Clever Mamma Profile: Vivacity Consulting

It gives me great pleasure this week to introduce you to a business mum who is personally helping this Clever Mamma move forward with her biz in 2013. It's mum of two, Fiona Redding from Vivacity Consulting! I could go on and on about Fiona's fab consulting and mentoring biz, but I'll let the lovely lady explain it herself below... And be sure to read on as Fiona has a very special deal for the months of December and January!

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business... Vivacity Consulting offers business consulting and mentoring that is specifically targeted to help women in business, wherever they are in their business journey and whatever their level of business management skill and experience.

I launched the business in 2012, with the catalyst being a desire to create a challenging, innovative and rewarding working environment (and a scalable business) that was flexible around the needs of my young family.

2. How did your business begin? After months of fruitless searching for a good, meaningful part-time job, I realised that I needed to think more strategically and laterally about what I could do for work. It took months of research & planning to work out exactly how my background in strategic & business planning, HR, organisational development & change, and project management would translate into a business - and how I could help other mums set up and run their own successful businesses. It has been an amazing adventure.

3. The bits I love... The intellectual freedom, being my own boss, the financial rewards, working with and learning from other awesome & inspiring business owners, and the ability to dream big and make it happen!

4. The bits I not-so-love... Admin & financials

5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas? Do what you love and love what you do, and then do it really well.

6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? Coffee and cake.

So go on, do yourself and your mum business a favour and check out Fiona at Vivacity Consulting. If you are serious about moving forward I'd highly recommend it.

And in those famous words... "But wait there's more!". Fiona is offering a very special deal for Dec 2012/Jan 2013.

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Want to get a head start on 2013? 
Would you like an independent, objective and insightful assessment of your business to ensure you are heading in the right direction?

With a Vivacity coaching session you will gain clarity & focus on your business direction, have clear objectives in place, feel inspired and motivated to achieve your goals, and most importantly receive an ACTION PLAN to help you take your business to the next level in 2013.

For a limited time Vivacity is offering a coaching session and action plan for only $199! That is a saving of over $75.

Simply mention this blog post and book your session for December or January to access this fantastic offer. Please note that places are limited and it will be first in first served.

Fiona's full contact details are on the Clever Mamma directory, so book your session and get your business on the right track for 2013!

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Clever Mamma Profile: First Step Virtual Assistant

It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to brand new Clever Mamma, Anne Clark from First Step Virtual Assistant. Anne is keeping busy (but I'm hoping she is getting some R&R too) with Master 2 PLUS a new bub on the way in February. Based in Melbourne, Anne is able to support biz mums Australia-wide with social media, admin and project management plus lots more. Anyone else spending way too much time on social media? You know who to call!

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business... My name is Anne Clark, I worked as a Corporate PA/Office Manager for 20 years before becoming a first time mum.  I am expecting my second child in early 2013, which is very exciting.
 
First Step Virtual Assistant is a support service for businesses.  I provide social media support, administration support, project management, electronic newsletters and lots more.
 
2. How did your business begin? First Step Virtual Assistant was established with the desire for me to be able to achieve a dream which is running my own business, be able to be at home with my children and continue to do what I love doing.
 
3. The bits I love... I love working with my clients, I’m very lucky as they are wonderful.  I love learning about their industries.  I take it upon myself to keep up to date on technology and services so that anything that can benefit my clients in the services I provide I can pass on to them.

4. The bits I not-so-love... The thing I don’t love is the constant ‘spam’ emails I get bombarded with and the hoax service seekers I get.  Surely they have better things to do. 

5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas? When trying to grow your business, utilise the free social media tools around such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn to attract your audience.  Take the time to understand your business direction/target audience and those social media tools.  It is important to try and get your audience onto your own database, you can’t solely rely on the social media platform because if it was gone tomorrow, you would have lost your database of potential clients and have to start all over again. 
 
6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? These days I definitely prefer my coffee and cake! 

Thanks so much Anne for letting us know your biz story. Stay tuned for a bubs update early next year, but in the meantime do pop past Anne's listing on the CM directory for full contact details and see how First Step Virtual Assistant can support you and your business. Isn't it time to work "on" your business and not "in" it? 

Clever Mamma Profile: Healthy Personal Finances

Our latest Clever Mamma is the fabulous and super-lovely Stacey Price. Stacey, together with hubby Richard run Healthy Personal Finances. Based in the North West of Melbourne and with two young boys to keep them busy, they are able to combine both their professional skills and personal experiences to provide clients with solutions to achieve lifestyle and financial goals. Isn't that a breath of fresh air - A finance team able to relate and understand the financial challenges us families face!

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business... My hubby and I started our business so that I could spend more time at home with our two lovely boys. I am a qualified accountant and hubby a qualified book keeper. We are passionate about sharing our financial knowledge and helping people become in control of their financial future. To be able to plan for holidays, weddings, retirement, buying a house, interest rate changes without fear and understanding how small changes can make a big impact. 

2. How did your business begin? Our business started off by producing individual cash management plans for ourselves to understand where all our money went and to help me save for our wedding. We then created a joint cash flow for our family, which includes our son’s bank accounts, the mortgage and our own personal accounts. We monitor our money each week of the year. We were then offering our plan to others and thought – we should be in business!

3. The bits I love... Seeing the smile on people’s faces when they realise they can achieve their dreams. Whether it be save for an overseas holiday, their first house, their children’s school fees or a comfortable retirement. Most of what we do is educate people and help them understand what can be achieved without making huge sacrifices. 

4. The bits I not-so-love... At the end of the day, we can guide people in the right direction, but we have no control over if they choose to follow the plans we create. People’s lifestyle and situations can change in an instant which effects what we have created so at times we need to start again from scratch.

5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas? People tell me not to work with family, but for us it works. It is great to bounce ideas off each other and we often see things from different perspectives. Sometimes a fresh approach is what is needed, and that is what we try to give our clients. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you, but you are too close to see it. 

6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? Can I have both...but with a hot chocolate instead of coffee??

Thanks for spending some time with us Stacey, and letting us get to know you and your finance biz a little better :) So if you need help with budgeting, cash flow, book keeping or financial planning you know where to go! Healthy Personal Finances' full contact details can be found here on the Clever Mamma directory... What are you waiting for? Go check them out :)