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Are you a Mumpreneur
29 June 2015
Are you a Mumpreneur? There are plenty of us out there who proudly say yes.
According to the Centre for Entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs are equally or more ambitious than men when it comes to starting and scaling-up businesses. Many women do however shun the entrepreneur title, describing it as ‘blokey’ and ‘masculine’. These were findings from a 2015 report published jointly by the Centre for Entrepreneurs in partnership with Barclays. Hence Mumpreneur.
For the second year, St.George Banking Group has launched its St.George Banking Group AusMumpreneur Awards. All up there are 13 awards available, that provide Mumpreneurs the opportunity to win cash prizes and the invaluable opportunity for the winners to profile their brand across national media. Last year?s AusMumpreneur of the year winner was mum-of-four and Fertile Mind Founder, Christine Kininmonth, who invented the hugely popular Belly Belt.
Nominations now open for the awards; we caught up with Stuart Zalunardo, Acting head of SME, St.George, and Peace Mitchell, editor, AusMumpreneur, for a quick Q&A, to find out a bit more.
Q: I note you can nominate either your own business or someone else?s – what split, roughly, do you see between the two?
Peace: We find that its about 50/50 usually. It’s such an honour to be nominated by someone else and I know the nominees always appreciate it when it?s from one of their customers, it?s the ultimate compliment. On the other hand entering and winning awards is an excellent strategy for business, and we find quite a few of our nominees put a lot of preparation into their application as they view the process as an important part of their overall business plan.”
Q: What are some typical traits of successful Mumpreneurs?
Peace: Knowing what success means to you and defining success in your own way, I think is the key to being ‘successful’. If you started a business to allow you to have more freedom and flexibility for your family then success for you will be about achieving a balanced lifestyle through creating a profitable business that provides an income without dominating all of your time. To achieve this you’ll need to have a strong vision of both the business you want to create and the life you want to create too.
Confidence and persistence are two really important traits for women in business as well. Statistics show that 4 out of 5 businesses will fail in their first 5 years and sometimes I think that just being able to have an unwavering belief in yourself and the determination to keep going even when times are tough is what will make the difference between success and giving up.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about St George?s involvement in the awards? What makes you supportive of Mumpreneurs?
Stuart: The AusMumpreneur community is a great network for mums to be a part of and St.George wants to be a part of it too. St.George is a big supporter of helping entrepreneurs start, prosper and grow, and being involved in the AusMumpreneur Awards means we can help mum entrepreneurs achieve their dreams to build their business.
Q: St George offer some fantastic online tools for SMEs in general (as well as your business hubs). What resources in particular are useful for Mumpreneurs?
Stuart: We have a range of business and personal banking products designed to make life easier for mum entrepreneurs, including business lending, insurance and superannuation support. We also know that the demands of business and family are far from predictable and that?s why we have a dedicated team of small business specialists to give mum entrepreneurs the advice and service they need at a time that suits them.
