Tuesday 27 August 2013

The story so far...

Busy mum

Here is an article that I wrote for Motherhood Diaries about my journey. It covers my story of what it was like to make the big changes in my life that have occurred so far! Have a look and let me know what you think!

http://motherhooddiaries.com/motherhood-businesses-jobs-and-family-life-one-mothers-account-of-juggling-the-every-day-obstacles-life-throws-at-her-family/

Love Nova xxx

Friday 23 August 2013

The brilliant little film my son made me for the blog...

My very clever 8 year old son has made this film for me to advertise the blog! He made it all himself without any help! Have a watch, it has a great message behind it.....



Please let us know what you think!

Love Nova xxx

The person who owns £12 million and doesn't even know it...




There is someone out there in Britain right now who has £12,000,000 coming to them and they don't even know it. £12 million that is just sat there waiting for them to notice the value of a small slip of paper and to wake up to how very valuable it is. 

This morning I was considering buying a lottery ticket, I went onto the site to see how easy it was to purchase online. A page link at the bottom caught my eye...There is a list of unclaimed prizes on the National Lottery website and someone bought a ticket for the draw on the 31st May for the Euromillions Millionaires raffle in the Ladywood District of Birmingham. That person is the owner of the £12 million and apparently they are totally unaware. If they don't quickly remember to check their ticket the money will be lost to them forever.

This got me thinking. How many of us fail to see the value in things before it is too late? How many times have we left things to the last minute through laziness or an assumption that it won't matter only to find that we have missed out? £12 million is a huge amount to lose, it might stay with you for the rest of your life that feeling of how things could have been so different. The resentment might grow and grow and your life could instead change for the worse - just because you didn't pay attention to the small things that ultimately could have huge impacts. 

I know that there have been times when I have not followed opportunities up, believing them not to be worthwhile or to be so time consuming that I wouldn't be able to make them happen or that I thought wouldn't turn out to be beneficial - only to find that someone else did and they were incredibly successful as a result. Or missing a meeting that later turned out to be an offer that I would have been so excited about but was no longer open because I had not shown the commitment or interest level required. As a result, I have long since tried never to turn down an opportunity at first glance but to follow it through until I could come to a decision based on more than just 'do I have time?', 'do I have the energy?' etc.

Sometimes it seems that small things won't ever matter - not checking that lottery ticket for example....'I'm never going to win anyway, what is the point?' The point, I suppose is that you never know, you never know what might happen until you try, until you ask, until you get to know someone, until you take a risk. Maybe your business idea is not going to work, maybe you will have less money and this will never improve, maybe your family will suffer as you work harder and earn less, maybe it will all go wrong. The question is not 'what if it all goes wrong?' but 'do I really want this?' If you really want it and it serves your ideas of where you would like your future to go then try it. Try talking to someone that is in your industry that you would like help from - they might tell you where to go, or they might turn your life around. If you don't ask, someone else will and if they get the answer you wanted and you miss out you have lost more than just the slight embarrassment that comes from asking or getting a 'no' answer. 

As an analogy, life is a bit of a lottery, you don't really know how it is going to turn out but as it say's on the adverts 'you have to be in it to win it'. There is absolutely no chance of winning/getting what you want, if you refuse to take part, you have sealed your fate already, you have made up your mind that you will not win. Making a small investment on a regular basis though could end up netting you millions. I'm not suggesting the lottery as the answer, there are far better ways to invest your time and money! Invest it in you, invest it in your future but be sure to take part.

Don't take the small things as unimportant, make the calls, reply to the emails, follow up your curiosities, keep doing what you love without any response being necessary and for goodness sake...if you bought a ticket in Birmingham, CHECK IT!!!!

Please circulate this to anyone you know who might own the ticket as well - how amazing would it feel if we could make their dreams come true by getting their £12 million to them! 

Love Nova xxx


Monday 19 August 2013

Big Changes: From City Lawyer to Owner of an online magazine!



As part of our continuing series on people who have made inspirational big changes in their working lives, quittingthe9to5 interviewed Leyla Preston. Leyla is the owner and Editor of Motherhood Diaries Global Magazine for Parents. Leyla is a busy mother of two even busier boys; Aron, 2 ½ years, and Aidan, 16 months. When Leyla isn't feeding, changing nappies or cleaning the infinite mess at home, she is busy working on her magazine, and her law consultancy, L Law Consultancy  – no rest for the wicked! 



