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1. www.Urbanmoms.ca
2. www.marketing4moms.com
3. www.womenonthefence.com/blog
4. www.bossymama.ca
5. www.corporatemomdropouts.com
6. www.mompreneurclub.com
7. www.mominventors.com
8. www.ladieswholaunch.com
9. www.amomentrepreneur.com
10. www.themomentrepreneur.com
11. www.livingmymoment.com
12. www.momprenette.com

If you have any other great sites for women in business, please ad them as comments below.

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This month we are focusing on mom and women entrepreneurs. This is our first guest post from Aurea Crotty.

Embarking on the adventure of entrepreneurship and motherhood guarantees never a dull moment. Leaving the comfort of our lives to voyage into the unknown can be an intimidating experience. There are two lessons I have learned about making big changes in our lives after having left the corporate world to pursue an entrepreneurial life and, two years ago, becoming a mom. First, we must reconcile our expectations with reality. Second, we must be open to the ever evolving process of learning and adapting if we are to thrive.

Reconcile Expectations with Reality

Before taking the leap into entrepreneur life I believed that by working for myself I would work less, experience less pressure, and have more time for me. As a new mom I was adamant my life would not change and my daughter would just conform to my way of living. Reality check, I work more now than I ever have, I experience a level of accountability like never before and my daughter, now two, is “the boss”.

The process of reconciling our expectations with reality is the process of accepting what life looks like now. Nothing can truly prepare us for the leap into entrepreneur life or parenthood; acclimatizing ourselves to our new landscape as quickly as possible without lamenting our initial expectations will move us forward faster.

Learn, Adapt, Thrive

Just like parenthood, being an entrepreneur does not come with a manual. Part of what will ensure our success is how willing we are to learn and adapt. Businesses are like children, with every stage of growth comes something new to discover. Surrendering to the certainty that as an entrepreneur and parent we are perpetually in a state of learning and adapting will ensure we thrive in any situation presented.

Here is some more key learning that has helped me along the way:

1. Be clear on what you do, what you want and what your objectives are –the clearer you are the more likely you are to achieve success
2. Know your priorities especially if you are a parent
3. Get out of the “Grey Zone” -Eben Pagan – Move away from multi-tasking and into concentrated work
4. It’s better to under promise and over deliver
5. Be open and kind to yourself through the process of development and growth
6. Take time for you

Aurea Crotty is the founder of Savoir Faire Professionals and the editor and chief of Pretty Savvy. Savoir Faire Professionals Inc, is an innovative professional development community catering to the up-and-coming Gen X’s and Gen Y’s in their 20s and 30s who are finding and building their careers. This community helps its members navigate their lives by providing support, mentorship and inspiration to help them achieve success.

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BizLaunch presents: 5 social media tools for your small business. A morning seminar for mompreneurs.

May 11th, 2010.
10a.m. – 12p.m.
RSVP here

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Bringing people together for a meeting takes a lot of work, especially if it is a large group. That’s why more companies are hiring event planners to manage the process for them. “By planning properly and looking after all the little details we can produce very effective meetings for our clients,” says entrepreneur Laura Brockwell Davis, CMP.

Davis, a Certified Meeting Planner, owns The Evolve Group Inc. (www.evolvegroupinc.com), a company specializing in event planning. It organizes all of the details from start to finish for meetings and events of any size, from city-wide events with thousands of delegates to an intimate business meeting of ten people. The Evolve Group Inc. specializes in medical meetings and orchestrates events all over the world, including Europe, Asia and the United States.

“Meeting and event planning is a passion of mine and allows me to apply my organization skills and attention to detail,” comments Davis. “We really go that extra mile to handle everything for our clients so they don’t have to worry.”

Davis, who has ten years of event planning experience, got the entrepreneurial urge back when she had a job. “I felt that I could offer a superior service than my employer at the time,” she recalls. “So I started my own firm.”

And so she started her new venture. Five years into it, as business was booming, she gave birth to her son. He was just three weeks old before she went back to work. Talk about mompreneur! Between raising a child and growing a company, there must have been a huge juggle. Davis agrees. She describes the juggle as “very difficult in the beginning, but has since made a conscious effort to be present.” Time with her my son, is time with her son. Thanks to her supportive family and friends, she was able to continue working in her business.

As her own boss, Davis has to not only juggle being a mom and running a business, but has to juggle multiple tasks for her clients. “One minute I’m working on the books, and the next minute I’m on the phone,” she says.

