by theEmother | Aug 31, 2009 | entrepreneurial mothers, MEinc
by Jonathan Fields for ChangeThis.com
“Try this career choice standard on for size…
Will this choice allow me to:
Spend the greatest amount of time
– Absorbed in activities and relationships that fill me up
– While surrounding myself with people I cannot get enough of, and
– Earning enough to live comfortably in the world?”
If not, why not? read on…
This little gem sounds like one I could have written myself!
If you’re career/business choice cannot tick off these 3 things, then my to review your current situation to work out why not. Whilst you may not like the answers, do it anyway…
by theEmother | Aug 18, 2009 | business ideas & thinking, entrepreneur trends (past & present!), so you think you're in business
by James Tuckerman for Anthill Magazine… well worth the read.
…It’s no good applying the free models unless you can understand how your consumer will interpret them (whether they will work for or against you).
The psychology of ‘free’ is a powerful force. There is a chasm between cheap and free when a decision hangs in the balance. So, when presented with a free option, are we able to make our decisions freely?
The answer is a definite ‘Yes’, for two reasons.
Firstly, ‘free’ still lacks ‘believability’. Secondly, there are some things we prize more than money (or the monetary value of a free product or service).
For example, why does it still seem that everything is getting more and expensive? The price of fresh fruit and vegetables is soaring. Water feels like it is fast becoming a luxury. And a visit to the petrol bowser now seems to require a second mortgage on the family home.
Yet, when we stop to think about it, we all know the reality.
Modern living is getting cheaper. You can now score a digital watch simply by purchasing a tin of Milo. You can also pick up a new DVD player at the checkout for less than your weekly groceries. At the same time, while starvation was one of our greatest social concerns as little as eighty years ago, we’re now a nation fixated on the perils of obesity.
We belong to a disposable economy, where planned obsolescence is now part of the business training manual. And globalisation is only making it easier to buy and toss…
by theEmother | Aug 17, 2009 | entrepreneurial mothers, inspiring women
I’m an older woman, disillusioned with corporate life, and needing a change, but wanting very much to be in a position to enhance other people’s life experience. I have always been drawn to the vocation of civil celebrant, so took formal training and began to set up my business. I became very ill and had to freeze all my plans for eighteen months until I recovered, and then found myself totally lacking any motivation to start again.
At that time I was presented with Denise’s story, and I realised that I could get up and get going again. True grit and determination to succeed, arming yourself with information by further study and finding the right people has been Denise’s lesson to me through this story – and it’s working for me now as I practise it.
Both my children are adults and yet there is a great deal in this story of Denise’s love and nurture of her daughter which has lessons for me even now!
A really refreshing story, and one which should cause us all to stop and think about whether we are really going after our goals, or do we want them served to us?
Jen McLennan
Jennifer McLennan
Civil and Marriage Celebrant
www.life-matters.com.au
by theEmother | Aug 15, 2009 | entrepreneurial mothers, MEinc, so you think you're in business
Sometimes you are forced into paying attention to cashflow, and one of those times for me is right now. Even more importantly for me is that I am the sole bread-winner, so I don’t have a choice; whether I want to curl up in bed in a foetal position or not is irrelevant! Hence why it’s been a little quiet on the blog front of late, and it may stay that way for a little while longer yet.
Whilst there are quite a few irons in the fire right now (and if they all come off at the same time then I’ll have a different issue, it’s called time management!), the cashflow I had forecast and expected has vaporised, just like that. All entrepreneurial mothers, get used to it, it does happen to all of us at one time or other.
How has this happened?
The answer is layered and never simple, but a few key learnings that have come to the surface are:
– sometimes, it is just about the timing
– sometimes it is not, and it’s the time to ascertain what not to do again
– not to only rely on others, as their sense of urgency can be a whole lot different to yours
– when you know you should be doing something, but you allow others to talk you out of it… don’t. Follow your instinct, then you can have no one else to blame if it does not work, but you won’t go down wondering either
– marry someone rich!! only joking
This will make for a fabulous case-study in the not too distant future, and will certainly provide rich fodder for a new chapter of upcoming, still in planning mode book.
