This year sees the first ever Business Mum Week, a week of activities and meet ups across the UK. This week is dedicated to women who balance business with family life on a daily basis to ensure a better future for their families. Mum of three Meghan Fenn, in Worthing, is ensuring the mums of East and West Sussex are included.
Meg herself will be hosting a networking meeting on Thursday the 8th October from 10am to 2pm at 50 Westcourt Road for a day of play for the kids and networking for mums. If the kids are at school or in nursery, just come on your own! Free copies of the latest Business Mum’s Journal will be available for any mum who has ever wanted to run her own business from home and there will be an opportunity to meet (and question!) other ‘mumpreneurs’ like Meg, in a friendly and relaxed environment. A light lunch will be provided by The Sandwitch Bar, Bakery & Deli* of Worthing who have kindly offered their sandwich platters free of charge. Plus, Victoria of Caterpillar Music* will be running a music session for the little ones!
In the lead-up to Business Mum Week, Meg, as the Sussex co-ordinator, is also looking for mums across the county to hold their own events. Full support is available and it promises to be a great week for uniting local women in business.
Meghan Fenn, of White Ochre Design, Better Days Out and organiser of Sussex Business Mum Week says: “Business Mum Week is a great initiative and I’m happy to do everything I can to unite the business mums of Worthing and East & West Sussex and ensure more local women with children are aware of the family friendly working options out there. This is a great way to both highlight the work of our mum owned businesses in and around Sussex and support the growth of more.”
MumsClub founder, Jane Hopkins, says:
“This is the perfect time for Business Mum Week. With so many redundancies and the future potential for job losses, it is an important time for families to have options. Being self employed is the perfect way to combine family life with generating a second income. Women now have the freedom to get paid to do something they love. Great for household finances, great for self esteem, great for work-life balance. Starting up from home is low cost, low risk and incredibly rewarding. The dedication of our local mums has been astounding. Credit crunch? What credit crunch?”Find out more:
Contact Local organiser Meghan Fenn on 01273 906128 or email
meg@megfenn.me.uk *Caterpillar Music, Fun Classes, Parties & Nursery Sessions – Worthing & Brighton, contact Victoria on 01903 230 810
www.caterpillarmusic.comUpdates of activities taking place throughout the week will appear at
http://www.businessmumweek.com/ and
http://www.mumsclub.co.uk/##ENDS##
Media notes:
For media enquiries about business mum week, please contact:
Jane Hopkins, Founder, MumsClub 01675 465863
Antonia Chitty, 01424 810 272
About Business Mum Week Business Mum Week will take place from Saturday the 3rd – 10th October. It is run by Jane Hopkins of
MumsClub, the online business club for mums, and supported by PR expert and author Antonia Chitty of Family Friendly Working.
The aims of the week are to:
· inspire more entrepreneurial mums to start a business from home,
· encourage business growth by providing business mums access to information and ideas,
· develop online and offline support through a national network of home-working Mumpreneurs.
Business Mum Week recognises the challenges such women face and the achievements they have already made by dedicating a corner of their busy family home to turn their business ideas into reality. Other confirmed activities include, regional Mumpreneur meet-ups, a personal branding evening at Harvey Nicholls in Birmingham, a networking workshop day in Dorset, and the inaugural Mumpreneur Annual Conference and Awards in the Midlands.
A few facts & figures on home business
Over two million businesses already operate mainly from home. *1
61% of new businesses were launched from home in 2008 *2
Home based business is intrinsically low carbon. Operating from one property instead of a separate home and workspace cuts commuting. It also reduces the carbon emissions generated by constructing and fuelling separate premises. *3
Home based businesses face lower costs, spending significantly less on their workspace and travel than those using separate premises. Not commuting also saves time, increasing potential productivity. *4
Sources:
*1 ONS Labour Force Survey
*2 UK Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
*3 & 4 ‘Can Homeworking Save the Planet’, The Smith Institute
