10 Tips for Moms Who Want to Start Their Own Business

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately from our fans about how to start their own business when they have a family. It’s tough, but worth every minute if you ask me. Here’s a collection of tips I thing every “mompreneurs” should read.

1. Work/life balance isn’t what you think

Having a balanced work and life when you run a business isn’t a smooth process. You may not be available every night for bedtime stories. Some weeks you’ll go-go-go, staying up all hours to complete work. Other weeks you’ll have little to do while you wait to be paid or for product to arrive. Accept the craziness, but make time for family.

2. Find a mentor

A mentor is an experienced person who will answer your phone calls when you have a question. Some mentors charge money for their consultations, but not all of time. Your local Small Business Association chapter likely has free resources.

3. Refine your elevator pitch

Imagine every person you speak to is a potential opportunity. So you need to refine your pitch (an explanation of your business – the who, why, what, and where) into something that’s easy to explain and for others to digest.

4. You’ll never be perfect

Don’t worry about perfection. Ever. Just get the job done. Do it well, but don’t spend hours worrying about little details that no one will notice. Get your product or service out there now, test its performance, then improve.

5. Remove toxic influences

Obviously you should listen to people who offer their advice, but don’t bother with forces that are constantly trying to bring you down. When you’re trying to be an entrepreneur and a mom, you don’t have the time or energy for negativity.

6. Make your family part of the business

There’s no way you can devote enough time to running your business without ignoring your family, so make them part of your business. I don’t mean turning your kids into slaves, but you should include them wherever possible.

7. Discipline is stronger than motivation

Motivating is fleeting. Eventually you’ll run out of it and find yourself tired and bored of your project. Use discipline to keep pushing ahead, even when things get tough.

8. Bootstrap without debt

Be cautious about the money you borrow, lest you put your family in a dire financial position. There are lots of free tools out there (especially for learning), so avoid debt as much as possible.

9. Learn to say no

The minute you have some success, people will come out of nowhere asking for money, help, and trying to sell you things. Learn to politely, but firmly say no.

10. Learn to outsource

Being successful does not mean doing everything yourself. It often means putting the right systems in place to get the job done. You don’t need to be an expert at payroll, HR, sourcing, manufacturing, web design, customer service, etc. Figure out what you’re good at, do that, and outsource the rest.

Have you ever attempted to run your own business? What were your results?

You can also check Stephanie Parker's video about her experience in starting her own business.

Written by Stephanie Parker from SleepingBaby.com, inventors of the Zipadee-Zip

The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: "Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time," and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family's reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker's daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.

When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and every swaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.

Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte's startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!

To date tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!

Interested in writing a guest blog for Sleeping Baby? Send your topic idea to social@sleepingbaby.com.

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