“It’s stressful but my reward is a really happy client who appreciates the exceptional level of service we deliver.”

Her future plans for the company include doubling the number of events it handles within five years. “We’re well on our way to achieving that goal,” enthuses Davis.

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Mabel’s Labels is the leading provider of personalized children’s labels. Highly customized, durable and adorable, they are a favourite among parents, teachers, daycare providers, camps and kids!

Why did you become an entrepreneur?
My business partners and I wanted to leave the traditional workforce to strike a better work/family life balance, and we had a good idea for a product that we wanted to bring to market.

What’s the best part of being an entrepreneur…and the worst?
It’s incredibly exciting and fulfilling to have an idea and execute the business plan. Watching the business grow and nurturing that growth is extremely exhilarating! Challenges include financing your startup and investing 24 hours a day without knowing if your business will succeed.

How long have you been in business?
We have had our product in the market for 7 years. We spent over a year researching and testing materials before launching.

Why did you get into your particular business?
As parents of small children, we recognized a market need. We had many of the same children’s products and play dates often ended with “whose sippy cup is this?” We knew we could do something cuter and more durable than names scribbled on masking tape!

What’s unique about your business?
There are many things! One is our close connection with other moms. We understand our market – heck, we are our market! We have a very strong online community and enjoy interacting with our customer base through various social media.

How did you raise the start-up cash?
Fortunately, all four partners contributed – it would be far more difficult to self-fund alone!

Identify and discuss TWO lessons you’ve learned as an entrepreneur.
1. Only do what you love. This applies to everything – from products and materials to language and website. If you don’t love it, you won’t be happy!
2. Do what you’re good at and know your limitations. At first, we did everything –until it occurred to us that there were people who could do a better job at some of that work.

What advice – relevant to your lessons above – would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?
Don’t get so caught up working ‘in’ the business that you forget to work ‘on’ the business. Think strategically and do a lot of blue-skying!

Briefly, what are your plans for the future?
We plan to continue to be the leading provider of labels and to grow our amazing community through exceptional customer service and top quality products.

Any other information or advice you’d like to share?
Social Media and Word of Mouth has been invaluable.

You can find Julie Cole and Mables Lables at www.mabelhood.com and on Twitter at @mabelhood. Also, learn about their WOM program at www.buzzmamas.com

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Choosing the best location for your new retail business requires careful planning, professional advice and curbed enthusiasm. It’s important to remember that you may occupy your new space for many years and spend a lot of money on rent payments, renovations and marketing. There are many things to consider before setting up shop.

When shopping for a storefront, be sure to:

Finish that Business Plan. It’s so easy to get excited about a vacant storefront. Worried about missing a great opportunity, many entrepreneurs rush to sign the lease before completing a business plan. A properly prepared plan will point you to the right location for your new shop based on your market research.

Scout the neighbourhood. Don’t rely on real estate agents and landlords to tell you about the area. Find out yourself who lives, works and shops there by talking to other merchants, collecting market data and conducting your own surveys. Also, look for a location that may be closer to your children’s school/daycare, to ease the process in dropping them off and picking them up.

Hire a lawyer. You’ll be able to decipher a complicated commercial lease and perhaps negotiate a better deal by obtaining legal counsel. Most entrepreneurs try to save a few bucks by handling such matters themselves, only to pay a lawyer later to undo their mistakes. Be sure to hire a lawyer with real estate experience.

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At one time or another, most of us have thought about being our own boss. The freedom to work the way you want, the excitement of doing what you love and control over your future are very attractive benefits of self-employment. Doing all this while raising a family is very doable, it all comes down to time management. Do you have what it takes?

Currently, there are 800,000 women business owners in Canada and the number of women-owned businesses is growing 60 percent faster than those run by men. Since 1995, there has been a 50% increase in the number of self-employed women in Canada, and one million Canadian women will own a small business by 2010, this according to a report released by the CIBC, “Women Entrepreneurs: Leading the Charge“. Today, about 80 per cent of these women owned businesses are mothers.