What were you doing before you set up www.motherhooddiaries.com?

I was working towards my law career right before I found out I was pregnant with my eldest son. My pregnancy was the perfect excuse to quit my job at a City law firm because I hated how competitive and corporate it was, and I probably would have never seen my children if I had gone back to my old job.

What were the circumstances that led you to make the jump to running your own business?

I found out I was pregnant, which was a huge surprise as my husband and I were not planning a family at all. We were both at the height of our careers. I had already decided that if I were to get pregnant, I would quit my job, and I have always wanted to own a successful business. So I thought, rather than thinking about it, just do it! I set up a blog of my son’s pregnancy in the last months of my employment and a Law Consultancy to keep my feet in the legal industry. The blog grew through recommendations from my friends and family. I took some time off from the Law Consultancy and finally launched the magazine in May 2013, two years after I set up my blog.

What has been the hardest thing for you to overcome in order to launch the business?

The biggest constraint by far has been time. Managing two boys under three and a new business requires efficiency and enough time to work on both without neglecting the other.  But because my boys come first, I only end up getting about two hours in the day to work on my business, and that sometimes means two hours spread throughout the day! Doesn't help speed the process of growing my business along…

What has been the best piece of advice you have received?

Don’t lose your drive and ambition to succeed. Keep your goals clear and keep working, one step at a time. You will get there, whether you are slower or quicker than everyone else, you have obstacles to face, or you don’t have enough time. Stay focused.

If you could do it all again what would you change?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and rather than setting up my blog, I would have gone straight into creating my magazine with all the knowledge and experience I have now. It would also mean that I would be two years ahead in my business plan. Having said that, I wouldn't have made all of the mistakes and learned valuable lessons from them if I hadn't had those two years to find myself and my business.

Did you have to source finance for your venture or did you use savings?

I used the last three months of my employment salary to start my blog and buy the host and domain. I had very little start up overheads, having expenses only in my domain and host server. But I set up a Law Consultancy in January 2012 and that has funded my magazine to date.

How did the idea for the business come to you?

When I found out I was pregnant in March 2010, the mummy blogging world was still relatively unknown. I searched high and low on the internet for a personal weekly pregnancy blog and found Emma’s Diary, a pretty large corporate site with a small weekly blog of Emma’s pregnancy. I liked the personal connection I felt with her stories and wanted to set up something similar to this. A lot of mums and mums-to-be then started asking me what I ate during my pregnancy, how did I keep healthy and where were the best places to buys maternity clothes, to name a few. So I converted my blog into a website full of information I found during my pregnancy. I then had my babies and documented their birth stories on the website. Mums then started contacting me with their birth stories and I published them. I started to think about what happened beyond birth and readers sent in their stories and recommendations. I've always wanted to own a printed magazine, so I fused the two ideas together and started up an online magazine instead!

How long was the set up process before the business launched and what did it involve?

The process took a lot longer than it should have taken, mostly because I employed website designers who took 8 months to design and build the site, and then they ran off with my money! So I lost 8 months and in that time I had created a lot of pre-launch buzz and the buzz was starting to wear off. I employed new website designers and they finished the site in 3 months. I took a few months to sort out the content and the layout and then sent out a press release to all the major PR companies and parenting sites to alert them of the new magazine. I utilise social networking sites well and have affiliated social media sites in Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest. The key is to market, market, market and network, network, network! I also created business cards to hand out to people I believe would be interested in the magazine and I plan to design some flyers to hand out to people on the street. I have started networking a lot more now as a lot of small business owners don’t realise how valuable networking is to promote your business.

Have you had any extra training to help you with the business or did you use skills that you already possessed?

I have always wanted to start my own business, so I read a lot about business and how to set up one from newspapers and magazines, offline and online. I have never had any formal training, I just learn from reading about successful business owner’s successes and mistakes. I think the key is to keep an open mind and take in the information that makes sense to you. As mine is a purely online business, I learned a lot from reading and studying online websites related to my field. And, don’t be afraid to contact your competitors and ask for advice! They might say no, but there will be the odd one that will be happy to help. Even better, contact successful business owners. I contacted Nick Hewer from The Apprentice and he responded with fantastic advice! He said, ‘Don’t worry about monetisation right now, build your reputation, credibility and excellent content and monetisation will come naturally’.

