Support for Mums Working From Home

It's incredibly hard work being a parent and working full time. That's when I gave up my day job and began my business from home so that I could do both jobs of earning an income while looking after my childrens needs. That was 18 years ago and since then I've written various courses, books, guides and articles on How To Run a Business From Home.

Needless to say I have since met so many creative and inspirational people, especially women, performing the dual task of being a parent and running a business or working from home. They make a special but often unrecognised contribution to society by becoming mothers and bringing up the next generation while contributing a work ethic to the economy. I personally feel that this deserves more value and support than it currently receives as bringing up a family is a lifetime job which benefits the whole of society in the end. The current concern about the falling birthrate is a real headache for most governments worried about preserving future generations, yet people get very little reward or encouragement when it comes to bringing up and affording a family.

The idea of this support page is to champion more awareness, more deservedness, and more recognition of those mums and dad's already doing two full time jobs, being a parent and earning an income by working from home. We think this deserves special recognition.

Everyone here at www.beautiful-rooms.com in Australia and our UK based business, www.candlewyck.com is proud to have started this online support page in recognition of all those success stories of creative and inspirational mums and dads running businesses, professional services and creative enterprises from home so they can be around to look after their children full time too. We have great pleasure and are proud to be associated with some of Australia and the UK's most inspiring mums running a business and career from home. Here are just some of those featured. Let's hear it for........

Motherly Cubes

Business Profile:

Motherly Cubes is a wonderful new range of 100% natural home-style baby food. The finest quality Australian produce is simply cooked, pureed, and frozen into convenient sized cubes. The perfect choice for a busy routine, Motherly Cubes hae no thickeners, no starches, no additives whatsoever - just 100% natural food and a real delicious taste. Now mothers can buy baby food and feel good about it.

Working from Home:

I love the change I have made from working full time to working at home. I am able to work from home and still look after my children. It is by no means an easy task and there are sometimes many struggles involved. I have many a time taken an important phone call and had two children screaming in the background, or I have been making biscuits. It enables me to have more freedom as well. I am able to take time off to go to sports day for Skye or help out with reading. I love how my children see me as a mum but also as a Business Woman. I hope to hear one day that my girls saw me as a role model and that I showed them that they are able to achieve anything they put their minds to.

Contact Details :

10 Paxton St
Springwood QLD 4127
Australia

PO Box 770
Springwood QLD 4127
Australia

Telephone 1300 66 2229 (Aus)
61 7 3808 5500 (Intl)

Email : info@motherly.com.au
Website : www.motherly.com.au

Woodberry Designs

Hi, my name is Kerryanne English from Woodberry Designs.

Before starting a family my husband Mark and I planned for me to be a stay at home mum. With this in mind I started my own design business from a purpose built home studio 12 years ago. By the time my first daughter Jessica arrived 2 years later the business was running smoothly. I was able to adjust my hours to suit motherhood and was successfully combining both when Aimee arrived 3 years on. Working around the children's needs meant working some strange hours at times, but now they are both at school I am able to work 9 – 3.

Working from home does require a high level of enthusiasm, motivation and time management skills but being able to combine the two loves of my life, motherhood and crafting, has been sensational. I couldn't have done it without the total support of my husband and parents who are always happy to baby sit when things get a bit hectic.

You can contact Kerryanne at Woodberry Designs:

Ph - (03) 9879 9664

Email – kerryanne@woodberrydesigns.com.au

Web – www.woodberrydesigns.com.au

Char Richardson

Bush-e-Baby.Com, AustralianParenting.Net and GreenBananaHosting.Com

WAHM of Three Kids.

When my second child was born, my husband and I became committed to providing a solid family life for our children. This entailed me being the stay-at-home parent until they were all in school. It seemed a good sacrifice to make, but I felt that there was still something lacking. I decided to start up my own small business, and while it was very daunting, I excited at the prospect of learning more, and contributing more to our family.

At first I found it incredibly difficult to focus on work while my children were home. I felt that by sitting down to work, I was neglecting their needs. But we soon got into a natural rhythm.

My kids each have their own interests, hobbies and favourite activities, and I soon realised that it didn't have to be a battle between them all! My family is very supportive of my home business because they can see that I am doing the two things I love – staying with my kids, and learning so many new things.

I feel rewarded when I see my kids' new achievements, and know that I have my own as well!

