“Mompreneur” is My Business!

Over the past few weeks, a number of articles have been posted online debating the worthiness of the term mompreneur.

Many have claimed that the term mompreneur belittles women entrepreneurs and harms their businesses.

I beg to differ.

For me, using the term mompreneur makes good business sense.

My product is designed for moms and labeling myself as a mompreneur automatically reveals part of the story behind what I’m selling.

My story is one that other moms can relate to; mompreneurs even more.

Mompreneurs support each other because we face similar challenges not faced by all entrepreneurs.

We choose to work with these challenges because we hope that by intertwining our business and family lives, we and our children will reap the benefits.

Work by Nomi Melul Ohad from the book Purple Leaves, Red Cherries

Here are my mompreneurial challenges:

1. Every weekday I start bringing home my three young kids at 1pm. I am with them until bedtime.

2. Every moment I dedicate to my business in the day could be filled with the tasks of motherhood. I work hard to eliminate the sense of guilt and disappointment that arises from working passionately in two roles and constantly dashing between them.

3. I focus on my work with disruption and magnetism – I peel kids off me and my computer.

4. Like many working moms, I am judged for not being “more of a mom” or “more dedicated” to take up business opportunities further from home.

5. I work extra late at night to make up the hours I am with my kids in the day.

6. During school holidays my productivity drops.

I feel lucky to have the opportunity to pursue a career as a mompreneur and I feel lucky to have a word in my mommy lexicon that describes my working life.

I am not looking for your sympathy. In addition to good business sense, I use the term mompreneur because it empowers me.

Now, why would anyone want to take that away from me?