I am new to this forum and just found this topic.
I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the sacrifice and determination that I see with you moms who are trying to care for your families through taking on the responsibility of being entrepreneurs. You have my respect.
You have a very unique situation. You have two careers and they are both full-time.
As I see it, the most important stage for you is before you start. If you travel down a path and don't know what it will be like, you are setting yourself for failure. There are so many variables unique to each business. If you don't know what they are, you won't know if you will like that business or be suited for it. Or, your family situation may not allow it.
What I try and do is help people to understand themselves as a starting point. Everyone has something they are good at. Everyone has something they are passionate about. These qualities are critical to know about when starting a business.
I call the sum-total of a person's personality, qualities and passion their "marketable passion." If you can find the right business based on this, you will do very well.
If you know what your marketable passion is, you can begin doing the research to find all the possible businesses that will fit. Then based on your desires, needs, resources, location and opportunities, you can narrow it down to a small handful.
Then you do more research. You look at other similar businesses that have made it and see what they have done, how they built their businesses. You study everything you can find on the businesses in your short list. There are two goals in doing this. You are trying to understand their business model and you get a feel for their business. Would you like doing that kind of work all the time?
If you are going to make or manufacture something, I suggest a business plan. Understanding cost of goods sold, expenses and your target market is necessary to see if it is financially feasible. It's required if you want someone to invest.
One of the biggest issues I see here is having enough time. One of the questions you have to answer is, what are the business requirements and how will you solve it?
For some, the nature of the chosen business allows more time. For others, their resources allow hiring baby-sitters and outsourcing a lot of the labor intensive work. These issues need to be addressed very early and planned for.
Once you have done all that, you will find one that you fall in love with. It is a passionate feeling. That's your business.
If you already have a business, you can analyze it. If your business isn't working, figure out why based on the above information. Then modify it to make it work. There's usually a way to do this. If not, you might think of a new, more appropriate business. This is not failure. This is being a smart businessperson.
After all, the goal is to be successful and take care of your family. You need the business to work and work well.
You, your business and your family can be synchronized when you know how.
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The Passionate Entrepreneur
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