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Mumpreneurs: Here’s How To Make It Happen.

1
If you want to transform any idea from kitchen table dream into a reality (or start a business), I really believe that you need other people to help you get there. Navigating this journey can be long and gruelling. Mentors can’t magically make it happen, but they can help you to  tweak whatever product or service it is that you are trying to sell. Sometimes just their encouragement can help you out during testing times, giving you the self-belief to hang in there and keep on going.

I was introduced to something called ‘The Science of

SelfishMother.com
2
Achievement’ about twenty years ago by Anthony Robins, a world famous personal coach whose ideas and strategies for transformation feel more relevant than ever now.

The Science of Achievement is the theory that you can pretty much achieve anything you want to in life, you just have to find someone who is doing it well and ask them for their recipe and model their behaviour. I really believe in this science and have always pushed myself to be a little brave sometimes and just ‘ask’ the right people for help.

In my four year journey creating

SelfishMother.com
3
www.feelbrave.com from my own kitchen table, I have treasured the precious mentors and networks that have helped me to find my way so far. They continue to help me (I’m certainly not there yet and still have a long long way to go).

Last week I was extremely fortunate to have a mentoring session with Annabel Karmel, the UK’s number one parenting author. Annabel has written 37 books and has sold over 4 million copies. She is passionate about improving the way children eat and also enjoys helping upcoming entrepreneurs. Her latest book titled

SelfishMother.com
4
‘Mumpreneur’ – The complete guide to starting and running a successful business, is due to be released in February 2015. Annabel’s experience, wisdom and advice was invaluable to me.

Mentors come in all different shapes sizes and even digital formats these days (e.g. www.horsesmouth.co.uk a crowd sourcing mentoring and coaching site), but how do you find the right mentors and people to help you on your journey? Here are some tips I thought I’d share that have worked well for me:

Know your ’Why’

People don’t buy into ‘what’ you

SelfishMother.com
5
are doing, they buy into ‘why’ you are doing it. The why is the passion, the integrity, the emotion and intention behind your idea and it’s the ‘yes’ trigger for people to want to help you. For some great information about the ‘Why’ check out Simon Sinek’s awesome TED talk ’How Great Leaders Inspire Action.’

Spend time on making sure you know your ‘why’ and consider that, as the inspirational Zhena Muzkya who made a multimillion dollar business out of tea said recently in an interview: ‘With a mission to serve others, you

SelfishMother.com
6
cannot fail.’

Research

It has never been easier to find people who may potentially help you now that we’re all just a mouse click away from anyone. An excel spreadsheet is helpful as a living  document to enable you to keep track of everyone you contact. That way, you can make a note of the dates you’ve called or emailed and any actions to take. Also, it makes you look professional by helping to avoid any embarrassing slip-ups (accidentally contacting someone twice or not following up on an agreed action) as your list continues to

SelfishMother.com
7
grow.

If you are lucky enough for a potential mentor or contact to meet with you, researching everything you can about them beforehand will not only make them respect you for doing your homework, but it will also save time as you’ll know their back story already.

Talk about your idea

Talk about what you are trying to do with as many friends and new contacts as possible, but do this without compromising any of your potential copyright. So long as you are careful to ensure your idea can’t be duplicated by someone else, discussing it will

SelfishMother.com
8
ensure it’s at the forefront of people’s minds. That way they can easily put you in touch with anyone they meet who could help you.

Respect other people’s time 

The world has never been more fast-paced or distracting. Time is such a precious commodity with people trying to cram too much into their day. For this reason, if you do manage to get a meeting with someone, it’s helpful to remember to respect the time they are giving you. A nice way to do this is to allocate 30 minutes for a quick coffee. This says ‘I respect that you are

SelfishMother.com
9
busy.’ Usually people will happily run over that time but it sets a professional tone.

Trade Creatively

If someone is giving up their time and sharing their wisdom and advice with you, it’s nice to return the favour somehow. Although if you meet with someone who is really successful, you might feel that there is no way for you to give the same back to them, you shouldn’t underestimate the value you might be able to offer them some day in the future. Most people really love to help and share their success and wisdom. Sometimes if there is no

SelfishMother.com
10
way to pay them back immediately, but you can always ‘pay it forward’ by helping someone else or just take them a nice bottle of wine to say thanks.

Network

Networking has never been easier with social networks such as Linkedin where you can join online groups in your industry and find new connections. It’s never too late to start by building your profile and starting to connect with people. Also, joining organisations or societies in the area that interests you and getting out and meeting people is a great way to find help.

Try to find

SelfishMother.com
11
organisations that offer mentoring. Being a New Zealander, I am a member of the New Zealand Business Woman’s Network https://www.nzwomen.co.uk who offer mentoring programmes.  Some other examples of great organisations that offer mentoring are ‘Driven Woman’ www.drivenwoman.co.uk or ‘Start up Loans’ http://www.startuploans.co.uk/mentoring

I hope this article has given you some valuable ideas to help you on your path to finding the right people to turn your own ideas into reality. As Derek Silvers says in this wonderful and entertaining

SelfishMother.com
12
TED talk, How To Start A Movement, they might just help turn you ’from a lone nut into a leader.’

Motherhood is different for all of us… if you’d like to share your thoughts, why not join our Network & start posting?

SelfishMother.com

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This blog was originally posted on SelfishMother.com - why not sign up & share what's on your mind, too?

