Are You A Mompreneur
A mom who owns a business? Are you aware of the pros and cons of mompreneurs and the challenges they face? It’s time to learn all about this new way of life to see if it’s right for you.
Who Is A Mompreneur?
People everywhere are starting their own businesses – branching out on their own to realize their own dreams. There is a distinct demographic that is making its mark on the business world, though, and that’s moms. Women with young children everywhere are starting their own businesses, wearing many hats while at home. It’s not an easy job to balance both owning a business and being a mom, but millions of women everywhere are making it happen. Are you ready to see how a mompreneur overcomes challenges as well as see the pros and cons of mompreneurship?
Factors Leading To The Growth Of Mompreneurship
Just what is causing moms everywhere to branch out on their own and tackle the hard job of business owner/mom all in one? There are many factors including:
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The Gig Economy Today Is Huge
Since 2018, more than 35% of Americans have taken advantage of freelance opportunities due to their flexibility and potential
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More Job Security
The job economy has had quite the shakeup in the past few months and no one knows what it will look like moving forward. Since permanent employment is no longer ‘guaranteed’ it’s important for women including men create their own ‘permanency’.
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More Entrepreneurship Education
Today, being an entrepreneur is much more common. Students in middle school and high school are learning about it and to them, it’s a natural way of life. Adults also have access to numerous training opportunities, making entrepreneurship more accessible
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Simple To Work As A Stay-At-Home Mom Entrepreneur
It’s easy to work from home today. Many freelancers and even business start-ups only need a computer and internet to get started. It’s inexpensive and easy to offer gigs and business opportunities.
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More Moms Are Opting For Mompreneur Lifestyle
It’s no secret, that moms like to feel like they ‘fit in.’ With more people doing the entrepreneurship thing, it’s become trending and accessible for moms everywhere to jump on the bandwagon.
Top Pros and Cons of Mompreneurs
The Pros Of Being An Online, Virtual, And Traditional Business Mompreneur
Just like any ‘job’ or business, there are many pros and cons of mompreneurs:
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You Can Work Part-Time As A Business Woman
It’s hard for moms to balance work and home life. They want to give their ‘all’ to both, but sometimes it can be hard, especially with full-time employment. Women that own their own business or run their own ‘gigs’ can work part-time or as much as they need to make ends meet.
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Your Hours Are Flexible To Run A Mompreneur Business
Having time to spend with your children and work your business is a major benefit of mompreneurship. It’s easy for moms to take a break when needed to tend to their children, take them to the doctor, drive them to school, or just play with them. This is especially important when the kids are little and have much greater needs.
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You Become A Jack Of All Trades Mompreneur
Balancing work life and home life is challenging, but it makes you grow as a person too. As you start your own business, you’ll be forced to learn all aspects of running a business, which means you’ll have many more talents just by working for yourself. This makes you more marketable moving forward, beyond the years of having young children.
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Save Money On Childcare
Daycare, private sitters, and even after-school care is expensive. If you have more than one child, it can cost as much as you’d bring in to have proper care for your children. When you own your own business, you don’t have to pay this expense, which means the money you bring in can help in other areas.
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Spend More Time With Your Kids At Home While Running A Home Business
Your kids grow up fast, so having as much time as possible to spend with them is precious. Knowing that you can provide for the family financially and give your kids the love and affection they need is irreplaceable.
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Always Learning
Owning your own business means you need to know a lot. You have to figure out new techniques and tactics. You may need new skills and you definitely need good time management. If these weren’t your ‘thing’ before, they certainly will be after owning your own business if you want it to be stress-free.
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The Income Potential Is Limitless For A Stay At Home Entrepreneurs
The sky is the limit when you own your own business. There isn’t a ‘glass ceiling’ or reviews that determine whether or not you get a raise. You make as much as you are willing to work for – the go-getters definitely win in this industry.
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Work In A Career You Love
It makes sense to only open a business doing something you love. Whether it’s what you went to school for, a niche you found along the way, or a side hobby that you love that turned into a business, you get to pour your heart and soul into something, growing it from infancy into maturity.
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You Are Your Own Mom Boss
Say goodbye to the days of answering to someone else and bending your own ‘thoughts’ just to make your boss happy. You are the boss now so the only person you have to listen to is yourself.
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Success Is In Your Own Hands
Your success depends on you. In other words, you get out of your business what you put into it.
Cons Of Mompreneurs -(Online, Virtual And Traditional Business Owner)
Of course, with every benefit, comes a downside. It’s important to know the ‘bad’ side to make sure you make an informed decision:
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You Need A Lot Of Self-Discipline
Working from home means you are in the comfort of your own home, the same place you sleep, relax, and have fun with your kids. It’s important to set up a schedule or routine so that you make sure the demands of your business are met at all times as well as the needs of your children. It’s a tough balance.
