More and more moms are opting for flexible ways to supplement the family income without joining the traditional workforce. For this reason, we are seeing a rise in the number of ‘mompreneurs’ who are starting a business from home, allowing them the luxury of being with their little ones in their formative years but still bringing in a much needed income. If you are a mom trying to get a home-based business off the ground, here are some tips that can help you build a lucrative venture.
Developing a Product Line
Working from home is a great way to develop a product line. Whether you are a gourmet cook or a seamstress talented at designing trendy fashions, you have all the freedom to create to your heart’s content from home. However, this is only part of the process as you will need to bring your product to market.
Exploring Cost Effective Solutions
One of the main problems that mompreneurs have when going public with their product line is how to set up a retail outlet without a huge expense. The amount of overhead is cost prohibitive when first starting out so it becomes crucial to find ways to promote and sell your products without going into a huge amount of debt. Some women are comfortable selling online while others prefer that one-on-one engagement when selling their products.
Retail Kiosks Provide Exposure
at Reasonable Rates
Although you would like to lease a store in a local mall, that really is cost prohibitive for most fledgling mompreneurs. Have you considered a retail kiosk such as those offered by Westfield Specialty Leasing? These are ideally located in the mall in an area where stores selling similar types of merchandise are located. In other words, a gourmet cookie kiosk wouldn’t be located near a sports store and a handcrafted jewelry kiosk wouldn’t sit in a corridor with totally unrelated retail stores.
The Key to Being a Successful Entrepreneur
One of the major benefits of beginning with a retail kiosk is that you can take the needed time to refine your product line and sales approach without a huge amount of overhead. A successful entrepreneur (mompreneur in this case!) knows that success is not static. You always need to be willing to make changes in both offerings and marketing if what you are doing isn’t working as you had planned.
Greater Exposure!
Believe it or not, you just might wish to continue renting that kiosk even when your merchandise starts selling well. Consider the fact that literally every person who enters a mall needs to get from one store to the next by traversing common areas. Stores are at a disadvantage as the shopper needs to enter in order to view the merchandise. With high visibility in a high traffic area of a mall, you really do have an advantage and at much less the cost of a leased storefront!
Taking that oftentimes frightening step to go into business for yourself is a huge step, but one that can prove to be an amazing success if planned well. Take your idea, build on it, find a suitable outlet and watch it grow. According to one study, most successful entrepreneurs started from home and with a little creativity and some sound business decisions, you could be the next to join their ranks.
I love mompreneurs, moms who do it all and also make a busy out of it, like creating a great product. I so support moms who do this!
These are some great tips–now all I need is motivation!