I once heard someone say that everyone has at least 1 book in them, well I am of the mindset that everyone has at least 1 business idea in them (regardless if you need someone else to help make is work)! And I must not be alone in this thinking. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research there is 10.1 million women owned businesses! Some of these are traditional businesses but some are things like blogging and inventing brand new products!

I was recently blessed to attend the Disney Social Media Mom’s On the Road conference up in Berkeley and it was all about the “Mompreneur”. What is a Mompreneur? A mom entrepreneur. Our keynote was the fabulous Mindy Doney who invented Boogie Wipes and there was also the creators of PsiBands (Romi) and Babee Covee (Alma).

I was so inspired that I wanted to share 5 simple tips to get you going towards a small business!

1. Solve a problem or meet a need!
– Mindee talked about how she was once again pulling out the saline and tissues to take care of a child’s nose and thought how much easier it would be to have saline already on something to wipe up noses. She was sure it must already exist and when it didn’t, she made it!
-Alma was doing the whole blanket on the carseat thing and when it kept falling off, she was sure there had to be a better way! And she wasn’t going to just carry a single application item so she made her Babee Covee work in 6 different ways including a nursing cover, shopping cart cover and a high chair cover.
-Romi had crippling nausea and wasn’t happy with any of the options that were already out there so she came up with something better with her Psi Bands (and yes, she is the Psi Bands that was on Shark Tank;).
-I got tired of hearing people say how “they never could” so I decided to start blogs that showed people that they could! Be it homeschooling, cooking or just finding the right app.

2. Be uniquely you! The name Boogie Wipes seems to fit Mindee’s fun and quirky personality but she was told mom’s wouldn’t want to buy something with boogers in the name. I think she has proved them wrong. And do you realize that I have people tell me almost weekly that I am not a nerdy mom? But it is who I am and by claiming it, that means I have left a picture of how I want myself and my brand to be thought of in your mind. And by judging by the random questions I get, you all believe I am the NerdMom;).

3. Try it on a limited group of clients/friends. I use the phrase clients/friends because your audience may not always be your friends. Try out your business idea and be open to feedback! It will either give you ways that you will change your business or hone in on a more specific client/need.

4. Reach out to the local Small Business Administration or incubators to find out legal requirements. They can provide some great information on how to work with your local government for a business license and all the details that go with starting a business. It can seem daunting but really it is just a series of small steps.

5. Buy your business name’s domain! Ok, really this is the first thing I always do. To the point I have a collection of domain names. But it always seems crazy to start a list with it. Buy the domain and do to availability, you may change your business name.

 

To celebrate the awesome inventors and business owners I met, I have a couple of giveaways!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway