Featured Mom: SmartSeat Dining Covers

Today we’re chatting with Becky — the brilliant mom behind SmartSeat Dining Covers. This take-charge mama loves being able to spend more time with her family as she builds her successful home biz! Way to go, Becky!

01. Tell us a little about yourself!
I am a stay-at-home mom to two wonderful boys, ages 6 and 8.  Last year, I also became an accidental entrepreneur (I certainly didn’t set out to run my own business!)  My family and I live outside of Boston in Newton, MA.

02. What lead you to creating your own business?
We purchased a new dining room set a couple of years ago.  I wanted waterproof seat covers to protect my new upholstered dining room chairs from my two messy boys, but I couldn’t find anything that I liked.  The only waterproof covers on the market were made from plastic or vinyl, which my kids refuse to sit on.  I also didn’t want a full slip cover that would completely change the look of my chair.  The SmartSeat was my solution to the problem — a seat cover that is waterproof, comfortable, and attractive.  After getting positive feedback on my design from friends and family, my husband encouraged me to look into what it would take to have my covers manufactured. One thing led to another and I now run my company with the help of my husband and our third partner, who is a very close friend of our family and also a dad of two kids.

03. Describe a typical day in the life of YOU!
I usually get an early start to the day (around 5:30) so that I can check email and get the lay of the land before the craziness begins.  It also is the only way that I can quietly enjoy my morning coffee!  Then I pack lunches and get the kids ready for school.  We are out the door by 7:30.  On the way home from school drop off, I swing by the post office to deliver any packages that are ready to go out to customers.
The rest of the day is a mix of emails, SEO time on facebook and twitter, processing orders, and, if I am lucky, a little bit of me time (either to exercise or meet up with a friend).  Around 3:00, I put my mom-hat back on, pick the boys up from school, and taxi them around to their various activities, help with homework, and make sure that dinner gets served.  We try to sit down for dinner together every night, although sometimes that means eating together on a soccer field before a game or practice!  Around 8:00, my boys head off to bed and my work day resumes.

04. What is your best piece of advice for fellow WAHMs?
I think that it is so important to cut yourself some slack.  It is hard to be a working parent!  There are definitely good days and bad days.  But most days fall somewhere in between.  I try not to dwell on the bad moments.  I just pick myself up and keep moving forward!

05. The best part of being a WAHM? The worst?
The best part of being a WAHM is that I can contribute to my family’s financial well-being and still have the flexibility of being there for my kids before and after school.  I love that I am the one who gets to walk them into school every day and the one who gets the big hug at pick up time.  I also feel quite lucky to spend so much of my day with my boys.
The worst part of being a WAHM is that there sometimes just aren’t enough hours in the day.  But I think that is a problem for all working parents, not just those who are WAHM.

06. Favourite blog? Music? Book? Movie?
Oh, I don’t know where to begin!  I’m a big fan of romantic comedies.  I read when I can — I think that my last favorite book was probably The Help or Water for Elephants.  And blog?  I come across too many good ones these days to choose only one favorite!

07. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In five years, I would love to continue doing what I am doing now, but on a larger scale.  I would love to see my product in retail stores.  And maybe if I’m lucky, we’ll even have a second or third product in our line.

Visit the SmartSeat website, check out their Facebook page and be sure to catch up on all their latest news by following @smartseatcover on Twitter!

…

Désirée Fawn is a blogger/doula from Ontario where she lives with her 2-year-old daughter, Gretchen.
She blogs at So Fawned.
Follow @sofawned on Twitter!

Making Product Reviews, Twitter Parties & Conference Prizing Happen for Moms

I started Mom Made That! in December 2008, inspired by a Mom Spark Holiday Guide I created. I witnessed so many amazing mom businesses doing awesome things, so I wanted a place to showcase their talents, inventions, and artistry.

Being an entrepreneur myself, and having tried every home business known to man (i.e. Avon, eBay, housekeeping, home daycare), I know the trials of self-employment. I know how hard it is to stay motivated when sales are slow, time is hard to manage, and your husband “just doesn’t get it”. This is what keeps me inspired to help moms in business.

In addition to helping these mom businesses promote and advertise, I have started connecting them with review bloggers. So far, this has proven very successful for both the business owner and blogger. In the last three weeks, we have connected over 150 bloggers with review opportunities and have received over 300 requests. Because of the huge amount of interest, I have created a Premium Membership for those reviewers who would like to be contacted directly when new opportunities become available. This also means that reviewers do not need to fill out a request form for each product review opportunity, which saves us both tons of time. The fee for Premium Membership is $10 a year and can be requested in our review form HERE. Read more

A Day in the Life of a Power Mom

I have two kids and run two businesses. My kids are a 7-month-old girl and a 3-year-old boy. My first business, a Web consultancy called Soapbxx, will gross $300,000 in 2009 and employs eight people. The second company, an online finance publication for women called DailyWorth, requires a team of four part-time contractors to operate.

