Jobs and Careers with James Caan 2012 - (Page 60)

MUMPRENEURS Mum's the With the economy in the doldrums now is the age of the entrepreneur. The government and others are trying to galvanise the UK’s business spirit to rescue the flagging economy. One group being targeted is working mums, who have particularly been affected by public sector cuts. Recently, the government announced £2m plans to fund the creation of 5,000 volunteer mentors for women entrepreneurs in an effort to increase their numbers and to, in Home Secretary Theresa May’s words, "maximise women’s contribution to growth". At the launch, May said there were 1.1m self-employed women in the UK, making up a third of the self-employed population. However, women in the UK were less likely than in the US to start their own business. Everywoman, a leading female business community, also recently announced a partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) as part of a campaign to boost the number of female entrepreneurs. Everywoman and the FSB say they want the government to put in place a target to accelerate the number of women running businesses by 100,000 over the next 10 years. In the UK, 150,000 start-ups would be created per year if women started businesses at the same rate as men, they state. Theresa May says women thinking of starting up their own business are often put off by concerns over access to finance and work life balance issues. For some women, however, setting up a business is a way of improving their work/life balance and of extending the skills and experience they already have. 060 www.jobsandcareersmag.com A survey by Intuit earlier this year found that more than two in five mumpreneurs [mothers running their own businesses] say they struggled to get back into work after having children because of the limited career opportunities available to them. Nearly three quarters had set up their business after having children. A quarter said they turned to entrepreneurship because they couldn’t find a job flexible enough for them to work around their children, while over a third started their business because they wanted to be their own boss. The last few years have seen a growing number of mothers deserting the traditional workplace and setting up their own businesses, partly driven by new technology which makes it fairly easy and cheap to set up a business from home (but, of course, costs can quickly escalate). This growth has resulted in a number of books on the subject, ranging from Susan Odev and Mark Weeks’ Mum Ultrapreneur, which boils down the “secrets” to starting your own business into eight steps, to Mel McGee’s Millionaire Mumpreneurs, which highlights case studies of successful businesswomen. Other support available includes Antonia Chitty’s Mumpreneur Guide Business Programme, an online programme that mums running a business can access at any time through the internet. In addition to books, the rise of the mumpreneur has spawned awards ceremonies to celebrate success and galvanise other would-be entrepreneurs. Management consultant and mum of two Victoria Brannen, for instance, was shortlisted for the Business Hero Mumpreneur of the Year Online businesses are on the increase and they easily be started from home. Ideal for people who are looking for flexible working hours. Mandy Garner, from Working Mums, tells us why mums are making huge James Caan http://www.jobsandcareersmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs and Careers with James Caan 2012

Career bites
What really counts
Weighing it all up
Around the world
Ask the experts
Growth sectors
Train your brain
Homework
Carve a career in care
Here come the girls
Mum’s the word
An apple a day
It’s for you-hoo!
A step forward
His & hers
Bank on it
Risky Business
In the money
3 Specialist medical jobs
The stuff of life
Power on
Engineering heroes
Outside the box
Keeping it clean
Your Business with James Caan
Go Go GadGets
On trend office
Take my advice
Getting Going
The bank job
Make the most of your assets
Back to business
The law and you
HR Matters
Make it work
Into the cloud
Design & shine
Reach out
Gorkana and Gurkhas
Protect and prosper
Making it count
Your business or your life?
Nice supplies
Beginning business
Ship it
Ethical business
Backing business
Standing together
Top 10 hiring tips

Jobs and Careers with James Caan 2012