Momtrepreneurs: Have Kids, Do Business!

It's 7 o'clock in the morning. My 3-year-old daughter is running around the house in her pajamas demanding breakfast; the dog wants his food too. I've been at the computer since 6 a.m., after my quick rest at 2:30 turned into a three-and-a-half hour nap. The proofs of the first issue of Parent:Wise Austin flicker on the screen in front of me. They have to be read, sent back to the designer for corrections, and uploaded to the printer in two hours.

"Mommy I'm hungry!" My daughter cries. The dog starts barking. My computer beeps, another email has hit my inbox-most likely from Nisa, the magazine's designer-telling me, in her humorous-but-serious way, that I have to hurry if we hope to make deadline.

"Mommy, please! Please make me breakfast. I'm hungry!"

The computer beeps again. The screen flickers. I am on the verge of tears.

"What in the world was I thinking?" I whisper desperately to nobody in particular.

It was my first real taste of being a Momtrepreneur.

Of course, the first issue of the magazine got published without a hitch. The proofs made it to the printer on time and all 32,000 copies hit newsstands as scheduled. And my daughter did get breakfast (so did the dog).

I, on the other hand, was wiped. And it was just the first issue.

Somehow, I thought owning my own magazine-one I could run from home, no less-would offer me unmitigated flexibility to raise my daughter while at the same time making a contribution to both the community and my family.

How hard could it be? After all, I was qualified: I had a decade-and-a-half of journalism experience plus hordes of shiny little awards that apparently testified to some sort of skill.

Yeah. Right.

None of those things prepared me for the serious reality of owning a company while also trying to raise a child. The reality of "unmitigated flexibility" meant long hours in the middle of the night so that I could mother my daughter during the day.

The worst of it was wondering: was all the work even worth it?

Mothering and Managing

Luckily, I quickly discovered I was not alone. Mine is a typical question that many new Momtrepreneurs ask. Like me, all assume that owning their own company will allow them plenty of flexibility to mother their kids. And it does-but moms have to be prepared for the fact that starting a business is, in a way, like birthing another baby.

"One of the biggest challenges for self-employed moms is integrating work and family effectively [because] for many of these women, their 'other' baby is their business," says Renee Trudeau, a career and work/life balance coach, mother, and owner of Austin-based Career Strategists. "At the same time, for many the driving force behind going out on their own was to be able to create businesses that supported their life goals as well as their career goals. The flexibility that self-employment affords you is great, but learning how and when to draw the line and knowing how much work you can effectively handle is key."

Many mothers don't really think about this in the first flush of excitement over starting a company. But Mur Ann Lawson, a mother, grandmother and the owner of Special Addition Maternity & Nursing Boutique, cautions mothers to take a good, hard look at the work-and stress-involved in owning a business before they jump into it.

"Starting up a business is not like working for someone else's established business: the problems go home with you and the hours are long," Lawson says. "My advice is to give your children and family as much of your time as possible and realize that you cannot be Super Mom and give 100% to everything."

Leah Lewis understands this well: a professional mezzo-soprano and owner of Leah's Music Class, Lewis decided right off the bat that her family would always come first, no matter what. Her 4-year-old son, Kieran, has Sensory Integration Dysfunction, so Lewis knew she wouldn't be able to work for hours on end while he amused himself; he demanded her attention. So Lewis does paperwork while Kieran is napping, or after he goes to bed; she also employs a "mother's helper" or a college student to play with Kieran while she teaches classes.

"I have occasionally wondered how much more financially successful I'd be had I not put the business in second place to my family," Lewis says. "But I am extremely successful in the happiness department (and so are they) and that matters so much more than money and comparing my business 'success' to others."

What to Pack on the Road to Success

The fact is, owning a business doesn't guarantee you immediate income-in fact, starting a business usually means losing money for the first year or more. For mothers who are hoping to supplement the family income while also spending time with their children, this can be incredibly stressful. That's why successful Momtrepreneurs realize early on the most important thing they need is someone who not only is supportive of their entrepreneurial dreams, but who also can help-out in a pinch-especially with babysitting.

For Suzanne Luftig, who owns Suzy J Jewelry, that person is her husband. Not only has he designed her financial spreadsheets, he also takes care of their daughter when Luftig has to work.

"This holiday season is very busy with shows and some are on weekdays. Fortunately my husband's work is flexible and he can often plan to be home when I need him to be," Luftig says.

The same is true for Holly Holt Thoden and her sister, Brooke Holte Denby. The two own a franchise of Carol Anderson By Invitation, a direct sales firm that markets women's clothing. The business requires working evenings and weekends, and occasionally some travel-all tough on moms with young children. Both rely on their husbands to step in and lend a hand.

