by theEmother | May 28, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Buying2give.com, entrepreneur trends (past & present!), inspiring women, MEinc, the business model, women in business case studies
ABC Q&A aired a special extra episode tonight after securing an audience with visiting billionaire Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. The program featured Gates as the sole guest, fronting an audience at the University of NSW with host Tony Jones.
Whilst Mr Gates is interesting, impressive and industrious, he performed admirably and did himself and his causes proud. What I found even more impressive though was the quality of the thinking that had gone into the audience questioning and the Twitter feed happening concurrently.
There are many who think deeply about some of the hard stuff and that buoys my faith in humans being able to better do good stuff. However, as Mr Gates pointed out this evening, if one sits around waiting for permission to do what needs to be done, death is likely to come first!
A case in point, Stephanie Woollard. Such a dynamic young woman, who has taken it upon herself to assist and truly empower all the marginalised women she can. Starting in Nepal first, world domination is definitively on the cards. She didn’t have to do it, she could have talked about it and done nothing because working from Australia would have been too difficult but she didn’t…
Instead, she started “Seven Women” (www.sevenwomen.com.au) which has since established two business centres whereby they become financially stand-alone entities as well as enabling the women to learn to earn. No permission sought, other than to appreciate the enormity of the task and then getting down to the tin-tacs of working out how to get it done.
With the women now eternally grateful.
by theEmother | Apr 8, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, entrepreneurial mothers, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, MEinc, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, single parent l single mother, so you think you're in business, the business model, women in business case studies
After two meetings today and another phone call last Friday, the prospect of the motherhood and business ownership combination is causing some angst.
The main issue seems to be for those women business owners who are currently in business and are either planning to have a family soon or have just had their first.
They want to be able to have the combination work but just can’t seem to see how. The thought of having someone else brought in not look after their business is too much to bear. And, the thought of trying to run it full time as well as being the mother they want to be is just not fathomable.
So… what to do?
Sell it of course. That seems to be the answer. Then reality sets in. Has the business been set up as a asset, to run independently of the owner? Not in any of these 3 cases. So then what?
In the planning stage, this scenario can be sorted. It’s usually time and money that’s the prohibiting factor. When baby is already here, the mother wants the stress removed.
If only I had a chance to talk to them in the very early planning stages, to get all the planets aligned before embarking on the beautiful journey of motherhood.
If you find yourself pondering similar thoughts, please talk to me…
by theEmother | Mar 13, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, entrepreneurial mothers, women in business case studies
Business Life-Cycle
This time last year, the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI) conducted the first national survey of female business owners, featuring results from some 3000 women. I thought it opportune to revisit their findings as I suspect not too much has changed in 12 months…
- Women own almost 40% of small businesses in Australia
- there are more than 700,000 female-owned businesses
- Women’s superannuation funds and income are lower
- 24% of female business owners work 41-50 hours per week, 20% work up to 70 hours
- 76% work Saturdays, 64% work Sundays
- 17% have a turnover of $100,000-$250,000 per year
- 71% are running their first business
- 70% are providing a service
- 52% do not pay themselves a market wage
- 62% used social media in their business, mainly Facebook
- 57% work with their spouse
- 79% do not sell online
- 47% work from home
- 42% start with less than $5000
and my guess is that a large percentage of them are not building an asset to sell, nor are they considering an exit strategy.
Think I might address each one of these over the coming weeks as it seems we have a lot of work to do…
by theEmother | Mar 4, 2013 | business ideas & thinking, events, women in business case studies
Best Australian Blogs 2013 Nominee – the entrepreneurial mother
The 2013 competition is now open for entries. Entries in the competition will close on Thursday 28 March 2013.
There is over $18,000 worth of prizes, including cash, writing courses and books, to be won by finalists and winners.
by theEmother | Feb 25, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, entrepreneurial mothers, EXIT execution, Finish Unfinished Business, inspiring women, SELL your Mother of a Business, women in business case studies
Here’s the background…
A driven and caring entrepreneurial mother, who wanted to buy something specific in Australia for her child, couldn’t find what she was looking for. So she took it upon herself to rectify that problem.
To her credit, she morphed into a woman business owner (during her long-service leave break) and has turned this need into the most delightful shop, not only addressing what she needed to at the time but also making many, many more children happy, very happy since.
All hail to her…
I know, there’ll be a number of you thinking “I’ve done the same thing, what’s the big deal?” Are you now the leader in your field? Do you have the major retailers sending people to you? Are you now doing close to 7-figure turnover? Have you built your Mother of a Business into an Asset, ready to take to the market?
if not, there’s the difference…
by theEmother | Feb 7, 2013 | 4 hour work week, build a Mother of a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, Online Strategy incl. www, SELL your Mother of a Business, the business model, women in business case studies
Are you looking for a business to make your own?
Are you a “Fashionista” who has always wanted to own your own fashion business but thought it out of your league?
Could you add this to your existing business perhaps?
Then maybe this little business is for you…
Working approximately 15 hours per week, the owner is making an adjusted profit (after paying for expenses, including stock) of $38,000 – $48,000 per year for the last 2 financial years.
Ideal business for those who do not want to take the risk of a “new start up” and prefer to take over a proven business model.
Minimum overheads and low stock value.
The online business is already fully functional and profitable; therefore there will be no lag time in terms of creating immediate revenue.
The current owner has already done all the hard work setting up this business. Many variations of process have been tried, through trial and error and the current processes have proven to be profitable, with minimum working hours.
Products are fashion oriented and would suit those with interest in fashion.
Flexible working hours and potential for further growth.
As part of the sale, the current owner is prepared to pass the knowledge, tips and tricks of the trade on to the new owner.
Price includes all stock and equipment.
Interested? click here for details of what to do next…
