Your business plan lays the groundwork for the future development of your company but it is up to you to build on these foundations to ensure your enterprise prospers. As your business grows, there may be the need for expansion and this in turn will require further planning and thought from you. Your business plan ought to demonstrate how you hope to see the changing shape of your business. Following start-up, you may have a clear and defined path that you see your company taking. It is important to define the objectives by which you gauge the measure of your success.

Cracking the work/life...

Amid all the Christmas chaos and fun festivities, I hope you manage to take some time to truly reflect on all you have achieved during 2014 and celebrate your success. When life becomes one big juggling act, it can be difficult to pause and consider all you achieve on a daily basis. The celebrations at the end of the year give you chance to do just that so grasp the opportunity with open arms!

Setting goals and working towards objectives are the steps we take to improve our lives, helping us to live in accordance with our own set of distinct values and aspirations. If you have challenges...

Strong brands stand out and succeed. If you haven’t fully developed your brand identity or you’ve neglected it of late, you will be missing out on opportunities to grow your business. A company that lacks an effective brand identity sends signals that you don’t really care about your business. If you don’t love your brand, who will?

Brands aren’t just about logos. A strong brand communicates the entire ethos of an organisation. Your brand represents everything you want your business to portray. So how can you maximise your brand identity and fall in love with...

Being empowered means having a choice. As women in today’s society, we have lots of choices available to us. Personal empowerment is about making choices that bring us fulfilment, satisfaction and joy. With unbreakable confidence and unwavering self-belief, you can make the choice today to be the real you and achieve your lifelong dreams.

As a busy mum, it is both common and easy to feel out done. Everyone else seems to get more attention than you and you continually juggle their demands whilst ignoring your own. Despite what seems like a never ending list of things to do, you always...

How often do you find yourself trying to please others? Do you always wonder what they think of you and does this make you anxious? Do you continually justify your actions so you can feel “one of the girls”? Wouldn’t it be great if you could throw off those shackles and just be yourself?

Often when you’re with others, you can become so consumed by how you think they perceive you that you mask the real you. Yet when you’re by yourself, you focus on what you’re doing and that’s when you feel most content. Try to stay in the moment and focus on what is...

If you’ve got a great idea for your business, are passionate about achieving your goals and you are motivated to make it happen no matter what, you will become a success magnet!

Strive For What You Want In business, it pays to know exactly what you want and have an unwavering desire to get it. It is all well and good saying you want increased sales and greater market share: you have to know what you are prepared to do to achieve these goals. If you are juggling home and family life, you will have to consider potential limitations whilst finding a realistic way to achieve your...

Many mums tell me that they feel constantly on the go and life seems to be passing them by in a whirl of washing, cleaning, work and school pick-ups! This constant cycle makes them feel resentful, frustrated and a victim of circumstances. At this stage, these mums feel so lost they don’t know how they can possibly re-build their confidence and regain their lost sparkle. I tell them one thing: be optimistic!

Self-belief and positive thinking are intrinsically linked with confidence, happiness and life fulfilment. With belief, we can set out to achieve anything! I say to these mums,

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Managing a successful business from home requires discipline and self-motivation. The home is filled with distractions that eat up your time and reduce your productivity. How can you ensure you maximise your time when working before family life resumes?

Schedule Your Working Hours

Knowing when you are working is beneficial for you and your entire family. Set your working hours when your children are at school or in bed to ensure they cannot demand your attention. The benefit of working for yourself is that you do not have to commit to a traditional 9-5 but you must give yourself enough...

2014 is well underway and I’m hoping you’re feeling empowered and in control of your life and its direction. However, if you have started the year feeling exhausted after a busy festive period and your resolutions have long been left by the wayside, it is well worth taking a moment to catch your breath and realign your thoughts. It is never too late to assess your life and identify the changes you need to make to become a strong, focused and successful woman!

Winter can be a difficult time of year for everybody but for mums the inconvenience of bad weather coupled with a lack of...

I’m hoping 2013 was a really good year for you and your business. As you reflect on the last twelve months, take the time to recognise and reward your successes. My latest edition of Succeed discusses the importance of celebrating your achievements, as this will spur your business on. With a New Year ahead, I thought this would be a great opportunity to discuss the common challenges the mumpreneurs I’ve worked with have faced this year. I hope this article helps you conquer similar issues.

The main issues mumpreneurs continually face are a lack of time and money, but they have a...