 |
| An increasing number of "mumpreneurs" are succeeding |
- You need to be adaptable
If you're thinking about starting your own small business, one important lesson is the importance of being adaptable.
Whether it’s through the need to adapt to a change in the marketplace, or a change in regulations, or a change in technology – you’ve simply got to be able to embrace change and remain open to facing new challenges.
Adapting to a change in your personal circumstances - such as having children - can require a complete review of the way you approach work and how you intend to generate an income stream for the future.
- Choosing what's right for you
But when you become a parent and have a young family, it's not easy juggling your different responsibilities ..... and this can be particularly challenging for women. Some women choose to forego their business and their careers, feeling uncomfortable about the prospect of being a "working mum". But it's all about choosing what's going to be right for you.
Although women are often said to be more inherently capable of multi-tasking than men, never-the-less motherhood is a time consuming responsibility.
One mum's story - starting a business, selling the business, then starting another one!
One mum's story - starting a business, selling the business, then starting another one!
This is the story of a remarkably adaptable and entrepreneurial young woman, Jules Blundell, who has discovered the key to successfully balancing family responsibilities with running a business. She is a mum who is building a business that is becoming an industry leader in the use of video animation – having helped hundreds of SME owners transform their websites into a more captivating online experience for their potential customers.
I recently asked Jules to share some of her experience with starting up and running a small business - and yet being a mum at the same time .....
1. Jules, you set up and ran a recruitment business in the U.K, for several years before selling it. Then you started up VideoBuzz here in Australia....... What has been the motivation in running your own business?
I originally trained as a primary teacher in NSW and had set my sights on a long and industrious career in education. After 2 years of being bullied by senior management in a school in which I worked, I decided to throw in the towel and went overseas backpacking. Whilst in England, I made the transition into teacher recruitment and then upon returning to Australia, I was given an amazing opportunity to start the first educational recruitment company in Sydney. I built this company up and had it turning over $2Million in just 2 years and I loved every moment of it. I had managed to find my new passion. I had worked with some inspiring leaders but always felt that my “business knowledge” was lacking, so I returned to England to complete my MBA. I wanted to be able to talk the talk as well as walk the walk.
Whilst in the UK, I had identified a gap in the teacher recruitment market and set out to fill that gap. I succeeded in winning a government grant to help launch the new recruitment business. In our second year we won a contract with Leeds City Council leading us into building new technology for a school improvement system. So now we were both a technology and education recruitment company.
A few years later my husband was headhunted for a position in Melbourne Australia and it was an offer we simply could not refuse. We placed our two businesses, Bluewave International and SWIFT on the market and within 6 months they were sold. At the time, I was pregnant with twins, so we returned to Australia to have a family.
After taking time out, I slowly returned to work. It was in 2012 I launched Marketing Hands because it was time for me put my entrepreneurial shoes back on again. In 2013, Marketing Hands morphed into VideoBuzz, because I wanted to secure a niche in a business area that was on the rise but also highly creative.
At VideoBuzz, we take your key business messages and turn them into fun and engaging videos. We are really passionate about what we do and love working with our clients to carve the right message for the right audience. But we particularly like the smile on their face when they see their video for the first time…..priceless J
2. What have been some of the similarities and differences you’ve found in the way small business is conducted here in Australia compared to the U.K ?
I think small businesses’ in the UK have greater access to funding, either directly from the banks or from government grants offered by both the UK and the EU. We were living in an area that was a major focus for economic development and we were able to leverage off this greatly.
The other area where the UK stood out was speed of connection, making life considerably easier for running a business because you ALWAYS had fast speed, no downtime and a strong customer service culture with the telco’s, regardless of the size of your company and this made a big difference. They wanted to help you to do business better and faster, and I remember landing back in Australia and a telco rep, said “of cause you will get downtime, it is expected” and I was stunned.
Like Australia, there is a strong entrepreneurial culture and a strong ambition to succeed. But I think that the entrepreneurial culture in Australia is more open and community orientated. The massive amount of network groups and organisations that are there to support small businesses owners in Australia is amazing. I am not sure if this has changed as a result of the economic downturn, but I found the UK tended to operate their businesses in a more isolated way.
3. Jules, you set up VideoBuzz because you identified this as a growth industry and yet with many opportunity gaps remaining. What are the benefits to small business owners of incorporating video in their website – and what sort of costs might be involved?
Oh dear, where to I start. Every business needs video and the first reason you should have a video on your website is because Google and other search engines will rank your website higher, increasing your chances of being found (interviewers note - for more tips on getting your website to rank well, visit our post Getting Found by Google).
