The world is changing, and those changes are affecting moms in all sorts of ways. The fact is the concept of being a stay-at-home or full-time mom has evolved quite a bit over the years. Whereas once it was common for moms to be fully devoted to staying at home with their kids, at least for the first few years, this is no longer the case for many women. Many work full-time or part-time, while others have to consider recalculating their budgets to accommodate taking care of their children and working when they can. This is especially difficult right now when kids are often either going to school virtually or spending a lot more time at home, with childcare being scarce even if school is open. A lot of mothers are purposefully choosing to homeschool their children due to concerns about COVID-19. But either way, a lot of mothers are considering new ways to make an income while at the same time caring for their kids. This is why now more than ever, the term “mompreneur” is becoming a part of our lexicon.
Anyone can become an entrepreneur, of course. Many moms have simply put off the idea or dismissed it because entrepreneurship might not seem like the most practical choice. While you may at first balk even more at the concept due to the fact that we’re dealing with a pandemic and serious financial crisis, it’s actually a good time to consider the possibility of starting your own business. We all have more time on our hands than we did before, and you’re probably spending a lot more time at home. For that matter, a lot of traditional options for income are no longer available to us, with offices being closed and a number of businesses shutting down in the wake of COVID-19. You don’t have to develop your business at a fast pace, either. You can do it over time; a lot of what’s keeping you from becoming an entrepreneur is more mental than anything else. Let’s look into what you should keep in mind when considering starting your own business as a “mompreneur”, both in terms of mentality and in terms of technical skill.
1. Focus on the Internet
There are several reasons why you should focus on your business’s online potential at first. For one thing, many businesses, small and large, are leaning heavily on the internet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. People can’t leave their houses as much as they once did, so they need to rely on the internet to order products and have services done remotely when possible. But even before the pandemic, people were plugged in; 2018 saw online retailers experience a sales increase of 7.7%. Think about what you want your website to look like, how you’ll be able to market your business digitally, and how you’ll capture and convert sales leads. You’ll probably need to work with the professionals at some point when creating your online presence, but in the beginning brainstorm ideas.
2. Consider Your Brand
Everyone needs a brand for their small business. What do you want yours to be? A brand is really the image of the business, what you want people to think of when they think of your products, services, and company. You need to think about whether or not your business is going to be one that appeals to your own peers and a different target audience. A lot of this is going to be accomplished through marketing. Read up on how marketing and branding can affect a business, and peruse the websites of local marketing firms and graphic designers. About 38% of all people will leave a website if its layout is unattractive, which means that you need to take the image of your business very seriously.
3. Manage Your Time Wisely
Time management is key for small business owners, and it’s especially important for those who are parents. Fortunately, if you’re a mom, chances are that you already know how to manage your time better than others. But it can be overwhelming when you even start to think about beginning a new business, which is why you need to respect your own time and that of the people you work with. It’s easy to commit yourself completely to the grind of starting a new business, but you can’t expect those who you enlist as new employees to have the exact same type of passion that you have. That’s just not possible for people who aren’t starting the business themselves. Use your time management skills as a mom well; but also realize, as a mom, that everyone has their own process and commitments. We all need to balance our business goals with our personal lives.
4. Have Personal Accountability
When running your own business, you don’t have to report to anyone else. You don’t have to record your own hours and turn them into human resources, especially in the beginning; because ultimately, you are human resources. You don’t have to submit time-off requests, and for that matter, nobody else is going to put pressure on you if you’re not going enough work or sales. You have to be fully responsible for your own actions and success, and that can be tricky at first. But it’s much easier than you might think to do that; for example, LinkedIn, the main social network for business and career professionals with more than 500 million members, allows you to promote yourself and your business easily on your own. Furthermore, a lot of entrepreneur-related software is easily available in this day and age.
There are a lot of reasons why you might want to start your own business. But you need to fully commit to making it a success, while at the same time balancing it with your own life and goals. It’s not going to be easy. But with the right concept, you could make your business a success before you know it!
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