"Thankfully, our husbands are behind us 100% so if we have shows in the evening they watch the kids," says Thoden. "This season, we took a trip with the clothing line to Washington, D.C. and our husbands both rose to the occasion and kept the kids-even taking a day off [of work] to be with them."

For single moms without in-house support, the road can be more difficult, but not impossible. Michelle Peterson started Groovy Moon Clothing, a reseller of upscale children's clothing, after she became a single mom. She kept her day-job as a high school French teacher and "hatched [her] elaborate plan", as she puts it, at night. With the help of a friend and her fiancŽ, and a lot of hard work on Peterson's behalf, Groovy Moon was born.

Aside from a strong support team, the other imperative item to starting a business is a concrete plan with realistic goals. Sally Whitehouse, who now owns Bright Beginnings in Austin, Cotton Tots in Houston, and her online company BestDressedKids.com, started out with a tiny retail store when her kids were 2- and 4-years-old because she liked the idea of bringing them with her to work. After 21 successful years in business, she recommends that mothers who want to be business owners be both particular and practical when starting out.

"Be very selective in what you choose as your business-be sure you love it and that people have a need for it," Whitehouse says. "You must be passionate

about it!"

And that includes passionate about the dirty work involved in keeping the business alive. When Dede Clark started KidsActing 25-years ago, she was the teacher, chief marketer, public relations guru, advertiser, bookkeeper...and janitor.

"I remember a time when the toilet backed up and I was tending to it. A gentleman came in and asked who the owner was. Standing there with a dripping plunger, I replied, 'That would be me!'" Clark recalls. "I remember laughing and thinking 'for this I went to graduate school!'"

Armed with a plan and plenty of passion, an entrepreneurial mom then needs to be somewhat of a risk-taker: starting a business means being bold, occasionally shameless, and not easily defeated. Michelle Peterson of Groovy Moon Clothing recalls starting out by sitting in her house and forcing herself to call at least four people a day to ask them to sell her their children's old clothes. When she finally amassed enough used clothing to sell, she held a small sale at a friend's house-and that morning it snowed! The balloons she had bought to be festive all sank to the ground. It looked hopeless. But people came, and bought, and now-two years later-Groovy Moon is on solid ground.

"Remember that it will take twice, no three times, no four times as long as you think to be successful. It just will," Peterson says. "And the work will be more than you imagined, too. But the upside is that your Taj Mahal will be just that: all yours."

Banks, Bookkeeping and Other Business Burdens

Of course, the thing to remember about the Taj Mahal is that it was built 350 years ago as the final resting place for the Empress Mumtaz Mahal. In other words, it's a tomb. And a mom's business can end-up being the same thing if she doesn't prepare herself for the speed bumps she is certain to encounter on the road to success.

Hands down, the moms interviewed for this story said accounting was and is their major business headache. After setting-up the business, and managing your time, keeping the books can the biggest hurdle for women. Although Sally Whitehouse of Bright Beginnings jokes that she handled the problem by marrying a certified public accountant, most of the other moms have outsourced the job. Dianira Aluko of Spanish Inspirations, a Spanish language program for children, advises moms to know their weaknesses and then hire competent people to fill those gaps.

"I simply found someone that was good at it and now they do the books," Aluko says. "This way I can work on what I'm good at and not waste my time with things that I'm not good at and easily frustrate me. It took me a while to be able to allow someone to help me, but once I did, my life was so much better and less stressful."

But just because someone else does the books doesn't mean the business will be successful or even solvent. Managing the monetary risks involved in starting a business can make the whole endeavor seem overwhelming and, at times, not worth it. Women tend to have a more difficult time securing financing for their businesses (especially women of color), even though the Center for Women's Business Research points out that women-owned businesses are just as financially strong and creditworthy as the average American firm, with similar performance on bill payment and similar levels of credit risk. Since they can't get financing, or don't know where to obtain it, many women fund their start-ups with credit cards rather than traditional bank loans. Indeed, only 39% of women who own fast-growth firms have a commercial bank loan compared with 52% of men owners of fast-growth firms, according to the Center for Women's Business Research.

Luckily, Austin has two comprehensive business centers that can assist mothers in starting a business: The Small Business Development Center, near Highland Mall, offers free business counseling, training and business start-up classes (including basic bookkeeping and market feasibility studies); and the Department of Small and Minority Business Resources, on the East side of town on Ed Bluestein, houses several business assistance programs, including BIG Austin (which offers thorough business education and loans) and SCORE (retired business owners who volunteer their expertise to help start-ups).

