Trash the Dress

Girls, I wonder if you would help Mareike from MM Photography out a little! She's recently had a baby as you know and is now hoping to really 'launch' her photography business! So to have a big launch splash, she's giving away a 'Trash The Dress' photo shoot worth £200 to one lucky Bride!!!




All the details on the Home Page of www.theglasgowgirlsweddingguide.com but if anyone was able to add a little bit of text pointing to it in their NewsLetters or indeed had space for a big bit, then that would be great!! She's written a Blog piece too which I've got on my Blog today,maybe you could add it to your Blog?



Hope all well with all of you - hope to catch up soon!!

Working 5 to 9 - How to run a sucessful business in your spare time

Link to buy the discounted copy of working 5 to 9. www.charmingangelsparties.co.uk are featured in it - great for bloggers right through to medium sized businesses. Must buy! Reduced from £12.99 to £8.99 via this link  http://www.global-investor.com/track/44/

Why Franchise?

Amrit at Creation Station tells us Why Franchise? When my third daughter was approaching nursery school age the reality of getting back to work hit me hard.Where could I find somewhere that would let me drop my kids off at school and nursery, be there to pick them back up without relying on expensive after school clubs, and what about the school holidays?? And what could I do anyway; being out of employment for sometime would be mean lengthy retraining that I couldn’t afford financially or commit myself to.So I decided to do it all myself. I couldn't look after my young family and be answerable to someone else at work. I wanted the independence and control of my own business and saw that with the Creation Station I could also be part of a team. The concept is so simple and marketable and it would give me a way to explore my long-neglected artistic side as well as earn a living.I had started thinking about flexible working opportunities, and had considered franchising. I had been really drawn to the Creation Station, as it allows me to still use my teaching skills, working with children and I love arts and crafts.The reason I chose a franchise:I did think maybe I could do this myself and at the same time knew without the right backing I would probably give up at the first hurdle.It is not easy. However, there is great support from all the other franchisees who are now really good friends. We all share ideas on a forum and help each other to grow our businesses. There are lesson plans, which are well thought out and in line with Early Years learning.The support and back-up has been quite amazing and is one of the reasons I was so confident about choosing the Creation Station for my business. People who had bought into other types of franchises had told me how they had paid their money, were given a DVD and told to pretty much get on with it. I wanted more than that. I like that I am helping to build a brand and am part of a bigger picture. My friends and family are giving me so much support and I know that if I want it to be successful I am going to have to work hard. But, it's my business so it's worth it. I'm looking forward to the satisfaction of seeing families enjoy what we do and keep coming back. In the short term I want to earn enough to pay my bills and be available to meet my child from school. Ultimately, I would possibly buy a second Creation Station franchise in a neighbouring area and employ someone to run it. Right now I'm feeling excited and a little nervous. But I can’t imagine where else I would be.

Welcome to the Scottish Mumpreneur Network

We have a quite a few business mums in our network from all different types of business fields. So to keep you posted of members and who is who we plan to update you with a little blurb on each of the members.

 So who is behind the running of the Scottish Mumpreneur Network?


There are two of us Elaine Hart and Louise Graham. Elaine is the one who did all the phoning and organising of our first meet in Oct at the Beanscene, she has also been in touch by email to many of our members. Elaine runs Ready Steady Go Childminding in Paisley as her full time business and can be contacted at tweetypieelaine@hotmail.co.uk. She has a son & daugther, aged 12 & 2.


Louise is currently a full time teacher of Design & Technology as well as running 2 businesses! Louise does all the PR and website based work as well as contacting members via email. She runs Wedding and Baby a website full of accessories of those special events in your life http://www.weddingandbaby.co.uk  and Charming Angels childrens Jewellery and Craft making parties http://www.charmingangelsparties.co.uk . Louise can be contacted on weddingandbaby@yahoo.co.uk or charminganglesparties@yahoo.co.uk. She is a mum to her son aged 4.


Our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Scottish-Mumpreneur-Network-Mums-in-Business/103134376391823?ref=ts

 

Who are the members?


Members -

Louise at www.weddingandbaby.co.uk and www.charmingangelsparties.co.uk


Elaine at Ready Steady Go Childmining



M.T at www.theglasgowgirlsweddingguide.com

I run The Glasgow Girls Wedding Guide which is an ideas, information and inspirational site for Glasgow Brides planning their Wedding, with a full list of local Wedding Suppliers! The idea behind the site was to allow local Brides to find local Suppliers as most of the UK Wedding Planning sites are very English-based and do not feature many Scottish Wedding Service Suppliers! It has grown however, into a site full of ideas, advice and Chat about all things Wedding!

I am mum to a son of almost 4 and a daughter of almost 2! In my former life I was a Principal Teacher of a High School of just under 2000 pupils so this is a bit of a change! I still do a bit of tutoring and also run an Usborne Children's Books business.

 Mundeep at www.candle-lite-party.co.uk




Kirstin at www.fingerprint-jewellery.co.uk/paisley



Sharon at www.raringto2go.co.uk




Mareike at www.mariekemurray.com


I am Mareike Murray, originally from Germany but have been living in Scotland for 6 years now, just outside Glasgow in Uddingston with my husband Gary. I am mother to our newborn daughter. I am working full time as a research manager (started maternity leave at the end of January) and also have a photography business which is still in the early stages but which I am very excited about. I am specialising in wedding photography and lifestyle portraiture on location (i.e. I am not using studio equipment). My style is modern, elegant, relaxed - a combination of carefully set up poses and photojournalism. I aim to show the true personality of the people I’m photographing and think the key is a great relationship with the clients and the ability to make them laugh!




Libby at www.bareknees.co.uk/


My name is Libby Young. I live just north of Glasgow with my husband, 2 year old Struan, and 6 month old Angus. I am a solicitor, currently on maternity leave, but have also set up a kilt making business, and will soon have to make the decision about whether to return to employment or not. Bare Knees is my business, and I make hand sewn, bespoke kilts for adults, children and babies. I sell full kilt outfits for adults, and sell or hire full kilt packages for children and babies.As a kilt outfit is a large expense for a customer, I aim to make it as easy and relaxed an experience as possible. If the customer is within Central Scotland, I will travel to them for fittings etc. I make alternative arrangements for customers who are further afield. Each kilt is specifically tailored to the individual customer, and this includes advice on tartan, and accessories. I work with other Scottish craftspeople to ensure that my customers have a wide range of high quality accessories to choose from.I am also happy to tackle more unusual projects, with my most recent being a set of three pink kilts for a breast cancer charity event in Hong Kong.

Alison - www.plansandpresents.co.uk

My name is Alison Tinlin and I live on the south side of Glasgow with my husband, Neill and my two kids, Kathryn, 4 and Leo, 22months.
I was a nurse in medical admissions for 14 years before having to give it up due to childcare issues.
I started my Wedding and Event Planning business, Plans and Presents http://www.plansandpresents.co.uk in April this year after pre planning and researching for a few years and then getting some practical experience.
My job is to work with my clients to create the vision they have of their special day or event and I offer several services from initial supplier and venue searches through to on the day management and of course the full co-ordination option.

Nikki - http://www.cupcouture.co.uk

Ali - http://www.mindfulmum.co.uk

Amrit - http://www.thecreationstation.co.uk

Jenni - http://macksmagicalmirrors.com/index.html

Irene - http://www.i-craft.co.uk