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Admin Angels: Business Mums - How to get your housework sorted!

Clever Mamma is delighted to have Barb from Admin Angels as our special guest on the blog today, with a subject very close to home. With three girls keeping her busy she knows her "mum stuff"!

 

Time is of the essence when you’re a busy Mum running your own business, trying to keep an organised household and the family happy! I have found a way that has helped me tremendously with keeping the house as organised as possible (with three young children running around) and it doesn’t take hours to do it – well not all at once anyway. It can get done quickly while the children are occupied and you’ll feel that you’ve achieved something, because you haven’t planned to get EVERYTHING done at once.

The Plan!

I have created a weekly planner for myself, which includes all of the regular family activities, such as school and kinder drop offs, as well as the kid’s activities. Then there’s the business stuff, which is segmented into different categories and then the housework. I have everything colour coded so it’s easier to read at a glance, and it looks much nicer too!
 

For example: 

• Monday’s – Clean bathrooms/toilets and wash the towels 

• Tuesday’s – Vacuum and mop 

• Wednesday’s – Washing & ironing 

• Thursday’s - Dust 

• Friday’s – Washing & ironing, wash bed linen 

• Saturday’s – Quick vacuum in main living areas

It breaks down the housework into nice “chunks” of time, so you’re not spending hours doing it in one hit. It doesn’t feel that bad when it’s broken down in these timeframes, and I find that it actually gets done and the house is cleaner. Obviously there’s still the general tidy up each day, along with the dishes, but I find that it’s a bit more manageable. When you’re trying to run a business, and maintain a house, it’s best to be organised.

 

Find full details for Barb's fabulous admin support biz Admin Angels over on the Clever Mamma Directory.

Reverie Coaching: So what is Passive Income?

Clever Mamma is thrilled to have Kathryn from Reverie Coaching as our
special guest on the blog today. Read on for a fantastic strategy session offer!

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Passive Income is currently the holy grail of entrepreneurs world-wide. The concept is that you develop products that can be consumed with limited or no input from yourself once developed.

The ‘passive’ refers to the fact that once the product is developed and the payment and delivery systems are set up you can earn money on an ongoing basis without doing any actual work.

It is a misleading term because there is a lot of time and effort that goes into producing and setting up these products to run seamlessly and generally you are still undertaking marketing and communications to make passive income sales.

I have two types of ‘passive income’ products:

· Fully Passive: Once developed and set-up I provide no hands on work or inputs unless directly contacted by a purchaser

· Semi-Passive: Most of my courses have a live forum or mastermind component where I need to make myself available to motivate, challenge, inspire and answer questions.

The benefit of semi-passive is that I can technically do this at any time that suits me, even if that was at 3am while breastfeeding a baby with my i-phone in the other hand! Not necessarily recommending this though!

People can potentially consume this information at any time and you can quite literally ‘earn money while you sleep’. It is a great feeling!

Passive income is particularly attractive to mums (or parents generally) who require a flexible way to earn money that does not require providing inputs at set times.

It is also a great option for those who seek a mobile lifestyle - travelling and working from anywhere. 

What are Passive Income Products ?

Passive Income products are anything that is developed, written, or designed once and can be consumed multiple times without direct contact/inputs between the seller and purchaser.

Passive Income Products constitute one or more electronic files:
– PDF
– MP4 (video)
– MP3 (music/audio),
– PSD (graphic file) 

Examples of Passive Income Products

· E-books – a book/report on a particular support that you download such as an e-book on dressing for your body shape

· Product – such as a guided meditation that you can download and listen to

· Templates – i.e. a business plan template that you could tailor for use in your business

· Graphic Design Elements – i.e. a decorative frame or quote graphic that can be tailored for use in your business

· Reports – based on a calculated result from a survey i.e. filling out a dietary and exercise survey and getting a ‘tailored’ weight loss program emailed to you. 

What is an e-course ?

E-Courses are the most complex of passive income products requiring the most development and set-up and are therefore generally more expensive than say an e-book but less expensive than one-on-one services.

An e-course has a series of topics/modules delivered electronically on some sort of regular basis.

An e-course may be delivered via a combination, or just one, of the following methods (this list is not exhaustive):
– video,
– e-workbooks,
– emails
– webinars
– Q&A calls
– forums/masterminds

E-Courses generally include structured learning such as activities and tasks and have a set of expected outcomes. 

If you would like to learn how to develop your own e-courses for your business make sure you check out the E-Course Launch Formula before the 15th March to access the Early-Bird Discounted rate of $379 which is a saving of $200 off! As an additional special offer for Clever Mamma readers I am throwing in a Passive Income Strategy Session (45 min in-person in Adelaide or via skype) for anyone who enrols in this course.