Thank you so much Leyla! If anyone wants to find out more about your business how can they contact you or see the magazine?

You can follow me on Twitter (@M_Diaries) or join the busy Motherhood Diaries Facebook group where all mums get together and share stories and solutions with one another: https://www.facebook.com//groups/motherhooddiaries/
If you want to see my law consultancy website it's (www.llawconsultancy.co.uk)
Feel free to email me at leyla@motherhooddiaries.com for more information and very best of luck with your business!  Thank you!!!

Thanks again Leyla! Some great information for everyone to digest and hopefully get useful tips from! What did you think of Leyla's story? Do you have one of your own to share? Did Leyla inspire you to do something different? Let us know!

Love Nova xxx

Friday 9 August 2013

Geek Week Video!



Here is a video made by Tom who we interviewed a week ago to find out how he went from Retail Manager to a self employed Film Maker. You can read his interview here. Have a look at what he and some other celebs think about being 'Geeky'. If you want to run your own business you can bet that you are a little bit geeky somewhere in there...you need the passion of a geek, the tenacity of a geek and the uniqueness of a geek in order to succeed - let your geek out quick!!

Love Nova xxx

Friday 2 August 2013

What Nick Hewer said when I asked him about small business

Nick Hewer of Apprentice fame is answering questions on running a small business today and he was kind enough to answer the question I put to him on behalf of quitting the 9 to 5 readers. I asked: 'What do you think is the most common misconception people have when they decide to start a small business?' This is his reply...




Hi Nova Woodrow. I believe that people think that running your own business is always easy and well paid. The reality is that whilst running your own business is the best thing you will ever do, there are some really tough times. For instance, you have a tremendous responsibility not just for the people you employ, but also for your customers and those that supply you with products and services. In hard times, like today, the owner of a small business has a duty to preserve as best he/she can the jobs of the employees, and the boss must take the first wage cut. But in good times, the benefits of owning your own business flow through - can there be any greater satisfaction than being in charge of your own destiny? Regards, Nick.

Starting a Business: How do I know what my business should be?

So you know that you want to run your own business - but do you know what that business is yet? Do you know what will keep you in it for the long haul? What will stop you getting bored with it? How do you know if it will be a success?

In this series of Starting a Business articles I am going to look at how to identify the business you would most likely be successful at, what will determine its success, how to know what your strengths and weaknesses are and how to ensure you can be committed enough to make it work.

This first article will look at five ways to find the business that will suit you. It covers similar things to other articles because life and work constantly cross over in their psychology.

1) Identify what you want

What exactly is it that you would change about your current situation? Are you working too many hours? Do you need to feel like you are giving more to people or giving less even? Do you want to be more flexible in your working hours or do you want more of a fixed schedule? Do you want more social interaction or to get away from the politics of the office? Do you want to work from home? Do you want to reduce your travel time? Do you want more variety? What is it that dissatisfies you currently? Make a list, make it a list that is really hones in on EXACTLY what you want to change (e.g how many hours do you want to work, how often would you interact with others face to face?). Outline your ideal day from the moment you wake until the moment you go to sleep. What do you notice in there that doesn't feature in your everyday life at the moment? Would you like to start the day with a walk or an exercise class? Would you like to spend time in the garden? Perhaps you would like to go out for lunch everyday? Write it all down and highlight the points that you feel most strongly about. Make a final 'must have' list of things that you really don't want to compromise on and put them in order. If the one thing that you absolutely won't compromise on is, for example, your working hours put this on the top of the list.


2) Identify what drives you

When you were a child what was it that you wanted to do? What about when you were a teenager? What is the essence of these things? Did you want to be a policeman because you like the idea of feeling like you could protect others or maybe because you wanted to feel important in the eyes of others, perhaps you liked the idea of the uniform? Did you want to do something creative? Why? What was it about being a famous pop star as a teenager that really attracted you? Do you love music, being on public view, did you like the fashion icon side of it, do you like performing, travelling, being adored? Be honest with yourself, there is no judgement in identifying what you truely find attractive about a certain 'dream job'. Can you get this essence in your current job?

