My take on being a successful mompreneur:
Recently, a fellow mompreneur-in-training tweeted me and wanted to know what I think makes a successful mompreneur? I knew that I could not answer her back in a 140 characters or less so I promised her a blog post on the subject. I immediately thought about the wave of emotions that accompanies being a mompreneur.
My current emotional spectrum ranges from either pure excitement (so much that I am physically nauseous) to absolutely exhausted. I know this sounds awful, but somehow it surprisingly feels great. I am not kidding. Challenging myself as a mompreneur is grueling, but absolutely amazing! There is no grey area, just vibrant emotions that leave me feeling tingling and exhilarated. That is the life of a mompreneur. If it did not feel so good, we mompreneurs would not do it. I like to think of tackling this up and down of feelings as Emotional Endurance. Being a mom, wife/partner/girlfriend, entrepreneur is a daily marathon, and without Emotional Endurance you cannot finish.
Not only is being a mompreneur a marathon, but one with many hills. Every day as a mompreneur is different and requires adjustment and quick thinking. No fancy name for this other than thinking and acting quickly. You may have your list or plan for the day, and the phone rings from school or daycare with a sick kid. Now what? My experience has been to act quickly! Who can help? What can you change? What cannot change? Is there a movie that your kid desperately wants to rent? Get where I am going? Mompreneurs make fast decisions on how to hold as much of it together as they can for that particular day.
The ability to multi-task is another essential part of a successful mompreneur. I do not need to tell you that smart phones, laptops, iPads, etc make multi-tasking easier because, by now, most people know that. Multi-tasking as a mompreneur means listening to a podcast on trademarking while making dinner with your fourth grader sitting next to you finishing his math homework (for you to correct). I like to think of multi-tasking as a mompreneur more as Sensory Overdrive. You can look, hear, taste all at the same time without even breaking a sweat.
Another essential is listening, but not just listening, rather what I call Visual Listening. You probably think that I belong back in the sensory section - nope! I think that with the internet, the idea of listening has changed. Yes, we still have to listen with our ears, and there are plenty of opportunities to do that with podcasts, vlogs, interviews, and plain conversations. Visual Listening is reading expert blogs, forum discussions, ebooks, or twitter, and really listening to what others are saying in their printed words! If you Visually Listen to what is out there, you will not believe the information you find at your fingertips.
So far that is my take on successful mompreneurism. I would be lying if I did not include a healthy dose of Fear in the equation. More than anything, fear propels me. Not so much fear of failing, but fear of not living my potential and striving for my dreams.
To read the real life account of my ups and downs, visit http://backngroovemom.com
March 17th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Great article! AND totally correct. That FEAR (of not reaching my potential) and EMOTONAL ENDURANCE get me the most.
March 17th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
So very true! Plan each day in priority order so you can shift othe tasks if necessary.
March 18th, 2011 at 10:01 am
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March 18th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
BAM!!!!! You nailed it
Rachel ~ Great article.
I recently wrote an article about Women in the workplace and how to conceivably make it all work out…mind you, like you said, wrenches will be thrown into the batch, but we can
dodge them without blinking….and as I always say, when the fun stops being a Mompreneur, get out!
March 18th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Thanks for the compliments…..being a mompreneur is a roller coaster, but an exciting one! Rachel
March 21st, 2011 at 10:26 am
I think the frequent schedule adjustments that go along with being a mompreneur help me to be a better business person. The spur of the moment changes are not fun, but they help me to think quickly in my business as well.