The best news? I’m not mad. I have plenty of time to be with my kids. I even manage to find time to have a leisurely lunch or extended “me” time.

Here’s how I do it:

7am: Our baby girl wakes all of us up.
8am: We’re downstairs, dressed, eating breakfast and packing lunches.
9am: My baby is cared for by a nanny. This nanny shows up at 9am and I hand my baby girl off. My 3-year-old goes to preschool. My husband always takes him to preschool. Bottom line: even if we’re running late, I depart for my home office (top floor of our house) at 9am sharp. This is critical to me. 9am. Work.
9am-11am: After I clean out my inbox, I focus on DailyWorth, my finance blog for women. We send out a daily email, and this requires about two hours of my day to orchestrate.

11am-4:00pm: I focus on Soapbxx, my web consultancy. The tasks I concern myself with include:

I don’t worry about Soapbxx’s internal performance or quality because I’ve learned over the years how to hire only the best people. My team is exceptional and as a result, I don’t have to micro-manage them or worry much. This did not happen by accident. I have 10 years practice hiring and firing. I’ve employed or contracted to 40 people over the last few years and only a select few remain.

4:00pm. I shut down my computer, scoop up my daughter, and drive to pick up my son from preschool. It feels incredible to me that I can run two companies and finish my workday by 4:00. Having been raised by a single mom who was forced into a strict 9-6 corporate work environment, I vowed to set up a life where I could be there for my kids more than my mom was for me. I don’t blame my mom for her absence — she did what she had to do to earn what she needed to earn in the 1980s. But I hated that she couldn’t drive me to school, or be there for me after school. I’m structuring my life so that I can run my businesses and be there for my kids before and after school. In 2009, working moms can have it all if we plan properly.

4:00pm – 9pm. Family time! We run errands (Target, anyone?), make dinner, take baths, read books and every other bedtime ritual that makes having kids so special.

9pm – 11pm. Here’s the part of my life that isn’t so ideal. I generally boot up my Mac and do more work at 9pm. I know my husband would rather that I curl up on the sofa and watch True Blood with him. Sounds dreamy, really. But the truth is, these days I feel pulled to run through emails that came in from 3:30 – 7pm (there are often many) and finish tasks I wasn’t able to finish during the day. I look forward to a day when I can stop work at 3:30pm and not resume until 9am the next day. Until my babies and businesses are more self-sufficient and systematized, it’s a sacrifice I’m making, and hope that my husband realizes it’s temporary.

11pm. Bed.

The keys to my operation:

1. I delegate a lot to very precocious people. I have a very responsible, motivated assistant. Without her, I’d be mad. She loves having her hands in everything from accounting to project management, and I love her for it. If she chooses to leave me (which she will some day), I’ll have a very hard time replacing her.
2. I’m obsessed with cash flow and work with a great bookkeeper/accounting team. For Soapbxx to operate, we need to deposit $25,000 into our bank account every month. I plan quarterly and manage daily when and from whom checks will arrive. My bookkeeper claims I’m one of the best cash collectors she’s ever worked with, and I’m proud to have mastered the science of receivables. Just last month, I got our receivables down to $0.
3. Once a month, I’ll stay up until 4am if need be to push through things I owe. Sometimes, you just have to.

Does my story seem impossible to you? You have to take into consideration my manic, tightly-wound character. I’m more work-obsessed than your average mom. I love my companies and have very ambitious financial goals for myself (tens of millions, thank you). I don’t exercise. I’m generally not eating proper lunches (note above: no lunch break). I do experience exhaustion. I wish I had more time to just be with my husband. For now, I’m satisfied with my structure and recommend it to my power mom friends.

Check out DailyWorth.

NEW Moms in Business Group on Savvy Source!

Amy Bellgardt

Moms in Business

Guess what?  I’m leading a Moms in Business Group over at the Savvy Source!  I’m so excited to finally have a platform to discuss business one and one with you all. (or anyone who will listen)

It’s easy and painless to join the group HERE.

We’ll be discussing marketing, social media building, working from home, working outside the home, etc. Everyone is welcome, not just parents, so pass the word on!  If you haven’t started your biz yet, but need ideas, this would be great for you as well.  Our main goal is to support one another in this crazy journey we call business.

I would love to have you, please consider joining us!  If anything, you’ll love the Savvy Source website anyway, so win-win.

Again, you can join my Moms in Business group HERE.  See you there!