What things really excite you now? When are you most happy? Do you like to be indoors or outdoors? Do you like working alone or with others? What would make you want to get up in the morning with a sense of excitement at starting the day? Is there a hobby you love that you could turn into a business? Do you find yourself being drawn to certain types of things? Maybe you love (like me) collecting vintage crockery and you could hire your collection out to people having events? Perhaps you are always setting your friends up on dates and could do this for a living? Maybe your friends always come to you when they want advice and you could train as a counsellor? Identify what really drives you in its essence.

3) Create a shortlist

Once you have identified the things you really love write each one down on a separate piece of paper and start to come up with ideas connected to each of these. I like creating mind maps but you can do this in any way that comes naturally to you. Mind map example shown below:

 


What ideas can you generate connected with each strand of enjoyment? You will naturally start with the most obvious ideas but as you think further your mind will become more creative - set yourself a challenge to come up with at least two more ideas than you can come up with without too much thought.

Connect the dots with your ideas, some of them might link really nicely. Perhaps you love being outside and also love working with children but want to have the flexibility to only work certain days? You could run workshops for children two days a week where you take them on nature walks and build dens as part of curriculum linked topics? Maybe you love shopping for a bargain, enjoy making lists and are generally very organised? Could you market your strengths as a virtual PA?

4) Ask your friends and family

Sometimes you don't actually recognise your own strengths or give them much value. This is where others around us can help to clarify things. Ask everyone you know (not incessantly..!) what they could see you doing in the future, what do they think you would be really good at? What do they value about you? Do they think you are always really coordinated when you dress? Do they think you make people feel at ease? Are you unafraid to voice opinions? Do you always try to get money off the bill? Their feedback can show you some of the things about you that you may not ever really thing of as being able to convert into strengths that can be used in a business.

5) Create your vision and question it

Once you have a few options for what you might want to create as your new job or business, draw up a picture of how that will look on a day to day basis. If you decide that you want your new career to be as a fashion blogger because you have identified that you enjoy writing, wearing the latest fashions and you want to work flexibly and sometimes from home - think about what you would need to do on a day to day basis after all the exciting and hard work of getting it established would be - is it what you want? Are you willing to spend the time necessary? Are you committed to it? How would it affect the others around you? Is that ok with you? This is the time to refine your ideas, develop them further and discard those that don't meet the top things on your 'must have' list. Once  you have your final vision make at least one step towards that goal immediately!

Next time in this series we will be looking at how to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Did you find this article useful? If so please share it with your friends!

Love Nova xxx

Thursday 1 August 2013

Big Changes: From Retail Manager to Film Maker!

As part of our new Big Changes series we will be interviewing people who have made the move from employed to self employment or who have made a huge change in their career. We ask them how they did it and what it was like!

This interview is with Tom Woodrow who runs Geek Media. He went from working as a retail manager to running his own successful film production company. He bravely followed his big dream to make films and documentaries despite having to give up a secure income in order to do this and not having any formal training in film making. The move has been a huge success and has taken him across the world and back again making films with some of our best loved faces. The company currently has television programmes in production and a filmed trip to the South Pole planned.


Thanks for your time Tom, what an exciting journey you are on! What was your life like before you took the step to go self employed?

My life was very difficult. My work/life balance was completely wrong. I used to leave the house at 7 am and I wouldn't be back home till the kids were in bed. I worked Saturdays so I only really had one day a week to spend with the family. In work I felt unappreciated, despite the positive impact I was having on the business. I worked at least 60 hours a week and was only getting paid for 40. Also not as important, but I feel relevant, I was working in the motorcycle industry and the fact I was not enjoying my work with motorcycles left me without a passion for them - previously they had been a big passion of mine. Now I do some filming work with bikes and because my passion for life is back I have fallen in love with them all over again.

So what is your life like now as a comparison?

It would be wrong of me to make a blanket statement that life is now amazing. I do feel a lot better in myself. I love what I am doing now and I get to spend a lot more time with my family, but there are a lot of new adjustments that I have had to make. Firstly, money. Working as a freelance film maker is well paid, but the work is not regular. Sometimes I will have a month where I take half my yearly income, but then I have 3 months without any work, so I have to be really careful about managing my families money so we don't run out. This can be pretty stressful. Then there is working from home, this takes a while to get used to, not just for me, but the family too. They have to know that when Daddy is working he can't be interrupted, this is not easy for a 5 and 2 year old's to understand. Working from home also means I am suddenly not having any face to face interactions with people, which is pretty difficult. Overall though my quality of life has massively increased.



