Inspirational Life Lessons From Mom Entrepreneurs
Here is some of the best advice that other mom entrepreneurs have for those moms who want to raise their children and start a business. It is possible. You just have to be creative.
Being a mom or an entrepreneur are two of the hardest jobs in the world. And yet there are some people who manage to do them together. These people don’t just deserve a medal, they deserve to be emulated. They should be an example to us all.
For that reason, here are some of the most valuable lessons we’ve learned from mom entrepreneurs to date.
You can see it as a setback or you can see it as an advantage
Most single mothers think that the job of raising their children is so intense that it isn’t possible to do anything on the side. That’s one way to look at it. The alternative is to realize that being a mom teaches you some incredibly valuable skills.
“Don’t get me wrong, entrepreneurship is a ton of work. However don’t let the perception of this lifestyle count you out before you even count yourself in. Being a single mom comes with a wealth of skills that do well in entrepreneurship, like: multitasking, creativity, managing and/or operating on a budget and problem-solving to say the least. I don’t know about you but I’d put my money on someone with these skills rather than a new college grad.” Angela Benton, founder and CEO of NewMe told Ebony magazine. And she should know as she’s helped 300 startups and secured over 17 million in funding.
Time is your most valuable asset
Ebonie Townsend is the founder of 8Twelv told us to focus on our time. She says, “One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a mom and entrepreneur, is that you always have to protect your time and treat it as an invaluable asset. This includes things like charging consultation fees for advice and setting time boundaries for communication with clients.”
In other words, treat the time you’re not spending raising your children as the proverb says. Treat it as money.
Focus on the right people
As you don’t have that much time you have to make sure that you’ve got people that give and don’t just take – as the latter will make it impossible to actually get anything done.
Lisa Stone, who co-founded BlogHer which has an audience of 100 million, says “Ban toxic people from your life. You don’t have enough time already, right single mom or dad? So if you are living, working or worshipping around a toxic person or people who invade your confidence and bring you down, you MUST remove them from your life.”
Involve your children
You might want to keep your children out of the business. The thing is, that might not be the best choice. They might actually be able to offer you ideas and insights that can ultimately make your business boom.
In fact, they can even unintentially become your best sales people. When Michelle founded MamaSuds, which makes its own soap, it’s her children who ended up being her most effective sales tool. “One of the surprising things I’ve learned from running my own business is that I didn’t realize how much my kids would admire me. They are like little sales people, and it was all on their own. They are really proud of me and it’s the best feeling when my daughter says “I want to be MamaSuds when I grow up!” Uh, tears!”
Then there’s the money
As a single mom it can be incredibly difficult to manage your finances, because not only do businesses often not generate a lot of money in the beginning, children are expensive as well. Don’t let that stop you. There are still options out there. There are even specific funds designed around helping mom entrepreneurs. Reach out to these entities. Sure, they might say ‘no’, but if you don’t then they definitely will.
Or as Laura Ure of Keenability said, “It may seem overwhelming at first, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it will be worth it. It will give you greater financial freedom and also more flexible control of your time once your business is up and running and you have the right staff in place.” And that will be well worth it.
So don’t give up. You deserve to be a success. You know it, I know it and fortunately so do a whole bunch of financial institutions.