When I started my business over 18 years ago, I worked on a little desk in the corner of our bedroom. Back then, all I needed was a laptop and Google and/or Microsoft as the only software needed. Today, there is so much more to it. I want to walk you through what you should know before becoming a mompreneur.
I hope to give you some things to ponder, but also give action items if you really want to begin your mompreneur journey.
What Is a Mompreneur
A mompreneur is someone who has children and is also running their own business.
Most of the time, this requires balancing family, friends, and work. It is not easy, but it can be done.
Balancing It All
When my children were still home, I balanced it all, in part, by allowing them to have access to me at all times. The only exception was if they saw I was on the phone or in a meeting. If the meeting was in person (in our home), we had a sign that I put on the door so they were aware (all were at ages where they could read). Most of the time, both of these things were rare.
Priorities
Knowing your priorities is crucial. My priority was our family. And it was important to me that my children knew this. They also understood that they could talk to me anytime, except in rare instances. Even then, if necessary (urgent), my clients understood if there was a quick interruption.
Mompreneur and Homeschooling
I was a mompreneur while also homeschooling. So, I limited the amount of work I took. This kept it part-time the first few years. This was great as it also allowed me the time to learn more about the virtual services industry. It also allowed me to build a small client base, which served me well until I was ready to grow.
The other thing that helped me as a mompreneur was that we kept to a daily schedule for work and for school. I cannot stress how important this will be for you if you want to become a mompreneur.
In our home, we all knew when ‘school’ was and when I would be working. Although they still could come into the office and ask questions or talk with me.
The schedule also worked well as the business grew. Because we had been keeping it, it was easy to adjust where needed. Whether more time was needed for school or work. And due to the nature of an online service business, it was greatly flexible for Summertime schedules or other things we wanted to do.
It Takes Time
Starting a business and attracting clients takes time. Usually much more than you realize when you first start.
This is especially true if you plan to use only organic (no paid ads) marketing strategies. So, if you want to begin your online service business, start sooner rather than later. Take the time needed to slowly grow your audience and following.
And remember, on the hard days, it takes time that is built layer upon layer.
Yes, You Will Need to Be On Social Media
Many business owners ask me, “Do I really need to be on social media?” And they usually follow that with, “I hate social media.”
The simple answer is, “Yes, you will need to be on social media.” Every business brand must have a presence and be consistent in their posting on social media. Now, don’t shrug and give me a huge sigh; not yet. I have a solution for you if this is you.
Solution for Those Who Don’t Want to Do Social Media
The solution for you, if you do not want to be on social media, is to hire someone to do it for you. This, however, would also mean that you either have money to invest from the beginning or you are already making money when you bring someone on to help you.
I recommend hiring a contractor (also called a 1099 employee in the U.S.) to fill this role. Make sure it is someone who does this on a regular basis. They should be available to meet with you from time to time (monthly or quarterly) to discuss strategy. And they should provide you with monthly reports indicating growth and engagement on each social channel you are on.
Ways to Help Your Social Media Engagement
You should post frequently (at least daily on most channels, with others needing more). It must be consistent so your audience can follow you.
Produce videos and photos to share of you, your offices, your team (if you have one), and events you may attend. These can also be turned into stories on Facebook as well as short video clips to share on all channels.
People do not want to watch long videos today. The attention span of the average person has gone down considerably over the last several years.
According to the National Library of Medicine study done the median attention span of an adult is 72.17 seconds.
study by: Frontiers in Cognition
Seventy-two seconds is all we have to grab the attention of the adults (those in your audience) scrolling by on social media. I know it seems impossible. What happens, however, is that you begin to resonate with people to start to attract an audience. Then, as they keep watching your posts, it helps the algorithm on that channel know which, in turn, makes them share it with more people.
Software and Hardware for Service Businesses
I could not write an article about starting as a mompreneur without mentioning the hardware and software needed to do so.
As I mentioned earlier, I did not need much to start my business over 18 years ago. Today, however, there are many software programs that are needed. Yes, having a laptop or desktop is a start.
Software
I sat here trying to decide where to start in telling you about software programs you may need. So, I’m going to give the type of software that you need, instead of the specific software I use.
- General Documents, Worksheets, and Presentations– a program(s) to be able to create general documents, worksheets, and presentations is a necessity.
- Website – a way to create your website with your domain only in it. There are many ‘plug and play’ type platforms, so it makes it easier for the beginner without any experience to create their website.
- Graphics Creation – yes, this is needed today for so many reasons. Whether you are generating your own posts or paying someone, you will need to be able to create graphics, presentations, free offers (that are designed nicely), and much more.
- Email Marketing – is a necessity. You will eventually create a free offer to give others. They will have to give you their email address. That is attached to a mailing list within your email marketing platform. There are a number of these that are free until you add a certain number of contacts. Some will charge you after 500, 1000, or 2000. Every program is different.
- Accounting System – once you begin making money, you need a way for your clients to pay you. You also need to be able to give an account of the money you make for tax purposes. Accounting systems will help you with this.
- All-in-One Software – there are also some systems created with you in mind. It houses many of the programs you will need. It may not have everything, but the basics of starting are there. Many will offer a free trial or free for first client.
- Social Media Scheduler – if you will do your own social media, then I recommend using a scheduler to help you manage it. You can create a couple of weeks or a month’s worth of posts and put them on the scheduler to put it out how often you would like.
- Project Management (PM) System – once you begin having more than one client, you should utilize a PM system. It will help you keep your deadlines, schedule time to work on your business, and keep everything flowing smoothly. There are some free systems until you bring on more clients or have team members of your own.
I would call these the basics. After that, you need more software to help you with a variety of items, but I’ll leave it at this for now to get you started.
Final Thoughts
I know it can feel overwhelming in the beginning, but it does get easier. My suggestion is just get started and limit your hours in the early years of business.
You can always create more business, but your children will only be this age once in a lifetime. And their lifetime with you is very short. I know this too well.
If you need any help, reach out, and I’m glad to assist.
I love helping women service businesses scale.
Tammy Durden is an award-winning business coach and consultant who specializes in helping women online service providers grow a business to fit their lifestyle rather than squeeze a life around their business.
Tammy has established herself as an authority figure over the last 18 years while creating and growing several online service businesses. She is also a sought-after thought leader, course creator, and speaker in the online service industry.