Leaving a full time job is a scary prospect in the current climate (or at any time!). Was there ever any point at which you regretted giving up a secure job?

So far, no. I do worry sometimes about making sure I get jobs in etc but no regrets yet!

Lots of people who start their own businesses with a family feel they need to save for a long time before hand or to have a secure investment that will carry them through the lean times. Did you have financial back up for the venture, like personal savings or investors?

My father, who has always been really supportive of my filming, offered to invest. This has given me enough money to pay the rent and bills each month for 2 years. But I have to find the work if I want to be able to put food on the table. It also means for 2 years I can push the TV shows, which takes a lot of time, but worth it when the money eventually comes through.

I know that you didn't start out with qualifications in film making or any experience at all really - that's amazing that you have broken into the industry through sheer hard work and determination. Did you do any extra training at all in order to learn any aspects of the business?

For the filming side no, I taught myself and went with my instincts but I am still trying to work out the ins and outs of accounts, tax etc you can teach yourself these with so much information out there on the web but it's still worthwhile asking the experts when you are not sure yourself - no one can be an expert at everything!

Everyone hopes that there is one technique to getting business that will be guaranteed to work, this though differs from business to business and person to person. What is the best move you've made for the business so far?

Networking. I always thought that this was an excuse to get out of the house but it really works! Most of my filming work has come through people I have met at shows and events.

We all like to learn from others mistakes and try to avoid them ourselves, what was the worst decision you made and how would you have avoided it if you had the chance to change what happened?

I think I'm too trusting. I never take deposits but I really should. I took a filming job, only a medium size one but I spent about 25% of the cost of the job on some specific equipment needed. Then they decided not to go ahead, 2 days before filming. The equipment is still handy but I spent a lot and turned down other jobs on the dates reserved. A non refundable deposit would have made this less painful.

How did you decide on your branding?

My branding was about telling customers a bit about myself and what I do. It is also a bit of an ironic statement about my school days. I was bullied in school, and often called a geek. I made the decision after watching a documentary on Derren Brown. He said "I was never really bullied in school, but most definitely a bit kind of picked on by some of those rougher kids. Thank God its the rougher kids that go on to have really boring jobs in adult life, while it's the kids that got picked on that grow up to do the really interesting things. " This really really struck a chord with me, and calling my company the name that had once been a bullies taunt made it personal and helped to inspire me. I do however also feel the meaning of Geek has also changed, being a geek is now cool, after the success of programmes like "The Big Bang Theory" and the geek movie boom (Batman, Ironman etc). It is also associated with attention to detail and a good knowledge of technology, all of which is important in the film industry. But at the end of the day, it just felt right for me. The branding was then easy, I wanted something simple and memorable, Something instantly recognizable. I asked myself what people would want to wear on a T-Shirt. So the geek face was born. When the business got bigger I considered changing the name but then I read what Simon Pegg said about being a geek "Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It's basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating." Again, this really spoke to me. I have a great geeky job and I love being a geek so why wouldn't I embrace it!

What is the most valuable advice you have ever received?

I have had loads of advice, some good, some bad but it is all valuable. There are simple things that I use all the time, for example reply to every email, no matter how small and even if it doesn't really need a response. The best however would be this "be honest about your abilities". Don't pretend you can do things you can't. Make sure you under promise and over deliver. You want customers to be impressed with what they got for the money, not feeling a little short changed.

What is your day to day life like now? Is it what you expected when you looked to make the change?

Life is varied now, mixed between meetings, editing in the studio and filming on location. It is exactly what I expected really. I think in my type of work it's easy to know what to expect though.


Thanks Tom! It's been really interesting to hear how you have been successful after quitting the 9 to 5. Good luck for the future of Geek Media Ltd and keep us updated!!

To visit Geek Media and find out more about the company please visit the website or go to the facebook page 

Want to be part of our Big Changes series?? Get in contact via our facebook page or the blog and see if you could be the focus of our next interview!

Was this a useful article for you? Please pass it on to your friends and colleagues if you found it interesting!

Love Nova xxx