Kelly's Events by Design

BUSINESS PROFILE

I run a wedding and party coordination service called Kelly's Events by Design, and the WeddedBliss online forums. Kelly's Events by Design is my wedding and party consultancy business. I offer expert assistance to ensure that the wedding or party is one that people remember forever. All the time consuming and stressful details are taken care of and I ensure that everything goes EXACTLY as planned, so the hosts can relax, sip champagne, and enjoy the most exciting day of their lives. No longer just for celebrities and high flyers, wedding planners are affordable and often actually save couples money.

The WeddedBliss Forums are where Australian and International Brides come to share the excitement of planning their weddings.

Brides-to-be can:

• access informative guides and articles
• share planning ideas and tips
• get recommendations and advice from other brides

The primary goal of The WeddedBliss Forums is to provide a friendly, inviting atmosphere where brides, grooms, and married couples can share the joys of wedded bliss.

Contact : www.weddedbliss.com.au or events@weddedbliss.com.au
Phone: 0438 556 284

Working from home works for me because firstly, it means I am with my 6mo son, and i have the flexibility to parent and run my business since I organise my time however it works for me day by day. Secondly, i am my own boss - the freedom that comes with this is wonderful. Conversely, the responsibility and accountability also rests with me, and i love the challenge of that. Lastly, it gives me the opportunity to work in a field i am passionate about, and which i have natural skills and flair in, all the while allowing me to achieve my other important goal of being an available mum to my son.Jan Andersen Writing & Copywriting Services

Following the birth of my fourth child in November 1999, I began working from home as a freelance writer, something that I had dreamed about for many years. I certainly did not relish the thought of ever having to return to a mainstream office environment and contending with the inherent issues of company politics, backbiting and miscommunication. I also had no desire to spend the rest of my life completing projects for which my boss took the credit. I wanted the fulfilment of having my efforts acknowledged and knowing that the harder I worked, the more money I could potentially earn. In my previous role in marketing, the effort I put in did not always translate into my salary! The cliché “job satisfaction” also springs to mind.

In addition to commercial copywriting for a broad spectrum of industries and writing articles, features and columns for online and print publications worldwide, I also own and run several non-profit websites, including a site that supports older mothers, a site for bereaved families and a site that offers help to both new and established writers worldwide. More recently, I have taken on the role of editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal produced by The Compassionate Friends, a grief charity that supports bereaved parents.

Working from home has allowed me the luxury of literally combining a career with raising a family and being able to spend quality time with my young daughter. It does mean multi-tasking, being extremely organised and learning to manage my time effectively, but isn't that something that we women do constantly anyway?

Contact Details:

Email: worldwriteruk@hotmail.com

Web: http://janandersen.homestead.com

Jan's Support Websites:

www.mothersover40.com

www.childsuicide.homestead.com

www.worldwriter.homestead.com

Sally Slater - usborne

I always knew when I was pregnant with my first child I wouldn’t want to leave him with anyone while I went out to work once he was born. I think having a child is a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t want to miss my little one growing up for the world.

At the same time I also knew that money would be tight once my maternity allowance stopped, and living with a 4 month old baby and 2 step children living with us fulltime too, I knew I needed some sort of miracle in order to stay with my baby and give him his mummy’s attention which is what he deserves at the same time as keeping the family fed and watered.

What I discovered was I suppose a kind of miracle – a job I could do when I wanted where I wanted and take my son with me. The best thing about it was HE would actually benefit from the business by gaining loads of free books! Be under no illusions, this is not a get rich quick scheme or a scam, I have seen many people being taken in by things like that before, this is simply a self employed job which earns you as much money as you put into it. Not an unrealistic miracle money maker, but a genuine worthwhile career for stay at home mums, or even ones who work, retired people, young people looking for a career, anyone really!

The great thing about it is half the time you can’t even work out if you’re at work or not! It’s a really great way to get loads of freebies as well as a regular decent income. You can earn what you like, from £100 - £500 a month doing just a few hours a week, up to anything you like (some people are on £50,000 a year) but anything is possible, it all depends on what you put into it.

The job involves selling brand new quality books to schools, parents, kids, playgroups, libraries, friends, family, infact anyone you can think of! Of the books you sell you earn 24% commission from day one; eventually if you recruit other people to join your team (which is the idea of this article for me) you can earn up to 39% on every book you sell as well as earning 4% of everything your recruits sell! (Don’t worry, your recruits don’t loose anything, they still get their normal percentage) If you hold a book fair at your home, you can also earn up to 60% of the amount you sell in free books (and there’s thousands to choose from) There’s such an opportunity for this career to make you a happy, well off person who does a job they love and earn excellent books for your kids too.