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Difficult To Meet Clients
If you run a business that requires in-person meetings with clients, it can be hard to do so with kids at home. It can even be hard to take phone calls from clients if you have screaming or crying kids in the background. Finding a quiet place that is still safe for you to be away from your children can be challenging.
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Little Interaction With Others
If you are very social, you may miss the daily in-person interaction with others. When you work as a stay at home entrepreneur, you literally work with yourself. Sure, you may talk on the phone occasionally, but it’s not the same as in the in-person interactions you used to have.
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The Stress From Running A Mom Business Can Take Over Your Family Life
A business-woman working in the house under stress, it means the stress is there all of the time. Yes, you can walk away from your office or workspace, but the stress never truly goes away. You don’t have that commute time to unwind, calm down, and put yourself in a better place before seeing your family.
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Mompreneur Businesses Income Fluctuates
Unlike when you work for someone on a salary, working for yourself means fluctuating income. You may have ‘good’ times and ‘bad’ times. You have to learn how to budget your money so that you even out the spending throughout the year. You have to annualize your income and budget accordingly, which can be tough.
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It’s Hard To Pull Away From Mompreneur Lifestyle
For stay at home, mom entrepreneurs work is always there in front of your face. It may be pretty hard to set boundaries. It’s imperative that you set a schedule and stick to it. Don’t let yourself sneak back into the office late at night or while the kids are quiet. Set the boundaries and stick to them.
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It’s Not For Everyone
While owning your own mom business sounds fabulous, not everyone is cut out to be by themselves, manage the entire business on their own, and be a mom all at the same time. You need to set aside cash to pay for a specialist like an accountant, marketing and IT services that reduce your revenue.
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It’s Hard To Create Routines
If your business fluctuates or your kids’ needs change often, it can be hard to set a routine that you can stick to. It may feel like every time you get a handle on things, everything changes and you have to start all over again.
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Finding The Time For Family
Depending on the age of your kids, it may seem impossible to find big pockets of time to get your mompreneur business work done and grow your enterprise to the heights you imagined.
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Related:32 Easy Ways to Earn Money Online Without Investment
Challenges Faced By Mompreneurs
Mompreneurs secrets to success mean learning to face many challenges including:
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Lack Of Funding To Finance Stay At Home Mom Entreprenuers
Women often have less available capital than men, which makes it hard to start a business. With a lack of assets (collateral), women have a tougher time getting started, even if it’s just a small business that requires little investment.
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Women Aren’t Often Taken Seriously
While more and more women are starting businesses today, they still take a ‘back seat’ to a man-owned business. Women have to work harder to show their expertise and ability to run their business effectively.
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Limited Benefits For Stay At Home Mom Entreprenuers
Without group healthcare coverage, health insurance can be really expensive. If your spouse doesn’t have group coverage, you’ll have to buy insurance from the marketplace, which can get costly. You also have to worry about disability insurance, life insurance, and funding your retirement accounts on your own without employer contributions.
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Harder To Get Financing For Mompreneur Businesses
Women naturally feel that it’s harder to get financing for their business. Banks still look at men as ‘superior’ and often give women a harder time (aka tougher requirements) to get the funding they need.
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Stereotypes
As far as we’ve come today in women’s equality, there’s still a sense that ‘men are better,’ which is a huge obstacle for women to overcome when they want to run and grow their own business.
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It’s A Balancing Act
Working as a business owner looking for recognition and success while raising good kids is a balancing act that takes a lot of patience, grace, practice, and due diligence.
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Related: Mompreneur Lifestyle: 12 Best Business Ideas to Start Today
How Mompreneurs Can Overcome Challenges
While it’s a balancing act to own a business and be a mom, there are some proven ways you can overcome the challenges:
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Learn To Say No
You don’t have to say ‘yes’ to everything. Only say ‘yes’ to what feels right and what you know you can accomplish. It’s okay to change during this time – you’re finding your way with new roles in life.
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Don’t Feel Guilty
It’s easy to feel guilty as if you aren’t doing enough either for your job or your children. Let go of the ‘perfect’ picture and let your experience guide you.
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Manage Your Time Well
Read as much as you can about managing your time and put it into practice. Make that your goal as it’s the best way to be successful.
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Learn How To Manage Chaos
Expect there to be chaos and have a plan to manage it. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed as that will only eat away at you and your ability to be successful.
