The Mom Entrepreneur: glass half full

Tomorrow, November 15th, marks the start of our 30 day "lemons to lemonade" marathon. After sending out a query, I was so inspired by the stories I received from women capitalizing on the down-turned economy that I decided to highlight 30 of the best stories.

These mom entrepreneurs explain how the economy has affected them and their family and what they are doing about it! Each mom also offers advice to others struggling to keep their businesses afloat, and trying to balance motherhood with running a company.

I have always found that a struggling economy offers hidden opportunities for starting and growing an idea, which may evolve into a business or something else. I re-started my first company, Bisson Barcelona, 11 days before 911 happened. I was just doing freelance work at this stage, but this tragic event solidified my desire to be an entrepreneur. Primarily because of the flexibility it allowed for spending time with my children.

Earlier this year, my company was hit hard by the current economy. Four clients decided not to pay their invoices all at the same time. This resulted in a short fall of over $12,000. Determined not to layoff any employees, I took my son out of daycare and moved back to my home office. This cut my personal expenses significantly and I was able to reduce my salary. I also cancelled a trip to an industry trade show in California and put off meetings with consultants for a few months. These cuts resulted in no layoffs. The Associated Press even wrote about what we did to stay afloat during this time.

Because I could not travel to meet prospects and conduct new business, I migrated to online social networks. I spent hours researching and connecting online through websites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others.

I also started a blog. I needed an outlet for venting my frustration with trying to balance motherhood with keeping my company afloat. The creation of The Mom Entrepreneur (TME) blog led to a second blog, Enjoying Life with Kids in NH, and a third, Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Because of the number of mom entrepreneurs I was connecting with, I created The Mom Entrepreneur Online Support Group. We currently have 250 members and continue to grow, share and network. Because of the success of this group, we are now starting a local group in NH beginning in December.

There is also something very big on the horizon for TME that I cannot yet share. But I will as soon as the details are confirmed.

All of this happened because of a crappy economy! I have always seen the glass as half full and so do the 30 women who you will meet and admire between now and December 15th. I hope you will show your support and please offer comments and feedback when you meet these amazing mom entrepreneurs.

It all starts tomorrow...

Blog will highlight 30 “lemonade from lemons” stories in 30 days

Barrington, NH: The down-turned economy has left many small business owners wondering what the future holds for them. The fear of losing their business has encouraged several mom entrepreneurs to look for opportunity while others cut spending and layoff employees.

Thirty inspirational women will be highlighted over a period of 30 days on The Mom Entrepreneur blog, which offers tips, advice and resources for balancing motherhood with running a company. These mom entrepreneurs’ stories demonstrate how these amazing women have decided to make “lemonade from lemons” using a little creative ingenuity.

“I have received dozens of emails from mom entrepreneurs all over the country telling me their “glass is half-full” stories,” said Traci Bisson, owner and founder of The Mom Entrepreneur. “From Misty Gibbs, owner of My Inspiration Lounge whose vision is to “help women feel empowered, especially during this time, so they can take control of their lives and become better prepared for future downturns,” to Sarah Laufer, owner of Play Outdoors whose business launched in 2008. Laufer has decided to focus on “being who we are and continuing with our goal of creating a place where parents and kids are encouraged to get outdoors”.

These women and 28 more will be featured in a 30-day inspirational story marathon starting November 15 and concluding on December 14.

Mike Michalowicz, author of “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” (Obsidian Launch, LLC, 2008), in a guest post for The Mom Entrepreneur blog said “so here we sit, as entrepreneurs, on an economy that sucks. It will either revive over the next year or two or even perhaps die. But one thing for sure, it will get worse before it gets better. And it is now, right in this moment, that it is the best time to start a business.”

The 30 stories in 30 days marathon will highlight mom entrepreneurs who also feel that now is the best time to start or grow a business because even in a sour economy lies optimism, promise and positive change.

To learn more about The Mom Entrepreneur and to follow the 30-day inspirational story marathon, visit http://www.themomentrepreneur.com/.

About The Mom Entrepreneur:
Traci Bisson has been a mom since February 2000 and an entrepreneur since August 2000. Eight weeks after she returned from maternity leave, the company where she had been employed for five years went out of business. She decided to try doing her own thing and failed miserably. After another year of working for two different companies (the first laid off the department she worked in and the other was showing signs of going under), Bisson decided to try entrepreneurship again.

Raising her two children and growing her first company, Bisson Barcelona, an image management and high visibility PR firm, have been both challenging and rewarding.

Bisson started The Mom Entrepreneur in April 2008 as more of a hobby. She began blogging about her challenges and successes. That same month, she sent a query out through two news channels looking for tips on balancing family and business in order to generate some additional content for her blog. Bisson anticipated she would connect with a few other mom entrepreneurs, interview them and post their stories on her blog. In less then 48 hours she had received 400 emails with more then 1,000 tips from mom entrepreneurs all over the world.

From that point, The Mom Entrepreneur started to grow. The company added The Mom Entrepreneur Support Group in June, which now has over 225 members who discuss everything from potty training to how to use Twitter.

Bisson’s story has been told in dozens of publications, including the Associated Press, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB.com), Women’s Business Boston Journal, Plan Ahead Get Ahead (cover story), Union Leader, The Portsmouth Herald, Our Times and Seacoast Ventures.