Utilising social media, retail sites (such as Etsy), or their own websites with inexpensive plugins for shopping carts and Buy Now buttons, more and more moms are able to create successful businesses within the comfort of their own homes.

While the world may be a business mom’s oyster, it is not without challenges. Often despite well-made products and needed services entrepreneurs, whether moms or not, are faced with a challenge to learn skills imperative to building the company.

So is there really a difference between mompreneurs?

“Mompreneurs are not different to other entrepreneurs or businesswomen, but often their needs set them apart,” says Winson, who helps moms start, grow and create awareness of their home businesses. “Mompreneurs often approach business differently, and allocate resources and time in a manner that is more conducive to an equal balance between family and business. That is not to say that a home maker cannot run a six figure business but how they choose to run the business, is unique.”

Winson launched EntrepreneurMom to help mompreneurs learn the skills they need to be successful in home business, included business planning, financial, social media, marketing and public relations.

“As a mom myself, with a public relations and strategic communications background, I realised that if I wanted a better balance, I would need to create it, and started a PR consultancy. As I met more and more mothers I was surprised to see how many actually did work have a home business. Most of these women had one thing in common: a brilliant idea, product or service, but a gap in their business knowledge, such as finances, marketing, PR, or had too much self-doubt.”

Whether mompreneurs come from a corporate background or have never worked in the past, business knowledge is a learnable skill. Winson believes a problem occurs when moms in business try to emulate the traditional model of an entrepreneur, such as long hours away from family.

“It is easy to become despondent about your home business when you constantly feel like you need to be to be at networking events in the evening, or need a course that is beyond your budget. It is easy to feel that you do not measure up, due to lack of time, resources, funding or knowledge. However, there is absolutely no reason a mompreneur cannot be hugely successful and run a six figure business,” says Winson. “Success for a mompreneur becomes easier when the realisation strikes that it is ok to do things differently.”

EntrepreneurMom was set up to respond to three separate needs of many mompreneurs in a way that is more suitable to the niche:

Time

Time is a precious commodity to any entrepreneur, but moms who start a home business specifically earmark this resource to balance family and business. Moms often work outside of business hours, or may work sporadically through the day, and find attending courses an additional burden they are unable to undertake. 

Resources

This refers specifically to money, whether for the business or for additional education. Again, money is a concern for most business people, but often a home business, in the beginning stages, has less financial resources for business expenses. While many long-distance training education centres offer short and medium term courses, these may be out of reach for a cost-conscious entrepreneur.

Availability

This is closely entwined with time, but refers to a mompreneurs capacity to leave the home. This is especially true for mompreneurs with babies or young children, who have children in the home for most or all of the work day, who home school, or when children are at school for a half day.

“One of the biggest reasons a mom chooses to set up a home business is to have more time with family. When networking or courses take the mom away, a mom may actually need to decline the opportunity, either out of choice or necessity. Again, it comes down to finding a way to do things that suit the individual; a savvy mompreneur is able to do many business functions digitally.”

"Whatever is standing in the way between you and success is a skill that can be learned. It cannot be stressed enough. It is not talent, it is not genetic: it is a learned skill mixed with a whole lot of determination."

EntrepreneurMom offers a variety of tools and resources for mompreneurs.

For more information, visit www.entrepreneurmom.co.za. Alternatively, visit and like their page on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.