Most women seem born with the innate ability to juggle. It is no wonder that more than 10 million women-owned businesses in the United States generate close to three trillion dollars in annual revenue according to the Center for Women’s Business Research.
Women are starting businesses at almost twice the rate of men with mothers joining these ranks every day. The newly coined name for these entrepreneurial mothers is “mompreneurs.”
Mompreneurs are mothers raising their children full-time while running their businesses at home. Women have long faced the conflict of family versus career opportunities. In the past choosing a career meant a compromised or nonexistent family life.
Moms typically chose professions like teaching and nursing, which gave them the flexibility to take care of their families. Part-time administrative positions, door to door sales (Avon ladies), home party companies (Tupperware) were other options that allowed women to create their own schedules and work around the needs of the family. Women that did choose full time career paths and raised families almost inevitably felt guilty and inadequate on the job or at home or both.
Today the landscape for women in home-based businesses is expanding steadily in the United States. Women are reinventing ways to become serious breadwinners and to fully embrace their creativity and business savvy as they parent their children.
The biggest issue the mompreneur faces is figuring out how to balance both business and family demands. Mompreneur clubs and websites are cropping up all over the Internet, providing women with the opportunity to learn skills, connect, network, share ideas and resources, market and promote their products and services.
The explosion of social media outlets and new means of communication help to create the appearance of a professional, full blown operation run from a home office, kitchen or basement.
One of the biggest issues for a mompreneur is scheduling – finding ways to delegate so that you can clear the path to either being with your children or concentrating on your business. Creating a support system involving your partner, friends, family or other working moms can lighten the load and make managing a business and a family more pleasurable.
Balancing requires time and effort, but the payoff can be huge. Being there to watch your children’s first steps, carpool them to their play dates and activities as you realize your potential professionally can be deeply fulfilling. While being a mompreneur can be challenging, it is a compelling alternative from the limitations that until recently had been imposed on women seeking to have both a family life and meaningful career.
