I raised my family and now I am thinking of starting a business, what skills do I have to go into the marketplace?
This question came up in an online Master Class that I helped to facilitate recently.
I’ve never been a Mom, but I know that moms have skills that would seriously rock corporate America and small business leadership!
I have watched my friends who are moms and I am constantly amazed at what women, especially moms, are capable of. It is truly astounding.
If you have ever witnessed a woman who is simultaneously cooking, holding and feeding a toddler, tactfully persuading a pre-teen to clean his room, all while smiling and seemingly enjoying life – you know the power of a mom.
No entity on earth is better at multi-tasking, organizing events and people, negotiation, problem-solving and training.
No real human-being can match the level of empathy, patience, and resourcefulness that a mother exhibits daily. I often think to myself – “they must be superior beings from another world”, especially when I think of the things my mother got me and my sister and my Dad through.
It’s amazing what a focused, committed individual can do- and women, whether they work at home or in an office somewhere, are exceptional at focus and commitment. What man would ever go through the birthing process… more than once?
So, my answer to this question is this – you don’t know it, but you have a distinct edge.
You have learned to negotiate and work with other moms, coaches, teachers, doctors, not to mention teenagers. Your collaboration and management skills are unmatched.
You have learned to manage projects and hold other accountable. You are the CEO of the home!
You have learned to balance budgets, balance time and balance the needs of family members. Your financial, time management and human resource skills are enviable. Your event planning skills create memories to last a lifetime.
You do more problem solving in one day than the CEO of a major corporation. You often work in Chaos and you bring order to it. You are constantly engaged in research and development and you must communicate with people at all levels inside and outside the home. Your leadership ability is exceptional.
You are up at dawn and fall exhausted into bed late at night after everyone else’s needs have been met. Your work ethic is crazy strong. You never crack under the pressure.
The only skill that you may need to work on is self-confidence. I’m sorry to say – you never give yourself enough credit for what you do.
Are you wondering what it might take to start up a business. We’ve created this simple checklist to give you an idea of what you’ll need to do. It’s kind a blueprint for getting started. You can download it right here.
Business Start-Up Checklist
