How Momtrepreneurs Can Thrive In The New We-Conomy
In the age of We-Commerce, everyone has the opportunity to be an innovator and an entrepreneur. Through the power of technology, creative thought and passion, anyone can come up with a unique idea and share it with the rest of the world. As a result, we are seeing more and more momtrepreneurs take center stage with cool and disruptive ideas that allow them to flex their entrepreneurial muscles, while still being able to be at home to care for their families. The following is a list of tips for momtrepreneurs looking to build or expand niche businesses in our new sharing economy.
Understand that anything with passion behind it can be transformed into a successful business entity with a little bit of innovation, bespoke thinking, and creativity.
If you are a stay at home mom looking to explore what type of small business might be right for you, a great place to start is looking at which of your passions drive you the most. Cooking? Maybe start a bespoke catering service that relies on local ingredients and community flavors.Jewelry? Possibly build an online jewelry business that is based off of using local gems and other objects relevant to your region. Anything can be a successful business with the right idea, business model, and passion behind it.
Build a brand that is built on a story about your passion-driven business and what makes it unique.
No one is a better storyteller than a mom, so put your imagination to work to craft a compelling narrative that people can relate to, aspire to, and desire to be a part of. A brand story today must smack of authenticity and be as accessible as possible, so keep it simple, emotionally driven, and jargon free.
Recognize that today anything can be viewed as a canvas for expression.
So whether you are making cookies, clothing, or closets, view what you are making as not just a product or service, but rather a unique creation. Pull your brand story through whatever you produce each and every day in any way you can. If you are a cookie maker who relies on farm to mouth ingredients, then that journey should be pulled through in everything from packaging, to product optics, to taste, flavor, and feel.
View change as an asset and friend as opposed to a detriment and arch rival.
Change is the mother of invention, and if you seek to constantly find new pockets of opportunity to grow and expand based on changes in your own life, individual self, as well as the world around you, you will not only be innovative and extremely disruptive in your offering, you will likely often be ahead of trend and viewed not as just good, but great. The idea is to build a business that sets the trends and doesn’t follow them, with an eye on going from being one of many, to one of a select few. A rigorous approach to constant reinvention and an eye on the fusion of culture and commerce is imperative.
Think globally, but act locally.
Every momtrepreneur should have the confidence to think as big as they can to have a global flavor and appeal. Any business to be successful today must have a global view that is colored with a hyper-local palette.Ideas today come from places as far ranging as Peoria to Peru, so build a solid strategy, create a unique niche and have the confidence required to share your ideas with the rest of the world.
Understand the laws of creative destruction.
Know that in order to survive and thrive you must every once in a while tear yourself down to the bone and begin again. Every entrepreneur must every few months, tear their idea down to the core, and again imagine from the bottom up. This breeds not only an ongoing commitment to reinvention, but a culture of disruption that shuns the status quo and complacency, while consistently gunning toward meaningful change and innovation.
Embrace the new made in the U.S.A. movement underway.
The United States is being made over from the bottom up and every region is being re-imagined as a new hub of innovation, or a new “Silicon Valley.” Whether you are in Silicon Forest (Oregon) or Silicon Prairie (Dallas) assess the regional business climate and find ways of creating one-of-a-kind experiences that tap into the trends and needs of your region.
Act like an artist of business.
Today, creativity is king and every entrepreneur has an opportunity to transform their creative passion into a viable business. Through the strategic intersection of culture and commerce, any momtrepreneur can make the Andy Warhol vintage quote, “Being in business is the best kind of art” come true. For more on the We-Commerce, check out Billee's new book, We-Commerce: How to Create, Collaborate, and Succeed in the Sharing Economy, debuting on December 1st