The change of name

Originally we were called 'Wonderful Working Women', mainly because I love alliteration. However it always sat a little uncomfortably with me. We don't call male business men 'Working Men'. Therefore I found the title 'Working Women' a little patronising. Aside from that, it invokes images of prostitutes.

The new name came from a brain-storming session which ended up looking like this:

 

So, we are still 'Wonderful Women', but we are no longer working women, we are minding our own business (or businesses). I like the double meaning, and the ironic twist, and now feel much better about our name! Hope you agree!

Women Entrepreneurs for Women Entrepreneurs

I stumbled across a free webinar yesterday and managed to sign up and get a place just five minutes into the start of it.

It was put on by Robert Dempsey and had 4 speakers. Each women gave a 30 minute talk via their webcam, and the participants used Twitter and an online chat box to communicate. It meant we could ask questions in real time.

It was my first webinar, and I can really see the appeal of them. It was based in the US, but yet there was I, taking part in my PJs.

I will certainly be looking out for more!

Meetings.....contributing?

I recently messaged members about the idea of paying a small contribution at meetings.
This came about through a discussion with a potential special guest, and that it would be a nice gesture to pay for a taxi.

So, I asked whether this seemed reasonable, and whether it would put anybody off. I didn't get back any messages saying they wouldn't want to pay, and it seemed the idea seemed fair.

So, there will now be a small contribution asked for at each meeting, to pay for things for the group (speakers, rooms etc). We will start at £3 and see how that goes.

Two certain things in life: Death and Taxes

I went to a free course today at the City Business Library on being newly self-employed. It was a two our seminar run by HM Revenue and Customs.

I got there a little early, and sat in the library for a twenty minutes. Did you know the library is free and you don't need to register. They can help you compile B2B (business to business) mailing lists, research other companies or just general business research. What a great resource.

I won't go over every detail, but the course covered a lot! It was a whirlwind two hours, but I came away feeling much more confident about knowing my responsibilities regarding tax.

It covered:

• When is the tax year, the financial year and your accounting period
• How and when to register as self-employed and what that means
• What is the difference between class 2 and class 4 National Insurance contributions and when you have to pay each
• What National Insurance counts towards (it doesn't go towards the NHS!)
• How National Insurance affects your pension
• Income tax, what is your personal allowance and what are the 3 different rates
• What is a tax return - what does it look like and how do you fill it out
• What are the important dates in the tax calendar
• How to keep your records
• What can you claim as expenses and how do you claim them
• What is your Annual Investment Allowance, your Writing Down Allowance and your Capital Allowance
• When do you need to register for VAT

If you read that list and felt confused or overwhelmed, I would suggest you attending one of the seminars. They put them on regularly, and the speaker from HMRC said that they run regular free sessions too.

Where have we come from?

I blogged about meeting number 1 here and meeting number two here, but basically we meet, and have informal but focused discussions about our plans, dreams and ideas.

Our Twitter list is here and our Facebook group is here.

On the left is a list of Wonderful Women who have attended at least one meeting. Check out their websites.