Savvy Mompreneurship: Launching Your Startup Just Got Easier
If you’re like many working moms, juggling your time to be available for family while also meeting workplace demands, the thought of ditching your 9-to-5 and starting your own business is probably both extremely tempting and scary. Venturing into the unknown world of entrepreneurship (especially while trying to keep pace with the always-evolving skillsets required by moms) can be intimidating. But your peers are doing it—and succeeding! Beyond mompreneur icons like Bethenny Frankel (Skinny Girl) and Julie Aigner Clark (Baby Einstein), millions of other success stories emerge every day. In fact, the growth rate of women-owned businesses in the U.S. is outpacing overall business growth by nearly 2:1. Still, starting a business isn’t easy and most mompreneurs could use a hand in getting going. Luckily, that is exactly what we have to offer!
Becoming a Savvy Mompreneur
To help would-be mompreneurs better prepare for launching a new business, a handful of free tools are available online. One of the most comprehensive new tools Quickbooks Startup Financial Planner.(We love Quickbooks Small Business!) What makes this free tool especially helpful is the guidance it offers to help entrepreneurs decide how much money to allocate for certain types of business expenses—based on actual financial data from the company’s half a million customer companies. Without requiring you to register or sign up, the planner also shows you how your financial plans compare to existing businesses like yours, generates a break-even analysis, and provides a downloadable draft version of your first-year company financials. The Startup Financial Planner is easy to use, and can save a tremendous amount of time in the long run. Here is what you have to do: 1. Get it together. Gather basic information about the type of business insurance you need for your business and what licenses and permits you’re required to hold. Also find out what your company’s expected tax burden will be based on your anticipated revenue in year one.
2. Plug in.
Enter your anticipated costs for everything ranging from office space to web hosting. The tool will prompt you to consider every possible cost—even the ones you may overlook—and even suggest costs in each field based on your initial filter selections for industry, state and number of employees.
3. Peak and tweak.
In return for your data-entry efforts, the financial planner will generate a forecast for how much money you’ll need to spend before you open your doors. If your results are wildly different from what you expected, you can go back and adjust your numbers—and perhaps rethink the need to lavishly furnish your office at the start.
4. Go!
The Startup Financial Planner has worked it's magic. Think about all the obstacles that you have already cleared! With a realistic view of the money your business will require, you have set yourself a solid foundation to grow from. Now you can be smart about timing your entrepreneurial endeavor and go in with open eyes.
Finances are at the root of every business but of course, numbers don’t tell the entire story. There’s much more to operating a successful business than savvy accounting. For instance, new small business owners need to understand that launching a startup can put intense demands on their time and prepare themselves for the loneliness that many entrepreneurs experience. These are important issues and they should not be overlooked, and the Startup Financial Planner has mompreneurs covered.
What are your biggest concerns about taking the leap and starting your own business? Share with us in the comments below!