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We regularly share posts on @SelfishMother Instagram and Facebook :)

- 17 Mar 15

If you want to transform any idea from kitchen table dream into a reality (or start a business), I really believe that you need other people to help you get there. Navigating this journey can be long and gruelling. Mentors can’t magically make it happen, but they can help you to  tweak whatever product or service it is that you are trying to sell. Sometimes just their encouragement can help you out during testing times, giving you the self-belief to hang in there and keep on going.

I was introduced to something called ‘The Science of Achievement’ about twenty years ago by Anthony Robins, a world famous personal coach whose ideas and strategies for transformation feel more relevant than ever now.

The Science of Achievement is the theory that you can pretty much achieve anything you want to in life, you just have to find someone who is doing it well and ask them for their recipe and model their behaviour. I really believe in this science and have always pushed myself to be a little brave sometimes and just ‘ask’ the right people for help.

In my four year journey creating www.feelbrave.com from my own kitchen table, I have treasured the precious mentors and networks that have helped me to find my way so far. They continue to help me (I’m certainly not there yet and still have a long long way to go).

Last week I was extremely fortunate to have a mentoring session with Annabel Karmel, the UK’s number one parenting author. Annabel has written 37 books and has sold over 4 million copies. She is passionate about improving the way children eat and also enjoys helping upcoming entrepreneurs. Her latest book titled ‘Mumpreneur’ – The complete guide to starting and running a successful business, is due to be released in February 2015. Annabel’s experience, wisdom and advice was invaluable to me.

Mentors come in all different shapes sizes and even digital formats these days (e.g. www.horsesmouth.co.uk a crowd sourcing mentoring and coaching site), but how do you find the right mentors and people to help you on your journey? Here are some tips I thought I’d share that have worked well for me:

Know your ‘Why’

People don’t buy into ‘what’ you are doing, they buy into ‘why’ you are doing it. The why is the passion, the integrity, the emotion and intention behind your idea and it’s the ‘yes’ trigger for people to want to help you. For some great information about the ‘Why’ check out Simon Sinek’s awesome TED talk ‘How Great Leaders Inspire Action.’

Spend time on making sure you know your ‘why’ and consider that, as the inspirational Zhena Muzkya who made a multimillion dollar business out of tea said recently in an interview: ‘With a mission to serve others, you cannot fail.’

Research

It has never been easier to find people who may potentially help you now that we’re all just a mouse click away from anyone. An excel spreadsheet is helpful as a living  document to enable you to keep track of everyone you contact. That way, you can make a note of the dates you’ve called or emailed and any actions to take. Also, it makes you look professional by helping to avoid any embarrassing slip-ups (accidentally contacting someone twice or not following up on an agreed action) as your list continues to grow.

If you are lucky enough for a potential mentor or contact to meet with you, researching everything you can about them beforehand will not only make them respect you for doing your homework, but it will also save time as you’ll know their back story already.

Talk about your idea

Talk about what you are trying to do with as many friends and new contacts as possible, but do this without compromising any of your potential copyright. So long as you are careful to ensure your idea can’t be duplicated by someone else, discussing it will ensure it’s at the forefront of people’s minds. That way they can easily put you in touch with anyone they meet who could help you.

Respect other people’s time 

The world has never been more fast-paced or distracting. Time is such a precious commodity with people trying to cram too much into their day. For this reason, if you do manage to get a meeting with someone, it’s helpful to remember to respect the time they are giving you. A nice way to do this is to allocate 30 minutes for a quick coffee. This says ‘I respect that you are busy.’ Usually people will happily run over that time but it sets a professional tone.

Trade Creatively

If someone is giving up their time and sharing their wisdom and advice with you, it’s nice to return the favour somehow. Although if you meet with someone who is really successful, you might feel that there is no way for you to give the same back to them, you shouldn’t underestimate the value you might be able to offer them some day in the future. Most people really love to help and share their success and wisdom. Sometimes if there is no way to pay them back immediately, but you can always ‘pay it forward’ by helping someone else or just take them a nice bottle of wine to say thanks.

Network

Networking has never been easier with social networks such as Linkedin where you can join online groups in your industry and find new connections. It’s never too late to start by building your profile and starting to connect with people. Also, joining organisations or societies in the area that interests you and getting out and meeting people is a great way to find help.

Try to find organisations that offer mentoring. Being a New Zealander, I am a member of the New Zealand Business Woman’s Network https://www.nzwomen.co.uk who offer mentoring programmes.  Some other examples of great organisations that offer mentoring are ‘Driven Woman’ www.drivenwoman.co.uk or ‘Start up Loans’ http://www.startuploans.co.uk/mentoring

I hope this article has given you some valuable ideas to help you on your path to finding the right people to turn your own ideas into reality. As Derek Silvers says in this wonderful and entertaining TED talk, How To Start A Movement, they might just help turn you ‘from a lone nut into a leader.’

Motherhood is different for all of us… if you’d like to share your thoughts, why not join our Network & start posting?

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Avril McDonald is the Founder and Managing Director of Feel Brave Ltd www.feelbrave.com a brand that creates characters and stories to help kids manage tough emotions and ‘Feel Brave’ With a Diploma in Education from Wellington College of Education in New Zealand and experience as a Primary School Teacher, she left education and moved into broadcasting eventually working as Managing Director for a Bertelsmann Digital Entertainment Company in London. Avril is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts http://www.thersa.org/ and is interested in the potential right now for radical positive change and what part she can play in that. As a mother of 2 children, 3 cats and a large Rhodesian Ridgeback, she is working on the delicate balance of creating a brand whilst maintaining a happy home.

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