It’s been a while …

Yes, it feels like it’s been far too long but I’m back at my blog now, ready to bring you up-to-speed with what’s been going on in my life! That’s if I can remember - there’s been so much going on! The business ‘journey’ is turning into a real rollercoaster ride, as more and more players move into the territory that Mummo should have been inhabiting months ago … and money gets tighter and tighter! To say I’m frustrated would be an understatement. It’s times like these when I realise what a control freak I must be. I’m far more comfortable when I can do it all myself and don’t have to rely on anyone else. I suppose I should have thought about that before and gone into something I actually knew something about! Still, I’m certainly learning new skills - like trust, patience and self-restraint!

It’s tempting to think about giving it all up. After all, why give myself the hassle? I quite fancy spending what money I’ve got left on a camper van, taking the children and spending a few months meandering around the world hippie-style! Perhaps I could write a book - ‘Barefoot and barking: a mother’s trip to insanity and back’?! Or video the whole thing? You know what, there’s an idea!

And, just as I’m getting carried away on a flight of fancy, that’s when I realise the power of parenthood. Your children can’t really just be an experiment … or can they? Perhaps that’s exactly how it should be? After all, when I stop and think about it, I feel like I’m experimenting the whole time, trying to find the most effective tactics, the best path through life … How about you?

Ooops, another stream-of-consciousness ramble! I’m going to stop now and try a new tactic for my next blog post. Time for a change!

Cold in Caister!

Yes, colder than I’ve been for about 10 years … and then I was 4,000 metres above sea level in the Peruvian Andes! Still, we were in a caravan this time, with just one tiny little gas fire to fend off the bitter coastal winds. I had forgotten what it’s like to be chilled to the bone to the point that, even with all your clothes on, you still can’t sleep! But hey, what are holidays for if it’s not to brave the elements and come out smiling the other side?! The difference is that, these days, instead of feeling really smug for surviving Dead Woman’s Pass on the Inca trail, I feel smug for managing an 8-mile round trip from Caister into Great Yarmouth and back, on a bike! With a two year old pinching my bottom!

Anyway, that’s where I was last week, on our lovely £9.50 Sun readers’ holiday. Another thing I never thought I’d ever do! Can’t really blame that one entirely on the children, though - it’s more to do with the fact that I’m spending all our money on Mummo and we’re skint. Scarily skint. I am starting to appreciate a bit more about the realities of ‘doing your own thing’. The website is taking far longer than anticipated to build so it’s now been longer than I care to mention with lots going out and nothing coming in. And it’ll be a few more months yet. I will just have to hold my nerve and hope that it’s all worth it in the end. Otherwise it will have been a very expensive learning experience!

Having said all that, I’m quite excited at the moment as I’ve teamed up with a great guy who’s helping me to work out an advertising and marketing strategy for Mummo … and who might even take the lead on Daddo at some point in the future. His confidence in me, and in the potential of Mummo, has really given me a boost. It’s also reminded me that so much in life is about just having the guts to go for what you want! So excuse me but I’m just going to go for … a(nother) chocolate biscuit!

Wobbling

Yes, I have to admit that I’m wobbling a bit at the minute. Having spent most of the afternoon in the office, and most of the evening in front of my laptop, I am seriously questioning my mental health! What on earth possessed me to think it was a good idea to start a new business, on this scale at least, whilst my children are still so small?! I came home to find them outside, playing on bikes and trikes in the early evening sunshine, chatting and giggling and looking as if they hadn’t a care in the world. They ran straight over to me … and my littlest gave me a giant hug and said “Mummy, I want you!”. Talk about tugging at the heart strings! And yet, the truth of the matter is that I’m so preoccupied at the moment that I’m not even giving them my full attention when I am with them. I find it really hard to just click out of work mode and into mummy mode … and I sometimes wish I didn’t have to.

And then, of course, there’s the scary fact that we are haemorrhaging money in every direction, with no real prospect of any coming in to Mummo for quite a while. I always knew it was going to be a big, long-term project and that I was going to have to hold my nerve, but some days that’s harder than others. And the hardest days are always the ones, like today, when you have to pay a whole load of bills! So I will have to get round to listening to my Paul McKenna CD. I’ve just finished reading his book ‘I can make you rich‘ which, I have to say, takes a much broader view of what rich means than I was expecting. And it was actually really useful. He talks about “thinking rich” and how, if you do that, you no longer fear being without money because you know you will always find ways to make more. I have my moments of thinking like that (if I didn’t, I definitely wouldn’t be doing this!) but it’s obviously something I still need to work on.

Anyway, enough of the negativity. As the old advertisement used to go, “weebles wobble but they don’t fall down”!

An attack of the virals …

Well, I’m back, after a sunny afternoon’s jaunt over to Oxford to meet up with two great ‘techie’ guys who, hopefully, will help to build my website. It’s amazing how, after three years with baby or toddler babble constantly in the background, a couple of hours’ motorway driving with shades on and a good CD seems like complete luxury. Not to mention the Costa coffee when I arrived … and the adult conversation that actually got my brain going. Feels fab to be venturing into fresh territory and learning about a whole new world, even if it does all sometimes seem like Googledygeek technospeak! And, despite that, people still appear to be taking me seriously!

Anyway, back to what I mentioned earlier about viral marketing. I’m hoping to apply for an award from an organisation called UnLtd - www.unltd.org.uk. They’ve got millions of pounds of Lottery money to give to social entrepreneurs - individuals who are going to do something that will have a positive impact on their communities. I’d like to win one of their awards because it’d mean a bit of cash, extra credibility and some invaluable support to help get this project off the ground. But to be in with a chance I’ve got to complete an application form and tell them what I want the money for. Well, I was hoping to use it at least part of it for a viral marketing campaign. (No, I didn’t have a clue what that meant three days ago but I’m learning fast!) But then I spoke to a really helpful guy at a specialist consultancy and he basically said I’d need at least £15k … which, of course, I can’t afford! So that’s why I spent most of last night - in between mopping my little one’s fevered brow - conjuring up all kinds of crazy ideas for a ‘budget’ viral that would blow everyone’s minds! Any suggestions anyone?