Yesterday, I went to the 2017 Bizmums Conference and Awards in Crewe. There were 120 business women in the room from across the country. Businesses of every description from network marketing to accounting to life coaches to editors all there to celebrate success, achievement and determination. It’s safe to say I was the only storyteller in the room though!
Bizmums was founded by Michelle Childs who found that trying to network with young children was a nightmare. Breakfast meetings clashed with the school run, ditto afternoon meetings and early evenings were just not an option. Michelle brilliantly filled the gap with a network group that welcomes children. Mums who are frazzled with lack of sleep and who are juggling rusks, car key and business diaries are all welcome to this supportive group. Even those without children are welcome. We have our fair share of cat and dog mums although yet again I’m the only one with a stuffed lamb!
People often ask what is so unique about it? Why does it work? We were chatting about this yesterday and came up with the following reasons.
- It’s friendly and welcoming
- It’s a real community that can be tapped into for advice
- The support is like no other group I’ve experienced
- We collaborate…a lot….an awful lot and it works!
- We have members who can offer business advice on all aspects of running a business no matter how big or small.
- We have each other’s backs. Many people think that lots of women together can be catty and while I have found this to be true in some workplaces this is NOT the case in this group.
- We listen to each other
- We share and celebrate our successes
- We also talk about our failures and ask for help
- We’re all just flipping awesome!
When you run a small business it’s really important to keep linking up with others and the monthly area meetups are perfect for this. Each meeting has a guest speaker who will talk to the group about an aspect of Business – this month our theme is Products and Services. We also have a members’ showcase where a member can share a more indepth description of their business. Added to this, a chance for all who attend to do a 60 second (non scary I promise) pitch and time for informal networking and you can see we have a lot to offer. Some of the guest speakers have changed how I’ve done certain things…for the better!
Interested in finding out more? Here you go… http://www.bizmums.biz/join-bizmums/