Find full contact details for Kathryn and Reverie Coaching here.

Clever Mamma Profile: Reverie Coaching

We're state-hopping over to South Australia this week to introduce you to Mumpreneur coach Kathryn Hocking from Reverie Coaching. If you've ever dreamed about turning your utmost dreams into an amazing reality, Kathryn is THE mum in biz to call. Based in the gorgeous seaside town of Semaphore, together with hubby, gorgeous little Ava and their affection-seeking cat, Reverie Coaching is a realisation of her "desire to inspire, motivate and assist mums, through coaching, to establish their dream business and in turn become more passionate about their lives." I hope you enjoy finding out a bit more about this mum in business' journey as much as I did.

 1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business... My name is Kathryn and I live in Semaphore, South Australia by the beach with my husband and toddler Ava. Reverie Coaching is dedicated to coaching and mentoring Mumpreneurs to create and grow their dream Mumpreneur business. I do this through one-on-one coaching, affordable online e-courses and masterminds, free profiling on my blog and lots of free tips through my newsletter.

2. How did your business begin? I returned to working after maternity leave feeling a distinct lack of passion about my job. I also experienced just how hard balancing a full-time corporate role and a family was and I thought there has to be a better way. Many of my friends were struggling with the same issues and came to me for help and advice regarding this transition back to work and balancing work and family life.

I realised there must be a better way to work and be a mum, and that many mums would need help creating their own Mumpreneur business. And from this Reverie Coaching was born.

Since then to compliment my extensive corporate and commercial experience I have completed nationally recognised Life Coaching, Small Business Management and Training & Assessment qualifications and completed some internationally recognised online business and personal development courses. I am continually learning and investing in my business and passing this knowledge on to my clients.

3. The bits I love... I love those ‘ah-ha’ moments when my clients reach clarity on their dream business idea or how to grow their business. I love watching a client walk in with a defeated look on their face and leave feeling inspired, passionate and empowered!

I love working from my beautiful home doing what I am passionate about and knowing I am creating a better life for my family.

4. The bits I not-so-love... It’s crazy but I pretty much love everything about my business! It can be challenging to not have the security of a guaranteed income from the business but I find that challenges and pushes me to achieve more.

5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas? Finding a network or mastermind of other Mumpreneurs is key. Being a Mumpreneur can be isolating so you need a posse of like-minded women supporting and inspiring you! I have created this for my clients through my e-courses and they love it and so do I.

6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? Coffee all the way, my choice is a Skim Flat White and I can be tempted with cake, especially at my favourite café at Semaphore. 

Thanks so much for taking some time out at the Clever Mamma blog Kathryn. Now I know you're all wanting to contact Reverie Coaching asap, so find the full and fabulous contact details here at the Clever Mamma Directory, and take the first step to turn your Mumpreneur dreams into a reality!

Invisible Business Solutions: What do I do?

Clever Mamma is delighted to have Helen from Invisible Business Solutions as
our special guest. Read on for a fantastic International Women's Day FREE offer!

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It’s not often that I consider myself to have an identity crisis! I’m a very lucky wife with an amazingly supportive husband, a mother of two wonderful boys, and a woman who chose her life and the path it took! We even moved from the other side of the world to Australia nine years ago!

So one of the challenges I have faced since launching Invisible Business Solutions is explaining exactly what it is I do. Who my professional persona is… other than she is invisible!

At the first networking event I attended, the response to my business was  ‘Oh… you’re an Accountant’ or ‘Oh… you’re a bookkeeper’, neither of which I am… I mean I thought it was obvious what a Business Analyst does?… but the simple answer was that is very difficult to understand! So my first lesson learnt was never assume anything!

The challenge posed is that most businesses don’t go looking for me – in fact they don’t know I exist – very apt that we are called INVISIBLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS… More over they don’t know why they need me!

For example, if you want someone to clean your home, you go looking for a cleaner! If you want to get fit or lose a few pounds – you find a Fitness Instructor – it's simple. However if you want to take your business to the next level would you automatically think… ‘aah, yes, I need a Business Analyst’, no you wouldn’t – but YES you do!

So there it is… that’s what I do – but let me try to simplify things…

  

Firstly it’s best to drop the big scary corporate word ‘Business Analyst’ and instead say ‘I add value to the future of your business, not record the transactions of the past’. Maybe an even better way to describe my job is that I’m the GPS for your business – no not that annoying lady that tells you where to go (heh, heh…) but instead the lady who will get your business to where it wants to go. It really doesn’t matter whether you are thinking of starting a business, a school hours business mum or a seasoned business woman - I can help every one of you get to the next stage of your business or help get you back on track!

