Dear Mompreneur,
It was just the other day that you were desperately holding your baby as close to you as you possibly could, scared to death by the prospect of not seeing her for the majority of your day. The idea of leaving her in the care of someone else and not being able to watch her grow and learn and explore the world around her made your chest tight and your eyes burn with tears. It was then and there that you decided to abandon your career aspirations, even for just a short time and find something, anything that would provide enough income to keep you afloat, provide a little wiggle room and pay your bills, all the while, being at home with your kids.
It doesn’t happen like that for everyone, but I know that for many of you, it does. For others, you are just born into it. I’m born into it. I have the entrepreneurial spirit. I got it from my dad.
Either way, being a Mompreneur – it’s not easy and I applaud you. As a Mompreneur, you have proven that you have three very admirable characteristics.
Perseverance:
There are advantages to having a job, where you show up at 9 and leave at 5 at which time, you go home to your family. Period. For Mompreneurs though, the work always calls-morning, noon and night. There is a risk, that on the days when your children need you more, you flip flop between home and work and at the end of the day you find that you’ve spent twice the energy on half the sleep with nothing to show for it. Your house is a mess, there are at least 50 unread emails in your inbox, the calls haven’t been made, the project is unfinished and the baby has managed to pull everything out of your purse, every Kleenex out of the box, every book off the shelf, every cheerio from bag and there is a strange white goo covering the dog.
Adaptability:
For many women going into business for themselves, the learning curve is steep. Most of you know nothing about running a business, about marketing, book-keeping and/or sales and usually, its up to you to manage all of those areas on your own. After all, small business are just that – small. It’s you and you alone.
Resilience:
Which brings me to resilience. Being a Momprenuer is a lonely business. There is no one in your office to take coffee breaks with, (unless you count breaking to breastfeed the baby). Often, you have no one to bounce ideas off of or get feedback from. And let’s face it, a lot of you Momprenuers are in sales. You are involved in a direct sales company or offer services like photography, writing, or design – all industries where you have to ask for the business and subsequently are turned down…a lot. Rejected…a lot. Avoided…a lot.
So Momprenuers, here is to you. Keep your head up and keep your heart strong. You are doing the best you can for your family, and that is to be admired. This glass of wine is on me.
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