Meet Bridget Daley who founded the Parents in Biz supportive community, including a magazine, directory, online hub, and social media platforms full of resources for both mums and dads who run their own businesses.
Below, she talks about her own business journey, shares some of her favourite podcasts for small business owners, and lets us in on some of the recent challenges that have come as a result of COVID-19 (to which no doubt many of us can relate).
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: Give us your tweet-sized elevator pitch. What’s your business all about?
BRIDGET DALEY: A platform for parent business owners, supporting parents through their business journey! Parents in Business Magazine, Directory & Online Hub.
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: Now tell us more: What sets you apart from your competition?
BRIDGET DALEY: There are many platforms out there that support mums in business and mumpreneurs; however, with Parents in Biz, we support both mum and dads in business. Another thing that sets us apart from others is the Parents in Business Magazine, which is all about collaboration, featuring and promoting parent business owners. The whole Parents in Biz platform is centred around supporting parent business owners. If they like to read, there is the magazine, blog and other resources; if they like to listen, there is the podcast; if they like to watch, there is the YouTube channel. There are also inspirational interviews with parents.
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: Share a bit of background on yourself and your business.
BRIDGET DALEY: I run the business from home in London. I came up with the idea for Parents in Biz in 2015. I secured the social media handles, and in 2017, I registered the business. It launched in 2018. I have been in business for over 10 years, and it was while I was running my second business that I came up with the idea. I just could not find a community that was for mums in business that I fitted into. I needed support, and I wanted to mix with like-minded parents who were juggling the same balls I was.
I decided on the name Parents in Biz because I wanted both mums and dads to feel welcomed. I also wanted the logo to represent all the different types of parents who are small business owners.
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: Which social media platforms do you use for your business? Has this been time well invested? Any tips for newcomers?
BRIDGET DALEY: Well, Parents in Biz is on all social media platforms. The advice is that you should only focus on one or two, however. I use the different platforms for different reasons, and I am not a regular poster on all of them. The ones I gave the most focus to pre-COVID-19 were Youtube, Pinterest, and Facebook. My reason for focusing on those three was for the SEO benefits and reaching new people. Twitter is on auto-scheduling. I also use Instagram.
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: What are your favourite resources for small business?
BRIDGET DALEY: The list would be too long if I mentioned all my favourite books, lol. I tend to listen to audiobooks. I have just started to listen to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Podcasts include The disruptive Entrepreneur, Social Media Marketing, and No Bull Business Women.
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: What have been your biggest challenges and greatest rewards as a small business owner?
BRIDGET DALEY: It has been really challenging of late; at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, I really could not 100% focus on business. It literally went from my partner and I working from home to having the two youngest off from school, two of my older children working from home, and one of my daughters furloughed. So more people in the house during the day plus homeschooling and running a business has not been easy!
Also, plans I had—such as launching new services and products—have had to be put on hold.
My greatest reward of late has been the success of the Parents in Business Magazine. I launched it in September 2018 and it has grown from strength to strength. I get a great feeling when new readers discover the magazine as I know that means greater exposure for all of the wonderful parent business owners who have contributed and have been featured in those issues.
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: What are your hopes for your business going forward: what would you most love to achieve as a short-term goal? And long term?
BRIDGET DALEY: At the moment, my short-term goal is working on my long term goals. So that means I am working on services and products that I want to launch in the autumn and next year.
LITTLE OBSERVATIONIST: Little Observationist was launched as a space to appreciate life’s little luxuries. Name a few you’ve enjoyed recently.
BRIDGET DALEY: I have recently purchased a few kitchen gadgets, and although they may not seem like a luxury, they have made my life easier.
I love sweets, and I recently discovered a candy shop that specialises in American sweets—totally bliss, munching on them and binge-watching Netflix!
Connect with Bridget:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
PS: If you’re a small business owner and you’d like some professional guidance with your own social media, head on over to my small business exclusives to find out about ways we could work together to help you perfect your strategy (or create one!).
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