Because we don’t know your business like you do we have to base everything on fact – the facts from your business, the facts from talking and listening to you! Believe it or not your business is an amazing book of information, and once you let us have a read we can help you base your decisions on fact not fiction!

Quite simply it’s a numbers game without the gamble! We can help you win the game by providing YOU with the skills, knowledge and information to understand the way your business works by using these numbers in the right way!

Our service gives YOU the information YOU need to base your real decisions on rather than just instinct or luck! 
This is the service I love to provide to Business Mums. I believe everyone should have access to this information so they are able to understand the performance of their business. Once you have this information you’ll wish you knew about us right from the start!

If you’re just starting out the questions you need answers to might be:

• Do you have the numbers to prepare your Business Plan?

• Have you calculated all the costs of your new project?

• Have you worked out your Scorecard?

• Have you bought bookkeeping software and understand how to use it?

If you are a small business the questions you need answers to might be: 

• What’s the TRUE cost of your products and/or your service?

• How do I set my sales price?

• Which of your products REALLY makes you the most money?

• Should I offer a discount? Can I afford to? Will I still make a profit?

• Can I match my price to a competitor without losing money?


• Are my expenses under control?

• How can I get this information from my bookkeeping software?


If you’re moving into the growth stage of your business, to enable you to get there the questions you need answers to might be:

• How do I work out my cashflow? How can I improve my cash flow?

• How do I build a Budget for the year?

• Which sales location (State or Territory) makes you the most money and why?

• How can I work out Sales Targets so that I can achieve my goals, or set targets for my sales team? 

By having the answers to these questions your business could increase turnover, cashflow and profitability! By using a business analyst you can take your business to the next level or get you back on track!

It pays to talk, we love to listen and what we add, you’ll take away!

  

So let Invisible Business Solutions be your GPS and guide you to business goals! Between now and International Women’s day on 8 March 2013, Invisible Business Solutions have rolled out our Help50 promotion. We are offering a FREE consultation so that we can work out how best to help your business. So please check out www.ibsgc.com.au/help50 for more details or contact Helen on 0416 101 422  or email info@ibsgc.com.au or direct message me on FB at  www.facebook.com/invizbizsolutions

The Summer Meet Up... Want to come too?

I am super-excited to be attending our very own CM Rhiannon from The Wellbeing Web's very first event this coming Sunday. It's called 'The Summer Meet Up' and is set to inspire and empower women to boost and nurture their wellbeing in everyday life. We don't all have the time (or motivation) to go the gym or meditate daily, but with Rhiannon and her special guest speaker's we can take some time out and go beyond that, to create and live a life we love - everyday! It provides practical, simple, everyday tips, ideas and actions to boost wellbeing, inviting more peace and balance into your everyday life... Sounds like every mum (including this one!) could do with a little Wellbeing-Web-goodness.

Special guest speakers are Cristina Re, founder of Cristina Re Designs, and Julie Parker, creator of Beautiful You and they will share insights about creating and living a life you love - everyday. And to top it all off it's being held at the absolutely gorgeous Cristina Re store, Where A Girl Goes AND includes a Champagne High Tea. Sounds like body, mind and soul will all enjoy this one.

To top it all off Rhiannon has included a goodie bag for all those attending which includes a stationery gift from Cristina Re, and there are some fab door prizes on offer worth over a combined $500.

As a special offer for all you lovely Clever Mamma followers, Rhiannon has very kindly offered to include her "Wellbeing Workbook", an insight into the five areas of Wellbeing and an easy and practical guide designed to boost your everyday wellbeing (worth $29), as a gift. All you have to do is mention "Clever Mamma" on sign-up and it will be emailed to within 24 hours. Simply let Rhiannon (rhiannon@wellbeingweb.com.au) know by Friday (that's tomorrow) that you would love to attend and you can pay on the day.

Now ladies, clear your schedule for this Sunday arvo, full details below. I'll see you there :)

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What: 
Boost your wellbeing by taking time out to mingle with like-minded ladies... Amazing, Adorable and Authentic women who recognise the importance of nurturing their wellbeing not only for themselves but for all those in their life!

Where:
Cristina Re Tea Rooms
Corner of Oxford St and Langridge St Collingwood
 
When: 
Sunday, 3rd February, 2013
 
Time: 
2:30pm-4:30pm
 
Cost: 
$70
 
Special Guest Speakers: 
Cristina Re & Julie Parker 

RSVP:
rhiannon@wellbeingweb.com.au

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Clever Mamma Profile: Invisible Business Solutions

This week we head north to the Gold Coast and have a chat with the lovely Helen Goodman from Invisible Business Solutions. Helen works alongside her hubby to provide biz mums with the services they need for success. Be sure to check out their new "School Hours Business Mums Networking Group" too. Such a great networking opportunity, I only wished I lived closer... although a trip to the Gold Coast does sound tempting!  

