2012 looks set to be a year of excitement and celebration in the UK. As London gears up to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the Queen will be celebrating her Diamond Jubilee and 60 years as Britain’s Monarch. With the world’s eyes turned to our humble island, what successes are you hoping to achieve in 2012?

Neither the Olympic Games nor the Diamond Jubilee will happen without a great deal of hard work and preparation. What plans do you have in place to ensure your business continues to expand, whilst the economic downturn continues to spiral? It is no secret: 2012 looks set to...

If your to-do list appears to be never ending, then allocating deadlines could drive real results. Goals and deadlines work to motivate you towards accomplishment and success.

Deadlines are not only set by the super-organised, ruthless project manager. They are used by people who need to schedule tasks in a timely manner to ensure the job gets done. Deadlines keep you driven towards completion.

Deadlines encourage you to focus on your goals. And, when set realistically, can offer an amazing sense of achievement when a task has reached its completion.

Additionally, deadlines counteract...

Operating a mum-owned business can be quite a juggling act. Generating sales, monitoring finances, keeping abreast of admin, understanding valuable marketing techniques and how to implement them, and taking care of family life can be exhausting! At times you may feel like Jack-of-all-trades and master of none!

Have you considered the benefits – and power – of outsourcing various elements of your business? This is especially useful for the areas of business you don’t enjoy or in which you lack experience. Although additional costs will be incurred, you will soon get this...

As a budding entrepreneur, allowing self-doubt to consume you could be catastrophic for your future success. Theoretically entrepreneurs exude self-confidence and have an absolute belief in what they set out to achieve. In reality, mumpreneurs face an inordinate about of challenges that can test self-belief, and the pressure only rises once doubt sets in.

Of course life for many mumpreneurs differs greatly from those cash- and time-rich entrepreneurs. When you consider failure, not only is your money and reputation at stake, the future you had in mind for your family could also be...

Are you procrastinating about setting up your own business or have you been deferring the growth of an existing venture? Do you have tangible reasons for this lack of action or do you simply fear failure and the unknown?

Fear can be an all-consuming emotion that causes inactivity and results in unfulfilled dreams and aspirations. Allowing fear to control your decisions will damage your self-esteem and create a void where there was once potential.

Everyone, even the most successful entrepreneurs, fear failure. However, success is only achieved by those individuals who know how to manage...

Throughout the Empowering Mums website, our monthly e-newsletter and our blog articles, we have discussed the many benefits of becoming a mumpreneur. The main benefit is about fulfilling your potential, your entrepreneurial spirit and your lust for life: attaining goals that give you a significant boost in self-esteem. A plus point is the greater flexibility it offers you, enabling you to regain financial independence by generating your own income.

However, you may be reading this thinking, “Can I really do this?” Do you have the business ideas, acumen and confidence to attain...

This month we have discussed ways to overcome Working Mum Guilt but we often feel guilty for failing to live up to the ridiculous standards we set ourselves. All mums have an idealised concept of perfection, but with kids and a business thrown in, how fair is it to apply these pressures to our lives?

Perfection does not equal happiness

If you are striving to achieve the perfect life it is likely you are stressed, uptight and very unhappy! Why not stop to consider your true values, the goals you want to achieve and how you would prefer to spend your time?

No-one is perfect

You might think...

Having little self-confidence can significantly impact your life by causing isolation and unfulfilled ambition. We work with mums to help them overcome issues relating to low self-esteem so they can become happy, confident women. Such coaching sessions adopt a step-by-step approach taken at the mum’s own pace so she can be sure she is putting in place realistic ways to live confidently.

If you were considering contacting us about a coaching programme to help increase your self-confidence, we would love to hear from you. In the meantime we would like to share some tips that may help...

This month we have focused on the benefits de-cluttering can bring. Not only can a good clear out create more space for the family but it can also clear your mind of all the associated stress and anxiety caused by a disorganised environment.

All too often, as with most of our mum-related responsibilities, we like to think we can cope with the huge and daunting task of de-cluttering our homes. If you, like many women, are under the impression you must do everything yourself in order to achieve Supermum status (a ridiculously stressful and non-existing aspiration), think again!

Asking others...

Do you feel that no matter how hard you try you constantly face challenges that have to be overcome so you can get on with maintaining a happy home and managing a successful business? Have you ever assessed various experiences and wondered whether the outcome could have been better, had you chosen a different response?

It is all too easy to find a blame for why things go wrong, take longer to achieve or are just downright frustrating. Have you ever considered your mood or attitude to be at fault? If things are going wrong or you are faced with a problem, do you deal with it with anger and...