Wanna Be A Mompreneur?
Moms know everything. They know where their kids left their socks, they know what time the carpool leaves, they know how to get a cranky 4-year-old through a shopping mall. Given their mastery of multitasking, is it any wonder mothers make such good business owners?
It was motherhood itself that inspired Laurie McCartney to start Babystyle, a retail brand that encompasses everything from maternity and baby clothes to children’s furniture. In 1998, when she was pregnant with her first child, she was dissatisfied with the dearth of stylish, functional and affordable maternity clothes. McCartney spent her pregnancy formulating a business plan to offer what she knew other women would desire, and she set up her online store right after the birth of her son, Jack.
Armed with her newfound knowledge as a mom, McCartney, 38, enlisted the help of other working moms–not only to see what they wanted from Babystyle, but also to learn how other working moms balanced their businesses with their kids’ needs. Their advice? “Keep a schedule, and focus on work when you’re at work and the family when you’re at home,” says this mother of two. “It makes it easier, so you’re always giving 100 percent to your kids when you’re with them and 100 percent to your business when you’re with it.”
When McCartney started Babystyle out of her home, the brand grew by leaps and bounds. After a few months, she moved into a separate office space and has added a catalog and four brick-and-mortar stores. Sales have soared for this Los Angeles-based company, growing more than 60 percent since 2003, fueled in part by the continued expansion of its retail stores.
Image by Babystyle.
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