The second reason is that consumers these days prefer to watch. They are time poor, using mobile devices and don’t want to spend hours reading text. To support this notion, did you know that only 20% of people visiting a website will stop and read the text where-as a whopping 80% will stop and watch a video.
Videos not only respond to customers needs, the information is actually processed and retained better than anything they have read. People will only remember 10% of what they’ve read after 72 hours as opposed to remembering a much more impressive 68% of what they’ve watched after 72 hours.
Lastly, video increases purchasing behaviour. Invodo (2014) found that shoppers who view a video are 1.81 times more likes to purchase than non-viewers and 52% of people who watch a video are more likely to make a purchase.
Video is about to explode, 74% of all internet traffic in 2017 will be video and they are predicting that 1 million minutes of video will cross the net every single second by 2018.
If your business is not using video, then the chances are that you’re missing customers at a higher rate than you first thought.
In terms of production costs, there are many variables that can influence pricing. But as a broad guide, costs can range from $500 to $2,900, depending upon the video duration and the extent of creative design that may be required. However, we will always seek to offer an affordable video option and work within the budget of our client.
4. You’re an experienced mentor in the Australian Business Woman’s network..... What are some of the things you’ve seen women struggle with when they first start running their own business?
I think the biggest challenge for “mumpreneurs” is TIME. Our working hours are bound by our children schedules and health. The minute one of the kids gets sick the brakes get put on and that can be really frustrating particularly if you’re working to tight deadlines. As a mum of 5-year-old twins, this is definitely my greatest challenge.
When mentoring, I think the other common issue I see women struggling with is access to effective networks, coaching and mentoring. People typically start their businesses from their lounge room and the first 6 to 12 months can be quite isolating. I think women love to chat things through so having a good network or mentor is crucial for women who run their own business. When it comes to networking it takes time to find a group that is on the same page. Most of them are at 7am in the morning or in the evening and that is just the wrong time for mums, as they are typically needed at home.
I recently joined Motivating Mums because they run their meetings during school hours and because I wanted to be part of a supportive network of mumpreneurs who were ambitious but realistic about what they could achieve at the same time.
5. Do you think that anyone can run their own business – or are there certain critical qualities that are needed in order to succeed?
I think anyone can run his or her own business. Firstly they have to love what they are doing, because setting up and running your own business demands a person’s ability to be tenacious and persistent. If you love what you do, then the hard times, are just blips in the road, not insurmountable mountains.
The other really important trait they need is a “love of learning”. As a business owner you’re constantly in learning mode. Learning from your mistakes, learning new approaches, learning management and leadership skills, learning advances in technology, learning from customers, learning from our peers and the list goes on. If you not willing to learn and grow as a business owner, than I believe you are setting yourself up to fail.
6. Running your own business carries it’s own set of pressures and can be quite overwhelming at times..... How do you keep yourself positive and maintain a healthy work-life balance?
Work –Life balance…. What’s that? Just joking.
Because I am a working mum, I think my kids make me keep perspective. I have to stop working to pick them up from school, feed, bath and put them to bed. I have to go to play dates and hang out with other woman and put down tools.
I am also really determined not to work evenings… so I stop working around 5.30 when I am not doing the school run. I believe that people only have a capacity to work a certain number of hours before their body goes into robot mode and stops functioning properly and continuing to work is simply a waste of time.
7. Any final tips you’d like to share for small business owners?
Choose a business that you are truly passionate about otherwise it is just hard work. …. Love what you do first and foremost, and then continue to learn new ways to do business. Constantly evolve yourself and your business and challenge the norms. You want to look back in ten years time and be really proud of what you have achieved and you need to make sure that your business brings you the lifestyle you deserve.
Thanks very much to Jules for sharing some of her story with us. More tips on successfully combining being a mum and an entrepreneur can be found at Mompreneurs
Possible business opportunities for stay-at-home mums
Here's a short video clip featuring a mum who shares three ideas for possible business opportunities that stay-at-home mums might consider .....
Possible business opportunities for stay-at-home mums
Here's a short video clip featuring a mum who shares three ideas for possible business opportunities that stay-at-home mums might consider .....
Authors note - A great article on this theme from the video, with some useful tips on how to get started is, "How To Start an Online Business" and another really useful link "Small Business Tips"
And here's another inspiring short video clip that features a mum, Nicole Roberts, sharing her experience of starting her own business from home (called "The Unleashed Mum") ....... She makes an incredibly important point about the need to trust yourself and your vision, in order to persevere - despite possibly facing discouragement from well-meaning family and friends ......
