Moms Are Dynamite Entrepreneurs

Rich Sloan has a healthy respect for the exploding ranks of mom entrepreneurs. He believes the skills that go along with being a mother translate well to the business world.

Sloan should know. He's a small business expert, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of StartupNation.com, which recently posted the results of its 2009 competition, "Leading Moms in Business."

In his capacity as "Chief Startupologist," he's observed some trends he says are unique to mom entrepreneurs. "Moms are great communicators and they're social creatures," Sloan says. That makes them perfectly adapted to take advantage of the social media phenomenon--everything from StartupNation forums to "uber" sites like Facebook and activities such as twittering, he says.

That extends as well to e-mail marketing. According to Sloan, many of the women ranked among the top 200 moms in business at StartupNation.com "ended up winning because they were able to create awareness using e-mail marketing."

"I do truly believe that the management skills that moms learn--the multitasking, the ability to manage complex things over course of time, the rearing of children, the running of a household--lead moms to being very well-equipped to running a business, which is similarly complex," Sloan says.

He adds, "You know the saying, 'Necessity is the mother of invention?' Mothers are the mothers of invention to a superior degree because they are in such a high-need environment."

The result is moms creating businesses that cater to other moms, Sloan says. "The needs that are so pronounced in their lives are quickly seen by these crafty people as opportunities . . . to provide products or services to people just like them."

In fact, Sloan has gone so far as to coin the term "kitchen table commerce." He believes it's replacing the classic characterization of startups coming out of the garage. "I think part of the reason why we've moved from garage to the kitchen table is that we've moved from it being the domain of men and their 'man cave,' known as the garage, and we've moved into the domain of the woman, whose domain is known as the kitchen."

He goes so far as to say, "The level of pride and exhilaration and exuberance among moms in business I think is superior to moms alone or businesspeople alone. It's just a fabulous combination."

Sloan offers these pearls of wisdom to would-be mom entrepreneurs:

1. Start with little steps. "Many times people look at the mountain instead of looking at the steps. As an alternative, I recommend you just think about a few steps that would be helpful and make sense and get you a little more information. For example: Do a quick Google search to find out how other companies are doing what you're doing."
    
2. Define your brand. "Create a very well-defined statement about exactly what you do and why it has benefits for whomever you target."
    
3. Float your concept past people who would be highly critical. "Use that to sharpen what you're building." Sloan says he's building three businesses right now. "The business concepts continue to improve because I continue to run them by really smart, discriminating people. I have 'aha' moments every step of the way." Approach people wherever you find them, he says--at the gym, at a cocktail party, in a puppy training class.
    
4. You don't have a spend a lot of money to start a business. "The home-based businesses most moms will start today cost about a $1,000. You can get a website for free. E-mail marketing costs pennies per e-mail. Don't have the misconception has to be very expensive."