The company, usborne, is an extremely reputable company offering so many incentives and offers, the support network is huge. When you join you have so many people offering you their help, especially your supervisor (the person who recruited you) you just cant fail to get off to a great start!

Anyway I think I’ve rambled on enough now, if you are interested or just curious to know more, please don’t hesitate to contact me s.slater10@ntlworld.com There’s no pressure to enter into the business, you can think about it as long as you like, but I’m so glad I did it, I’m really excited about what It could do for me and my baby, who means the world to me.

Kate Kelly - Kate Kreations

I am a mum of two, a boy aged five and a girl aged three and I am really enjoying working from home. I am doing something that I enjoy but I am still there full time for my kids. It is hard sometimes working around them but I always manage because I want to be there for them both. I feel they are benefiting from my working from home as I am not away from them when they need me and I am relaxed and happy because I'm not rushing to and from my workplace.

I've always wanted to have my own craft business and now I am fulfilling that dream. Making cards also fits in with the kids beacause they can sit and make their own cards with me when I have to work while they are around. They enjoy looking through all my boxes of bits and having a go themselves. I've not been making cards for very long but I don't feel under any pressure.

I can build my business as slowly or as fast as I want to and I enjoy learning new techniques and improving the designs of my cards. For once in my life I am enjoying working and I feel I am doing the best for my kids as well.

My contact information is Kate Kelly, Kate Kreations, 9 Ashurst Close, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO21 5UJ United Kingdom Tel: 01243 865759 katekelly73@aol.com www.stores.ebay.co.uk/katekreations

Allison Lamont
Designer and Creator, Web Graphics by E-mail

With seven years of work related to computing and the Information Technology industry and extensive self taught skills, I have dealt with numerous design requirements both online and off.

Having completed a year's training in art and design at TAFE, I gained a certificate IV in Microcomputer technology at Interim (now Spherion.) Blending the two lead to me to designing web graphics and editing photos - and to finding my ideal vocation.

I worked for several web solutions companies and developed many skills that I didn't want to stop using. After having my first child Leeroy, I decided that working from home would be the best way of working and keeping the one thing that I love to do - design.

With a keen desire to provide quality graphics customised to small businesses and to work from home, 'Web Graphics by e-mail' was born.

My goal to provide affordable design services became a reality. My portfolio of work is growing and when Leeroy is in school -- I hope to have enough clients to continue working from home.

So that's the basic story and hopefully the rest is going to be great...

Web Graphics By E-mail
www.webgraphicsbyemail.com

Melissa Rogerson - The Baby Shopper

"When I had my first daughter, there was nothing to help me decide which products would be best for my family," says baby shopper founder Melissa Rogerson. "Nearly five years later, when I had my second child, what information there was was still scattered around many places, rather than collected in one easy-to-access location."

Nearly nine months after the birth of her second daughter, Melissa is celebrating a delivery of a different kind with the publication of her book. Buying for Baby: A guide for parents-to-be is a comprehensive guide to all that baby will - and won't - need.

"Working from home gives me the flexibility to combine my passions," says Melissa. "I can work hard all day, but I am still free to help out in my daughter's classroom and pick her up from school, to do voluntary work for our childcare centre and of course to blow raspberries on baby's little tummy."

Melissa's tips for working from home (learned the hard way) include:

• find some kind of childcare, whether paid, unpaid or a combination, so that you can concentrate on important jobs.
• be careful to distinguish between 'work time' and 'family time' so that you don't end up with creeping guilt over whatever you're NOT doing.
• enlist the support of family and friends, and find a good support network.
• be careful not to take on too much at once!

Contact the baby shopper:
Web: www.babyshopper.com.au
Post: PO Box 125, Parkville Vic 3052
Phone: 03 9343 6320
Fax: 03 9380 4859

Melissa's book is available online here and will be in bookstores nationally from August.

ADD THIS PAGE TO YOUR WEB SITE. If you'd like to support this worthwhile cause and promote more MUMS WORKING FROM HOME around the globe, you can add this page to your own web site and include the mums in business or working from home you'd like to see featured on your own support page. The idea is for web site owners anywhere to add the page to their own web site and feature their own list of MUMS WORKING FROM HOME.

This way, the support for this worthwhile cause spreads faster right across the globe.

REMEMBER THIS IDEA BEGAN IN AUSTRALIA!

DISCLAIMER. The owners of www.beautiful-rooms.com and www.candlewyck.com take no responsibility for any featured businesses or individuals making claims or offering services or products. We have no direct association with them. Neither do we take responsibility for other web sites adding this page to their own web sites or the business service, product or information they may offer.

Proudly Supported by Businessmums.com

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