Like a Mother | Why Moms Make Awesome Entrepreneurs

I’ve been obsessed with small, creative businesses lately. Can you tell from all of my Girl Boss posts and my small business edition of InstaAddict? I plan on jumping into this topic a little deeper this year as I ramp up my own freelancing business (I promise to make it not boring for those of you who have no interest in starting a business!).

But thinking about entrepreneurs (which happens when you’re obsessively listening to podcasts about creative businesses—that’s a whole other post) made me think about the fact that moms are the perfect candidates for entrepreneurial leadership. I mean, we run our own small, messy, sometimes really grumpy armies day in and day out.

Since I’m big on making lists, I came up with 5 entrepreneurial skills moms are total bosses at.

1. Management skills

Every single day of a mom’s life is spent managing people and things and schedules and bathroom breaks and things and tantrums and likes and dislikes and did I mention things? God forbid we are missing one of the things!

I, for one, manage every single bit of every single day. Sure, there are slip ups from time to time (cough, Frozengate, cough). But such is life. For the most part, I successfully coordinate the schedules of multiple humans and make sure each of them do the essential tasks they need to do to keep things running smoothly: brushing teeth and hair, cleaning bodies and toys and spilled juice. This is not a 9 to 5 job. This is an every hour of every day kind of gig—just like starting your own little baby business.

2. Communication and negotiation skills

Have you ever tried to communicate with a toddler? They may be cute and tiny but do not underestimate them. They can go from sweet and smiley to screaming and flailing body parts in the time it takes you to pick up your tea.

A big source of their frustration is difficulty communicating. Toddlers don’t exactly speak the language. And to make things even more confusing, every toddler speaks a different version of their language. It’s a cornucopia of dialects, if you will.

Still, mommas have to learn to communicate with these wildlings effectively—even in the midst of screaming, crying, snotty-nosed tantrums. And you know what? We are bosses at that.

How many times have you been out somewhere when a little kid says something to you and you stand there completely perplexed and unable to respond? Then Mom swoops in, acts as translator and makes everyone happy again. It happens all the damn time.

Aside from acting as translator, moms are also pretty good at negotiating with these little creatures. If you need someone to come and diffuse a situation between two angry parties, you better call Mom. She has figured out her kids’ magic buttons and can use them to her advantage to get shit done. We also quickly learn that these skills can be turned on our husbands as well. 😉

3. The abiliity to research effectively

I dare you to find me someone who researches more thoroughly than a mother trying to find a safe and effective product for her child. Bring me a unicorn while you’re at it, because they’re probably hanging out together.

4. Adaptability

Close your eyes and imagine this: you’re in a store. You have two kids in tow. It’s wintertime so both kids are pulling off hats, gloves and jackets and handing them to you while you are trying to hurry through the aisles balancing all of these things along with whatever products you’re picking up and making sure no children are lost along the way.

You have 10 minutes to get to your next destination. Suddenly your little one starts doing a pee pee dance. Somehow you manage to pick up all the items you need, avoid anyone wetting their pants and get to your destination. You’re five minutes late, but whatever. You got there. Because you, my friend, roll with the punches.

You turn blankets into burp cloths and magically contain explosive diapers. You can braid someone’s hair while scheduling a doctor’s appointment, saving toast from burning and catching a toddler before her chair tips over. There is no creature more innovative and creative than you. You work well under pressure because, to children, everything is dire. You multitask because you have no other choice. You are a mother.

5. Risk takers

Friends, you don’t know what a risk is until you take a recently potty-trained child out into the world. It doesn’t matter how many times said child has tried to go before you leave. It doesn’t matter if you have all of the bathrooms in a five-mile radius memorized and three pairs of spare pants at the ready. Taking that newly diaperless bum out into the world is taking a huge chance. So much could go wrong, but you do it anyway. Why? Because risk taking is a part of your day to day.

Am I right or what, friends? Moms are oftentimes the CEO of their household. They just happen to get paid in kisses and giggles instead of cash. But what about those of us who have awesome ideas that could turn into an actual business? We already possess the skills required to get shit done. But how do we bring our awesome ideas to life?

Enter MUMZY, a brand new crowdfunding platform for mommas that not only helps raise capital for your brilliant ideas, but also provides small business development resources and is looking to build a strong community of supportive women. They’re in their infant stages right now and open to any feedback. They’re also giving away $1,000 to one of the first 100 people who post a project to www.mumzy.com. Pretty cool, no?

As someone who is constantly squealing with excitement about a project she wants to tackle and figure out how to turn into a business, I’m totally intrigued. I’m one of those people (kind of like my oldest daughter) who has been dreaming up ways to start my own business for as long as I can remember. Maybe The Baby-Sitters Club started it. Maybe it was a lemonade stand. Either way, I’ve been dreaming up businesses since forever. This could be a great way to get started.

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own business (whether when you were little or as an adult)? Tell us in the comments what ideas (however big or small) have floated around your head!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions (as well as the sassy face) expressed here are all my own.

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