increased confidence.

80% scored 5 points and 20% scored 3 points for feeling more connected to their community 80% scored 5 points and 20% 4 points for learning new skills 80% scored 5 points and 20% 4 points for MIB helping their journey to set up their own business 100% scored 5 points for setting up their own business

Statistics only go so far - the real value as we see it is in what the women themselves say about the group Having the Mums into Business Support group during the pandemic has been very important to me. Im glad that even during tough times, we were still able to always have our zoom meetings & check up on each other, sharing our ideas & supporting one another. I (MIB member) "In Lockdown I kept in touch with the group that helped me not to be bored and always looking forward to see the ladies. I gained confidence and spent the pandemic time very busy cooking creating new recipes." S (MIB member) "Right now MIB is helping me immensely because it makes me feel that I’m doing something towards my own personal development while being part of a group, which is really important when the world has been on hold, everything has been paused & I have felt very lost. Now is a particularly pertinent time for healing, self-care, mindfulness, being present in the moment & remembering what is important to you." SH (MIB member)