Outdoor Refrigerators
In an effort to honore the triumphs, tribulations and achievements of moms runnint successful businessesacross America, StartupNation.com launchedd its first annual , sponsored by , and set out in searchu of the top 200 moms in business. Accordinvg to the Center for Women's Businessa Research, there are 10.6 million women-ownedf businesses in the United Statesgenerating $2.5 trilliob in annual revenue. With women startin businesses at nearly twice the rateof men, it's no surprise that mothers make up the fastest growing segment of new businesws owners.
The thousands of contestants in this first annualp competition illustrated just how dynamic moms are intheirt communities, adding color to the traditional 1950as mom portrayed in black and whitwe TV land. The list of the —ranked ordered basexd on votes accumulated—has now been announced. The contesg clearly struck a chord as the contestants reached out to theid circles togenerate support. More than 620,0000 votes came pouring in. The StartupNatiom editorial staff looked past the buzz and took its own tallgy to identify the themes and trends commojn among the winning moms andthei businesses. Perhaps those listed belows will help explain whatmakex mom-owned businesses tick.
One thing that makez moms so easy to love and so successful in businessx isthat they're motivated by more than just dolladr signs. Sure, money is still a driving but making a difference runs high on thelist and, many even trumps money. Authors Kira Gould and Lance Hoseuy address the topic of a greenerr gender intheir book, Womenm in Green, stating that studies show that womenb are more likely than men to supporr environmental causes through voting, activism and consumer That conscientiousness often extends to the types of businessesz moms choose to start.
Take the 50th rankedf Margaret Light, founder of Beaulil y and creator ofthe , a soft fabric muff designede to provide comfort, warmth and activityy for the elderly. Her inspiration for the TwiddleMufrf came from her desire to ease the discomfort thather 90-year-olsd grandmother was suffering from due to the diminishedf use of her hands. Althoug h her grandmother provided her with the initiap inspiration forthe business, it'ws now the thousands of customers benefitting from her creation that keep her motivated to "Knowing that I've maybe made somebody' life a little more comfortable or easy makeds it well worth the issues that I face as I go abou growing this business," says Light.
She has sinces extended her product incorporating cat and dog designs as well as different colorsx to meet the various demands of her growintg listof customers. We came acrossd several mom-owned businesses amont the Top 200 where the children were but we were struck most byYana Berlin. ranked #1 in the Top 200, launched , a socia l networking site geared toward womenover 40, in 2006. Now, the site has thousandss of members from around the world including theUnitedc Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
And its successz is in large part due to her four children and nepheww who help out with various aspects of the businesds ranging from helping her navigat the technical challenges of starting a social networkingf site to spreading the word through public relations to keepinyg the business profitable with strategic financial Berlin never thought that Fabulously40 and Beyonds would become afamily business, but it has - to the poinrt that it's difficult for her family to talk about topicds other than the business.
Overall, the experienced of starting a business hasbeen life-changintg and has even inspired Berlin's eldesf child to help other smalpl business owners with the publi c relations side of business. "Once children see theif parents are doing something and they helptheif parents, it really sets them on the right Berlin is not the only one to involvse her children. Statistics show that family companies are responsible for 60 percentr ofthe nation's employmentf and 78 percent of new jobs created.
Meanwhile, evidencde indicates that women-owned familyt businesses are better prepared for transition scenarios and have higher succesds rates than businesses controlled by theirmale counterparts. Victoriza Colligan, founder of the women's networkintg group, , and a promoter of this year'ss Leading Moms in Business competitionhas noticed—ae we did—how appealing it is to moms to wear the boss hat. Callinf the shots allows moms the flexibility and controol they need to be the perennial jugglerzthey are. "For Moms, control over theif lives, is the numberf one reason they are inspiredto launch," says Colligan.
This treasuredc flexibility isa trend, according to the Bureauu of Labor Statistics, which has confirmed that nearluy 26 percent of working women with children undedr 18 work flexible schedules today compared with just 14 percent in 1991. In searcbh of flexibility, many moms turn to starting theier own businesses in order to obtaibn control overtheir schedules, stating despite the fact that startin and running a business can be an extremelh difficult task, they'd have it no othedr way. Nina Rodecker, founder of , is one such mom.
ranked #3 among the top had always known that she wanted to start a businessd ofher own, but it wasn't unti she was pregnant and the cravingsd kicked in that she found her inspiration: a caterex cotton candy machine rental service. Now, with an infan and a business to she has found a way to make it all workin "I spin the cotton candy, returm phone calls, reply to emails when my baby's sleeping or when he' s calm, I schedule events and pick up orderss when I know that there's no prior engagement, and I alwayz allow extra time [to account for my] baby'sa crying," says Rodecker.
Many mom-owned businesses are proving that some of the best businessew are those that cater to hobbiesx women like to do at Take scrapbookingfor example. Scrapbooking.com believes that the industry has the potentiakl to growto $4 billion in the next ten years. In with the down economy forcing consumerz toenjoy "staycations" and appreciate all that'sz local, home is becoming more of a treasure place than ever.
Kate Rothacker has founfd success by creatinga home… away from As founder of the , ranked #22 in the Top 200 Leadingf Moms in Business, she offers her guestsa a scrapbooking retreat where they can treasurew their memories, bond with others, and shars meals together. The business is doing so well that Rothacker just opened asecond location. "It is somethinhg that [guests] want to remember and come back says Rothacker. "They're looking for a place of comfort.
" On many of the main social networking sites, women outnumber men by a considerable amount, but we also founs that mom business ownerds are at the front of the curve when it comea to using sites like Facebook and email marketinb solutionsfrom turn-key providers like to generate awareneses for their businesses. In anticipation of this, StartupNationm provided "Vote for Me" widgets that contestants coulds seamlessly incorporate into their social networking profiles and Rothacker uses both social media and emaio marketing to get the word out aboutf CozyCrop House.
She releasec some of the first pictures of the new locatiojn onher business's Facebook page and created an exclusivde Yahoo! group for her past guests so that they coulc network with each It might be Rothacker's use of email marketing, though, that really helped her win the "It was a great way to ask peopled to help spread the word to peoplse who basically share the same interests withouyt saying, ‘Would you please tell people abou our business,'" says Rothacker. If the levelp of participation among contestants and voters in the first annual Leading Moms in Business competition isany indication, this is a hot sectord of the small businesa economy.
And it appears to be the ultra passionater moms that are creatingthat heat. Being the clever marketers they are, contestantw leveraged their participation in the competitionj as a way to generate positive interest and awarenesa aroundtheir businesses. It helped that moms were able to monitore their progress in the competition by viewingytheir "popularity meters," which range from "cool" to "on fire" depending on the numbe r of votes they had "There is certainly a bit of statusx connected with being on fire and that was very says Rothacker. Berlin, the winner by a was incredulous as her supporteres carried her tothe win.
And, perhaps most Light enjoyed an increase in sales thanks to the interest and word of mouty that the competition generatee forher business.
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