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business… I am a wife, and mother to two boys, who love their footy (massive Titans fans) and the beach! My husband and I have created Invisible Business Solutions to provide business mums with the services they need. We focus on workshops for business mums that are innovative, interactive and fun! And give you the recipe for success to take away! We also offer consultancy in business analysis, the best graphic design solutions to build your brand, print management to ensure you get quality print material at a price you can afford, and eBrochures (which make your brochures interactive!). Our first "live" workshops are on the Gold Coast in January & February so we are booking now to make business mums 2013 the best year.

2. How did your business begin? We started Invisible Business Solutions to offer our services to business mums. We moved to the Gold Coast and it became impossible for me to commute to my part time job, which I had begun to dislike for a great many reasons, not least of which that we felt we had more to offer. I wanted to go out there and share 20 years of management accounting and business analysis knowledge, and Paul has the Creative talent to cost effectively build a great brand for business mums. So Invisible Business Solutions was born! Why Invisible Business Solutions? We are invisible to your clients, we offer the services and experiences that make your business succeed. Its what we add... that you take away!

3. The bits I love… We have it covered… I love the "numbers" things and Paul is the creative - together we make a great team!

4. The bits I not-so-love… Being in business is a long road, and can be challenging as well as rewarding. But now we have the business we want, there are not so many bits not to love. Everything is a step towards our goals!

5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas? Be confident in yourselves, we can make a valuable contribution, but lets not apologise for our mummy status and the fact that we choose to balance our work aspirations with our family lives. We only hold our children for such a short time, they should be enjoyed and given the attention they deserve! I also think it's important to recognise when we need help in an area, we seek out an expert and get the help we need (and the knowledge too).

6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? Having grown up in England and migrated to Australia almost 10 years ago now, I would have to say that I am a Devonshire Tea lady! But Devonshire teas are for the afternoons! In the mornings I am very happy with coffee!

Helen, it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know you and your fabulous biz better. Be sure to let me know when your networking groups come down to Melbourne as I will be first on the list! Now loyal readers, you can find Helen's direct contact details here on her listing on the Clever Mamma business mum directory and be sure to find her on Facebook and Twitter too (deets on her website). Do you and your biz a favour and make 2013 the year your business moves forward with Invisible Business Solutions. Oh, and be sure to let her know that Clever Mamma sent you :)

Clever Mamma Profile: BabyButton

Our very first Clever Mamma Profile for 2013 is the super sweet Janell from Babybutton. I met Janell over a year ago in my Business Mum's Club and we have been following each others biz since, and now I am so excited to have her and her awesome handmade mummy-products on the CM site (you MUST check out her nappy wallets!). 
 
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business... My name is Janell, I’m mother to Addison who is 2 years old and I am expecting my second child in May 2013. My business is Babybutton, a range of handmade products to assist new mums in their motherhood journey, such as breastfeeding/burb cloths, larger absorb bibs, nappy wallets and baby tag-a-long blankets.

2. How did your business begin? I love being a mother, and have found my journey to motherhood has been beautiful, life-enhancing and taught me lots of lessons I was completely unprepared for. My business Babybutton was born after experiencing several situations using my breastfeeding cover and finding the high demand from other women to have such an item. I started by word of mouth and grew from there. Through my experiences and in talking to other mums, I found myself with a desire to create an entire range of handmade products that meet our needs. Some of my main design ranges have been bibs that are larger, using more absorbent and durable fabrics, and breastfeeding/burb cloths that are soft washable and using fashionable fabrics.   

3. The bits I love... I love seeing my new concepts come to fruition. And more importantly, I love meeting new mums and sharing stories.

4. The bits I not-so-love... Like most business owners, my accounts seem to be on the bottom of the to-do list each day and sourcing new stockists for my product range.

5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas? Follow your dream, don’t give up on yourself. There are so many wonderful network groups and services that will help you. The community of business mums is amazing, and the support we all offer each other is amazing.

6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? I am more of a coffee girl and I do love cake with anything! 

Thanks for taking some time out with us Janell, and best of luck with bubs number 2. We can't wait to hear if Addi has a little brother or a little sister!

Now I know you would like to take a closer look at the Babybutton range for yourself or as a very thoughtful gift for a loved one. You can find Janell's web details here on the Clever Mamma directory and please do let her know that Clever Mamma sent you.