Michelle Lee Ribeiro - Country Living The Moms Guide to Running a Business: Strategies for Work Success and Family Balance

A CountryLiving BOOK

THE
MOM'S GUIDE
TO RUNNING
A BUSINESS

Strategies for Work Success and Family Balance

MICHELLE LEE RIBEIRO

Copyright 2011 by Hearst Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Project editor: Carol Spier
Book design: Renato Stanisic
Photography editor: Martha Corcoran

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ribeiro, Michelle Lee.
The moms guide to running a business : strategies for work success and family balance / Michelle Lee Ribeiro.
p. cm.
At head of title: Country living
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-58816-802-3
1. Work and familyCase studies. 2. BusinesswomenCase studies. 3. Working mothers Case studies. 4. EntrepreneurshipCase studies. I. Title. II. Title: Country living.
HD4904.25.R53 2011
658.4'09dc22

201001731

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Published by Hearst Books
A division of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016

Country Living is a registered trademark of Hearst Communications, Inc.

www.countryliving.com

For information about custom editions, special sales, premium and corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales Department at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing
c/o Canadian Manda Group, 165 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3H6

Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756 Australia

Manufactured in China

Sterling ISBN 978-1-58816-802-3

Contents

Take a walk downtown and youll see small businesses everywhere. A few minutes searching the Web for online businesses brings up millions of results. As we shop in those stores and on those sites, we rarely stop to consider the people who own and run them.

IN THIS BOOK YOULL MEET SOME OF THE PEOPLE BEHIND THOSE BUSINESSES. And you might be surprised by who they are. The ones who share their stories here are ordinary women who have found a way to make money pursuing a passion. Many of them work at home. All of them have children. And each one of them started out thinking, Theres no way I can do this! But they did. And so can you.

It doesnt take an MBA to be an entrepreneur, and you dont need a boardroom to make decisions. If you have a hobby, a passion, and a desire to bring your ideas to the world, your creativity can turn a profit. You just need the tools to know how to beginand the support and inspiration of others who have already done it. In this book, youll find both.

IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES, 28 MOTHERS SHARE THEIR ENTREPRENEURIAL STORIES: how they started, the challenges they faced, the lessons theyve learned along the way. Youll discover how they have balanced the responsibilities and pleasures of business ownership and motherhood. Many of them worried that launching and conducting a business while raising children would be daunting, if not impossible, but theyand their happy childrenare all living proof that it can be done. Let their stories be your inspiration and consider their advice the support of many good friends.

TOWARD THE END OF THE BOOK, YOULL FIND A WORKSHOP SECTION WITH AN OVERVIEW OF THE BASIC INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO RUN A BUSINESS; this covers topics such as business plans and financing. Youll also find chapters devoted specifically to the art of balancing a business and a family, with advice about operating a business out of your home, setting priorities, and finding time to do it all. Let this be your toolbox, equipping you with everything you need to know to move forward with your idea. Use the resources listed at the end to find additional support: informative books, helpful business organizations, and online associations to put you in touch with other entrepreneurs. Also included is a mentor directory, listing the Web site addresses of the profiled womencheck these out as models for effective marketing as well as to learn about products that pique your interest.

Yes, starting a business while raising children requires careful planning, commitment, and motivation. But what youll take away from this book is this: The benefits are worth it. As your own boss, you control your dayswhich means you can be there for your family whenever they need you. The not-so-obvious benefit that the women in this book have discovered? Once the creativity that had been stirring inside of them had a place to live, they were happier, more satisfied, and in turn, better Moms.

If the bravado of these women inspires you to take an entrepreneurial leap, the wisdom theyve gained from the bumps in their roads will serve as a parachute. We hope that your entrepreneurial endeavor will be a smooth journey, landing you right where you hope to be: with your family, a growing bank account, and a flourishing business.

Diane Allison-Stroud

DIANE ALLISON-STROUD:
HANDMADE GAME BOARDS

Boone, North Carolina
dallison.squarespace.com

When Diane Allison-Stroud says shes the kind of person who will run and jump off a cliff and see what happens, she isnt kidding. In 1994, she was a single, stay-at-home moma job she adoredliving in Dallas, Texas, with her son, Davey, then 11 years old. One day, she started making game boards on a whim, and found that she could sell them. Two years later, she decided to pack up and move to a small town shed read about in a book, just to indulge another whim. Today shes happily remarried, the mother of two sons, and swamped with orders for her boards. Its apparent that, in the game of life, Diane likes to roll the dice; so far, shes definitely winning.

Dianes game boards are whimsical, vividly colored, and very graphic, in the tradition of folk examples that inspire them.

BALANCING ACT
As women and mothers, were hard on ourselves. We expect to balance many roles and be perfect at each one. But its a balancing act thats always being fine-tuned. Every day is different, and every day something has to give. My mom always says, Things will come out in the wash, and I hold that thought close. I find that to keep my sanity, its in my best interest to go with the flow.