Most moms on school runs know how important local coffee shops are. Often a coffee shop equals a life saver. Not only because of the incredible taste and smell of the addictive substance they serve but because this is the place where your support system hangs out.

Clever Girl lives in South East London. The local area where her kids go to school has three coffee shops. After 9.00 am the three of them are like beehives, buzzing with chatter, baby screams and steaming coffee machines. Clever Girl is a regular in one of them and used to get at least 2 take away coffees a week and stay for at least one coffee morning with other moms. It was all before she decided to be healthy and came off coffee.

Apart from the morning coffee and support system, coffee shops offer also “undisturbed” brainstorming sessions for moms who boil down ideas for new and innovative ways of increasing business growth or for start-ups. In this respect, unlike in many others, Clever Girl is not different from other moms and pretty often uses her local coffee shop for work-related activities.

Last week, while drinking her decaf latte and genuinely lost in her thoughts, Clever Girl was brought back to reality by a conversation she overheard (that should be a warning to all the moms talking business in public spaces) about business, business growth, marketing ideas, business ideas and other business-related matters that should not EVER be discussed in public!!!! (people steal ideas!!!!) Some of the ideas discussed between the two moms were pretty cool.

Clever Girl heard one of the moms (apparently the brain behind the business) talking extensively about concrete expansion and promotional techniques and their effectiveness in this specific area, that she was either thinking of using or already implementing. If only Clever Girl were in an industrial espionage business that would be a perfect opportunity.

All Clever Girls out there should know that this is a no-no situation. Not everyone is as kind and ethical as the Clever Girl was to remind the moms that they were in a public space sharing ideas that potentially could bring millions in revenue and change theirs, and not someone else’s lives. After all, it’s all about finding your niche and staying ahead of the curve.

So please, for your own sake, keep quiet and talk such matters in the privacy of your own home!!!