10 Steps to Starting Up
By Ellen H. Parlapiano and Patricia Cobe
Authors of Mompreneurs® and Mompreneurs® Online
Founders of MompreneursOnline.com
Running a business is a lot like raising a family. You have to be well organized, disciplined, nurturing, good at relationship building, and able to shift gears quickly. And these are skills that mothers use everyday—which is why moms make such great entrepreneurs. But these talents alone aren’t enough to bring success.
Here’s what to keep in mind if you’re considering starting a business of your own.
1. Tap Your Talents and Passions. Evaluate
your interests, personality, and capabilities to help narrow
down your options. If you could spend your day doing anything,
what would it be? Is there a service or product you could
provide to others? Many moms are creating gadgets and systems
that solve a problem they’ve encountered as parents.
Are there causes that you care deeply about, and could these
become a foundation for your business? Cause-related marketing
is a red-hot trend, and you might want to start a business
that has a social conscience—whether it’s selling
fashionable hats for women with cancer or doing college prep
for kids with special needs.
2. Do Your Homework. Make sure
there’s enough demand for your idea.
The Internet offers a wealth of speedy resources for doing
market research—from checking the competition, to setting
prices, to surveying potential customers and clients, to investigating
patents and trademarks. You can also do research at local
business development centers, which have libraries full of
resources for entrepreneurs, and may even offer mentoring.
Often they’re housed in local colleges; or you can find
one by going to the SBA’s Online Women’s Business
Center at www.onlinewbc.gov.
3. Single Out a Specialty. Think about
ways to make your business stand out from the crowd. For example,
instead of simply offering administrative services or business
support, gear those services to the growing force of small
and home businesses. If you’re targeting parents, think
of niche markets, like parents who adopt abroad or hip urban
parents. Also focus on how your business can maximize and
personalize service to clients and customers—whether
it’s through a quick turnaround, home delivery, or just
a little extra handholding.
4. Go In With a Plan. Like a road
map, a business plan helps you chart your course. Every business
should include a mission statement, business goals, a marketing
plan, and estimates of start-up costs and earning expectations.
Enlist the assistance of an accountant or attorney to help
structure your business, work out cash flow and income projections,
and determine financing needs
5. Watch the Bottom Line. A simple
service business, like a home-based public relations or consulting
firm, might cost little to start up. But if you‘re inventing
a product and taking it to market, understand that it can
be a long and expensive process. Costs can run anywhere from
$10,000 for something simple, to over $50,000 for something
complex. Don’t forget to factor in liability insurance,
patent fees and attorney fees. And remember, it can take anywhere
from 3 to 5 years for a business to become profitable.
6. Build Your Brand. Start by choosing
a catchy business name that conveys and reinforces your image,
and then register it as a “DBA” or “Doing
Business As” with the county clerk or state tax office.
This is also known as a Fictitious Name Statement. Next, reserve
the business as a domain on the Web. A memorable name and
marketing materials (well-designed business cards, letterhead,
brochures, and website) will give you a “brand”
to market, making even a one-woman show seem like a sizeable
business. If the name is unique, consider trademarking it
to prevent others from using it too.
To expand your brand, sign on to do public speaking. This
helps establish you as an expert in your field, so you can
target your market and broaden your exposure to potential
clients. You can speak at local women’s business events,
offer seminars at libraries and community centers, or teach
courses at adult-ed programs. You can also contribute articles
in your area of expertise to local newspapers and to related
websites and e-zines. Be sure to list your business name,
phone numbers, e-mail and web addresses along with your byline,
so that readers can easily contact you.
7. Protect Your Work and Family Time. When
you run your own business, working 24/7 can become a fact
of life. But you’ll be a lot more productive—and
a lot less stressed—if you set a schedule for yourself.
Decide when you’ll work, and when you won’t. Think
about what you can realistically get done around children’s
nap and school schedules. And if you must put in weekend hours,
limit them, so you’ll still have time to relax with
your family. And do consider getting some childcare.
You probably won’t need it fulltime, but it’s
helpful to be able to work without interruption at certain
times, knowing that your kids are well supervised. A little
part-time childcare can help you compartmentalize your time,
preserve family balance, and give both clients and children
the undivided attention they want and need.
8. Be Your Own Spin Doctor. Talk up your
business wherever you go—whether it’s at a Chamber
of Commerce luncheon, PTA meeting, or the sidelines of your
child’s soccer game. Always have business cards on hand.
And develop a website that’s a showcase for you and
your enterprise. It should be easy to navigate, featuring
your logo, testimonials from satisfied customers, press releases
and other company news. Update your website regularly to keep
it cutting-edge, and drive traffic to your site by linking
with other web- sites that complement your business.
9. Build a Support Network. It’s
crucial to connect with colleagues, clients and customers—both
face-to-face and online. Join trade associations, professional
organizations, and women’s business groups, and attend
the meetings. Better yet, volunteer to be on the board of
one group that is especially relevant to your business. You’ll
find that other women entrepreneurs are usually more than
happy to share their strategies and lessons learned. Mom entrepreneurs
are also lending each other support through online message
boards and forums. And many are forging strategic alliances
to strengthen their marketing muscle. Cooperative marketing—small
businesses banding together to promote and publicize themselves—increases
your clout without increasing your expenditures. Some women
are even partnering up and running their businesses with other
moms. And we’re also seeing more and more moms and dads
going into business together—a new spin on the “old
mom-and-pop” shops.
10. Grow at Your Own Pace. Mom-owned businesses
tend to grow organically, nurtured along much like mothers
nurture their children. Enterprises that grow slowly and steadily
allow for more control over work/family time and more flexibility.
They are less risky, too—no venture capitalists or hungry
investors looking to pull the plug if profits aren’t
substantial enough. While it’s important to keep the
payroll small while you’re in growth mode, it’s
also essential to delegate when necessary, hiring extra help
to keep you sane. It all comes back to achieving the balance
that all moms crave—the balance between their professional
and personal lives so neither has to be sacrificed for the
other.
Ellen H. Parlapiano and Patricia Cobe are experts on
mom-owned businesses, and authors of two books, Mompreneurs®:
A Mother’s Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Work-at-Home
Success and Mompreneurs® Online: Using the Internet to
Build Work@Home Success. They
also run MompreneursOnline.com, a virtual community that connects
mom business owners. Their new Mompreneurs® Marketplace
helps mom entrepreneurs market their products and services.
Between them, Parlapiano and Cobe have over 25 years experience
juggling motherhood and home businesses.
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