Mothers who are considering starting-up a business also should consult the Austin Women's Chamber of Commerce and eWomen Network. Both organizations are comprised entirely of women who have been down this road before and understand the pitfalls-and joys-of owning a business.

"Get your business name out as much as you can by getting involved in organizations, events and any networking opportunities," says Shelly Drouin, who recently started a StrollerFit franchise in Austin. "You never know who you'll meet and they may have been looking for a product or service just like yours."

Why Women (Including Moms!) Should Own Businesses

When you start networking, you'll find that women-owned businesses abound, not just in Austin, but throughout the country. In fact, women-owned businesses are growing at a rate one-and-a-half times that of men-owned businesses. Put another way, women own 9.1 million businesses in this country, account for $3.6 trillion in annual sales, and employ more than 27.5 million people. In the Austin-San Marcos area alone, women own 28% of private firms, employ almost 63,000 people, and generate $8.3 billion in sales.

Female entrepreneurs also tend to have more balanced workforces: the staffs at women-owned companies generally are around 52% women and 48% men, while men-owned companies are 62% men and 38% women, according to the National Women's Business Council. Women business owners also tend to do more with less, which results in higher productivity: indeed, women-owned businesses are 1.7 times more productive than men-owned companies, according to the NWBC.

Not only that, but women business owners are, frankly, good community stewards: according to the Center for Women's Business Research, 70% of female entrepreneurs volunteer at least once per month; 31% contribute $5,000 or more to charity each year (15% give $10,000 or more); and they are more likely than men to serve in leadership positions in their volunteer pursuits.

"Even when women say they don't have time, they make the time to help," says Ashley Goolsby, who owns Cartridge World, a printer cartridge refilling and recycling company; she is also executive director of eWomen Network in Austin. "They are not afraid to take too much on their plates-which isn't always a good thing. It's challenging for our families and our companies, but it's in our nature. I think being women we have something inside of us that makes us want to nurture so we want to nurture everything"

That nurturing starts at home, which is where some moms say being an entrepreneur makes the most important and long lasting impact.

"I think it's been great for the kids to watch [my company] evolve," says Janice Drost of Jan's Jumpers Moonwalk Rentals in South Austin. "They are growing up to learn if you have a vision and are determined to succeed, you can accomplish your dream."

Very true, echoes Paula Halloum of Archive Photography in Round Rock. Her children, ages 10, 7, and 3, have watched her develop the business from home into a full-service portrait studio (she also happens to do most of the on-site photography for Parent:Wise Austin). Halloum believes being an entrepreneur models for the kids a good work ethic and a sense of priorities.

"I think it shows that [mothers] are able to accomplish a lot," Halloum says. "We have many interests-and isn't that what we try to teach our kids, that they can do many different things?"

Parting Advice-and Enthusiasm

Austin may be the perfect place to do those things, too. The city is heavily invested in local businesses and consumers seem to prefer the small and kitschy to the big and banal. Business organizations here welcome mothers-the Choose Austin First business group even allows kids to attend morning networking events!-and there are plenty of other moms ready and willing to offer advice and enthusiasm.

"Austin is the place to do it if one's ever going to: This community supports anyone with spirit," says Michelle Peterson of Groovy Moon. "If you step forward with full intention, unforeseen reinforcement will rise up."

It still takes a lot of planning, preparation, and sleepless nights, but Austin Momtrepreneurs say it's worth it.

"If this is a fire that burns within you, go for it. Better to have tried and failed than to die not trying at all," says Dr. Ana Maria Maynard, founding director of the Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance & Cultural Center. "My magic formula? God, double up on good vitamins, [and] throw in a little bit of insanity"

That, and be realistic: "Give up on the idea of being your own boss-'cause sister that just does not happen when you have wee ones," says Ali Ronder, of Austin Yoga Mama. "But you can feel joy in creating something that speaks to your heart. Your children will feel your enthusiasm!"

It's so true. My daughter now proudly points out the magazine wherever she sees it in town. She calls it "our magazine." She even answers her pretend phone: "Parent:Wise Austin, this is Madeleine."

I still worry about balancing my work and my life. But because I own the magazine, I can make my own hours; I can hire people who share my values; I can create a family-friendly workplace for parents; and I can write what I believe is important for the Austin parenting community. None of that would be possible if I were working for someone else.

And when the going gets tough-and it does!-I keep in mind the wise words of my friend Katherine Zimmerman, a mother and the owner of Kerbey Lane Doll Shoppe. When interviewed for this article, Zimmerman pointed out that mothers are masters of long hours, hard work and discipline. Her final piece of advice is priceless:

"You are a Mother. You can handle a business. Enough said."