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Set Achievable Financial Goals
Set goals and strive to meet them. When you have goals written down, it’s motivation to get going and find ways to reach them.
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Have A Support Network
Just because you own your own business doesn’t mean you have to be ‘on your own.’ It takes a village to raise kids and it takes a village to run your own business. Find your village and use it.
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Be Flexible
Don’t expect so much out of yourself that you feel disappointed when things don’t go as planned. Expect obstacles and mistakes – give yourself grace and know that tomorrow is always a fresh start.
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Practice Self-Care
Take care of yourself. Take time for just you doing what you love. Even if it’s five minutes here and there, it adds up, just make sure you are fierce about it and always put yourself first.
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Don’t Let The Lines Cross
When you are with your family, that’s family time – don’t even think about your business. When you are running your business, try to make it only business time, but of course, have some flexibility knowing that your kids may need you.
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Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help
It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help. In fact, it’s a sign of empowerment. Ask for help and be okay with it.
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Have Fun In Your New Roles
You’ll likely take on new roles in your business, enjoy it, learn as much as you can and embrace the roles. You never know how they’ll help you in the future.
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Learn From Every Mistake
The only ‘bad’ mistakes are the mistakes you didn’t learn from. Look at each mistake as an opportunity to grow and do better next time.
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Related:13 Legit Work From Home Jobs to Earn Extra Cash in 2020
Top Resources For Mompreneurs
Mompreneurs have a limited number of resources specifically for them, and of incosistent quality. Here’s a cummulative of the best resources for mompreneurs across the globe, from publications to financing.
Books For Mompreneurs
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- In Time Management Mama book two sisters Sarah Korhnak and Beth Anne Schwamberger discuss about owning a small mom business from a mompreneur perspective.
- Next is a book by a business coach Caroline Greene where she counsels ordinary women on practical steps to undertake to start a mom business in less than a year.
- Crystal Paine is a massive leader in the mompreneur space and the woman behind Money-
- Making Mom. Her book offers advice to mom entrepreneurs on how to become enterprising and financially free
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Magazines And Digital Publication For Mompreneur Lifestyle
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- A huge resource for work at home moms is WAHM.com. An online magazine for work-at-home moms.
- Mom Entrepreneur Magazine is a magazine in a digital form designed for mom entrepreneurs to succeed in their mom businesses as they raising a family.It covers the main pros and cons of mompreneurship.
- A subscription based magazine and website for educated and affluent readers is the Working Mother Magazine.It is not exclusively for mom entrepreneurs, however the magazine includes topics related to mompreneurs.
- The Huffington Post publishes articles relevant to mompreneurs
- In the Entrepreneur magazine they have a section for mompreneurs. It delivers advice, shades light on pros and cons of mompreneurs, profiles, and guides for successful mom entrepreneurs worldwide.
- Popsugar moms.An online group or network of sites that dilivers updates, latest trends, and tips in entertainment, parenting, fashion, fitness, and shopping.
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Blogs And Media
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- The Modern Mompreneur is a blog by Anjali Varma a mompreneurs where she shares business tips with other mompreneurs. She also has a YouTube channel, where she interviews other mom sharing insight pros and cons of mompreneurs lifestyle.
- The Work at Home Woman is a blog that shares with flexible ways to make money from home with moms in business or looking to start. It also shares pros and cons of mompreneurs business
- Mompreneur media is a huge resource for up to the minute news on pros and cons mompreneur life. Features lots of interview with successful mompreneurs for inspiration and as a resource.
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Communities For Business Moms
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- A mom business community of over 35,000 members called Business among moms. Helps mom entrepreneurs and also provides networking, job boards, and various mom business opportunities.
- The founding moms is an offline meetups for mompreneurs and also offers online resources for mom businesses.
- Financing for moms- Kiva Zip– Loans mom entrepreneurs up to $10,000 or less to grow their business.
- Mom resource is an online community for sharing success stories for stay at home mom entreprenuers and advice each other online.
- Heymama is a community of entrepreneurial mamas. Looking to connect with other mom entrepreneur women to collaborate, for inspiration, and work together.
- The mompreneur effect. This is a community and blog for mompreneurs, it highlights the pros and cons of mompreneurs and advise women looking to start a business.
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In Conclusion
There are plenty of pros and cons faced by mompreneurs, overall, the pros outweigh the cons. Work from home moms are special people with an abundance of skills. They are women growing their own business, taking care of a family, and basically doing it all. If you’ve always dreamt of being your own boss and being home with your children, there’s never been a better time than now.
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Let me know if you’ve used or are using the half payment method for any of your bills? how is that going and how do you like it.
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