Published in the Chester Chronicle 3rd December 2004. Article written by Rebecca Taylor of the Chester Chronicle.
Mums struggling to take the first step toward starting their own business are offered free advice from women who have been there, done it and got the child-sized T-shirt.
Amanda Alexander, a life and business coach and mum to Max, two, will run the Mumpreneurs event with Business Link Cheshire and Warrington at the Cottons Hotel in Knutsford next Wednesday.
When Amanda went back to work 10 months after Max's birth, she soon realised that her old job as IT project manager was not going to fit in with her new role as mum.
It was the long hours and travelling that made it impossible.
My husband was doing the same job and what do you do if you both have a meeting? Whose meeting takes precedence?
Amanda, 34, of Orchard Way, Kelsall, soon realised that her life would be simpler if she could leave the pressure of the corporate world and become her own boss.
Inspired by her own life coach, she decided to train to give other people advice on their personal and business lives and set up her company, Amanda Alexander Coaching, last year.
The most important thing she learned was to build a community which can give help and advice.
Amanda said: After floundering while I was trying to set up the business, I clicked at the end of the year that you need to get out there to talk to people and it was that realisation that made all the difference.
Finding that many of her customers were mums who, like her, wanted to get their working lives back on track, Amanda set up a specific service for them: Coaching Mums.
Many mums have all these skills and experience and want to do something that works for them as a mum as well as bringing in money. They need guidance and structure to move forward and I provide that.
Wednesday's free-of-charge workshop will feature Amanda's advice on making business work, along with inspirational stories from other mothers who have bitten the bullet and gone to work for themselves.
The day is designed to be child-friendly, taking place between 10am and 2pm and with a fully supervised crèche on site.
The workshop and crèche are filling up fast; to book your place call Business Link on 0845 345 4025.
For the first time in a long long time, I feel 100% content with my life – in all areas of my life: in my relationship with my husband, as a Mum, at work, embarking on my new career, my friends, and my family; what more could I want!
J. Baker, Cambridgeshire