Get started on your Start-Up by deciding what you need to do to make sure your business stands apart from the competition. The best way to do this is to figure out who your target audience is and focus on the services you can provide to grab them. Start by admitting to yourself that you just can’t do it all. No one can and no one should. You need to determine your niche. Read the article “7 Steps to Defining Your Niche Market” at http://entm.ag/1CUj5sr to get started or, for those of you with an established business already, narrow down your target for more successful marketing strategies. ‪

Every business should have a mission statement, business goals, a marketing plan, and (of course) estimates for start-up costs. You should also have a good idea how much you can expect to earn as a business owner. If you need to, contact an Accountant and/or an Attorney to help you figure everything out. To begin, register and build your business plan at www.SBA.gov. ‪

Once you’ve decided to start a business, then comes the fun part: Building your brand. Choose a name for your business and register it as a “DBA” or “Doing Business As” with the county or state tax office. Next, choose a domain name and purchase it from a domain registrar such as Go Daddy (for tips on how to choose your domain name, read this article: http://bit.ly/1IyUx6x). Having your brand established and well-designed marketing materials from the beginning is a great foundation for every small business, and will allow you to look like the professional that you are from the get-go. ‪

While many women find it difficult to promote themselves, as a business owner it’s a must. You need to be your own spin doctor. Talk up your business and the services that you offer wherever you go. Always keep business cards handy, and pass them out as often as possible. Post press releases and other news about your business on your website and social media accounts, as well as testimonials from satisfied customers. Volunteer your services at local events, for area groups and schools, and every other opportunity that will allow you to showcase your talents and get your business noticed.

Finally, remember that mom-owned businesses tend to grow organically. How much your business can grow at a given time will be determined by the amount of time you have available to dedicate to your business. Growing slowly and steadily will give you more control over work versus family time, as well as offer you more flexibility. Creating a healthy balance between your professional and personal life is what we all crave.

 

Best selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford once said “Successful women don’t sleep until noon.” Obviously, no mother can sleep until noon. But the routine of waking up early has always been a practice of highly successful people. Why? Because productive mornings start with early wake-up calls. Any Mompreneueur knows time is a precious commodity. So before the day gets consumed by phone calls, meetings, projects, and kids, the early morning hours are the perfect time to get things done, or at least get a jumpstart on the tasks ahead. Starting off in a productive manner leads to better time-management throughout the remainder of the day.

You may be a savvy business woman by day, but by night you’re Mom and everyone looks to you to take care of them. Especially when they are hungry. A great time-management practice is to partially precook dinners for the entire week on Sunday. Plan a weekly menu and do necessary preparations. For some great recipes that can be done ahead of time, check out these suggestions from Real Simple: http://bit.ly/1x7hfBP.

It can be hard, but knowing how to prioritize tasks effectively is an essential part of any time-management strategy. Start by determining which tasks are most urgent. What about when everything is important? Check out this article from Inc.com on how to prioritize when everything is a priority: http://bit.ly/Re1K8b

Do you know we can lose as much as two hours a day to distractions? Whether they come from emails, IM chats, or phone calls from clients, distractions prevent us from managing our time wisely. Distractions can be especially troublesome when working from home. If you want to gain control of your day, you need to minimize distractions. Check out this article from entrepreneur.com on how to manage distractions when working out of your home: http://entm.ag/1i3xaJe.

For those Mompreneurs working on multiple projects at once, a great way to stay focused and productive is to use a countdown timer. I used to create a daily list that showed when I planned to work on different projects throughout the day. I found, though, I often swayed from that schedule. Using a timer is the best way to keep me focused and alert me to when I need to move on to the next project.

“When I use countdown timers, my pace speeds up because I want to beat the clock. The timer also brings me back from being immersed in creative flow in between client sessions.” – Sherlyn Pang Luedtke, mompreneur founder of Present Parent Training