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Are You A Mompreneur?

 

There are moms who dream big dreams of growing a company into a nationally recognizable brand, of building large teams and making a huge impact. If this is you, keep going. Find the mentors who encourage you, go to the conferences and listen to others who have paved the way for you. You can do great things.

There are moms who have no desire to start or run a business. If this is you, keep doing your first job of raising your kids to the best of your ability. You are exactly where God wants you.

For those in the middle – the mom who wants a business but doesn’t want to give up the life of stay home mom, what are they to do?

I have always been this middle type. I am so grateful for my business. I make money doing what I love! But I’ve never wanted it to be big. Big, to me, would cost too much of my life.

I read this story on the walls of our sandwich shop picking up dinner last night:

It’s called “How Much Is Enough?”

The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while.”

The American then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then?”

The American laughed and said that’s the best part. “When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions?” asked the fisherman, “Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evening, sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos!”
(Author Unknown)

Isn’t that so good?! This story resonates so much with me.

I love having a business and am thankful for all the ways it has challenged me, molded me, provided for our family and the example it gives our children.

We live in an incredible time when the dream of being a mompreneur – a woman who is raising her kids while simultaneously growing a business – is absolutely possible. There are tools and resources available to us that previous generations of women could have only imagined.

We have knowledge at our fingertips, a wealth of free tools and direct access to customers far beyond our own hometowns (thank you, internet!).

It is easier now to be a mom and run a business from home than ever before.

If this is true, though, then why do so many moms who start small businesses struggle to find success?

I have a guess and it’s just one word.

This pesky word feels so cute and go-get-em’, but doesn’t actually do anything good for us. You know the one.

It’s splattered across Instagram. It has its own hashtag. It’s on t-shirts and art prints and iPhone wallpapers. It is the mantra for the up-and-coming generation of small business owners.

Hustle.

In most places, it’s being used as motivation.

“Dream. Believe. Hustle. Achieve.”

It’s meant to be encouraging, but it’s not. There’s a frantic-ness about the word, a sense of striving, of hurry, aggression, and pressure.

When you look up hustle in the dictionary you’ll see it paired with words like forceful and hurriedly and busy. When I hear someone tell me to hustle it feels like they are saying, “Try harder! Do more! Hurry up or you’ll miss your chance!”

Instead of feeling motivated to work harder, you hear the word hustle and feel completely deflated.

Life is busy enough already!

You have kids to raise and dinner to make, laundry to fold, permission slips to sign, gifts to buy, bills to pay, appointments to get to, phone calls to make, a shower to take (in peace, preferably).

You have goals – maybe even a brilliant business already in the works – and having someone (who is most likely not a mom) tell you to just hustle harder isn’t really helping.

How in the world can we add more hustle to our lives and expect that somehow things will be better?

And, more importantly, what are we even hustling on? It’s all so bossy and vague.

Remember when you were blissfully pregnant for the first time and you read every book, asked every mom-friend, sought advice from anyone who could help you figure out how to best diaper/sleep-train/feed/hold/bathe/love your baby?

We crave the wisdom and recommendations of those who’ve done it before. We collect all the gear, take in the tips, try the techniques.

The same is true for mompreneurship.

If you’re running your own business (even if it’s just in the dream stage!) chances are you’re seeking advice, tips, tactics, and formulas for success from others who are a little further along than you. You read the books, listen to the podcasts, click on the blog posts, take the classes. This is good.

But if you’re not careful, it can become overwhelming.

Don’t feel bad. You’re not alone.

All the new tactics and social media pressure and constant noise are overwhelming for me, too.

So much so that last year I almost quit it all.