What’s it like to be an entrepreneur? You can make your own decisions, set your own schedule, work with people you actually like, create your ideal lifestyle and enjoy the sheer satisfaction of doing something you love. However, self-employment is not for everyone. It’s a life full of twists and turns, long hours, uncertainties, and endless multi-tasking. Before you plunge, test the waters with these exploratory steps:

Take Training. Entrepreneurship programs will help you understand what’s involved in running a small business.
Day in the Life. Arrange to job shadow an entrepreneur for a few days to make sure it lives as well as it reads.
Get Tested. Online self-assessment tools will explore your aptitude for entrepreneurship.
Be Paid to Prepare. Before launching into your own business, take a job in that industry. You’ll make valuable contacts, understand the competition, wire into customers and make sure the work truly suits you.
Identify your Passion. Most entrepreneurs don’t do it for the money; explore a business idea that combines your personal passion with marketplace opportunity.

In Canada, there’s plenty of strong support for entrepreneurs from educational institutions, business associations, non-profit and for profit organizations and all levels of government. Search out resources, such as training, mentoring programs, loans, grants, workshops, conferences, peer groups and online communities in your area to help you learn about entrepreneurship.

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This month we are focusing on mompreneurs and women entrepreneurs. This is our first guest post in this series. By Leigh Mitchell.

I first decided to start my own business when I realized that daycare shortages would make it difficult for me to go back to a corporate full time job. However, I did not want to lose my business skills so I decided to sign up for something very different – the life of a mom entrepreneur. I had day dreamed about what being my own boss would be like while pregnant with my second son. I thought it would be the answer to all my prayers. However, some days my dream resembles a nightmare!

Signs of a seasoned mom entrepreneur:
1. You are always tired and you work around the clock. In a tired stupor you put everything into the coffee maker except coffee. You sometimes miss your driveway when returning from your child’s school pick-up because there are too many things running through your head to recall which driveway actually belongs to you.
2. You believed that you would have work-life balance. Hah!

I will share the “real” life of a mom entrepreneur and my top three tips:
1. Realize your children will sometimes dislike the fact that you work from home. Tip: Pretend you are cleaning the counter while you press the buttons on your smart phone to check your e-mail or play hide and seek while holding your smart phone in a closet. Don’t worry the screen lights up.
2. Realize your husband, while professing his love for you and your business ideas, will question what you have done all day and why the house looks like a disaster, all while still expecting you to make money from your business. Said husband will also give you his unsolicited “business tips” or even worse “work-life balance” tips. Tip: Grit your teeth while he gives you this advice and try your best to appreciate his input. You will need his support later to chase after the children while you work.
3. If you are passionate about your business, and you should be, it will be all consuming. You will turn into a night owl, all in an effort to be super mom and super star business owner. You may burn out or have a good cry every now and then, but it’s worth it. Tip: Never give up! Remember, you ARE a super star business owner. Now give yourself a pat on the back for balancing it all!

Leigh Mitchell is a busy mom of two boys with a very supportive husband. She finds passion and purpose through connecting with other mom entrepreneurs trying to make it. Leigh is a marketing professional and the owner of Marketing4moms.com, a company which specializes in training mom entrepreneurs on how to effectively market their businesses on a tight budget. Email Leigh at leigh@marketing4moms.com or send her a tweet on twitter: @marketing4moms.

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This month we are focusing on the mompreneur and women entrepreneur theme. This post is the first in this series.

Image courtesy of Experience Matters

Your mother was right when she told you to “do what you love and the money will follow.”

Small business owners have the luxury of deciding what kind of business is best for them. While motivations for becoming an entrepreneur will vary, the majority of us live for the sheer self-satisfaction derived from doing what we love to do. And for women with a family or looking to start one, self employment can often be the best way.

If you’re unsure about your true calling, begin a journey of self-discovery by examining:

Your skills. Take stock of your work history, education and volunteerism. Look deep into those experiences and try to identify traits. Maybe you’re really good at public speaking, organizing people or working with computers.

Your interests & hobbies. Your true passion may lie hidden in things you don’t do for money. Can’t wait to start gardening in the spring? Love to make wine? An extracurricular activity may become your best business bet.

Your aptitudes. Acknowledge your preferences. Great with numbers, bad with words? Prefer to work alone? Through self-understanding, you’ll find that perfect small business fit.

Your values. Pay attention to your values and ethics. You’ll be miserable in any business that creates an internal conflict. For example, by remaining true to your love of the environment you won’t be tempted to buy a gas station – no matter how much money it could make.

If you have an interesting mompreneur or woman entrepreneur story to tell, please contact Renée at renee@bizlaunch.ca, subject “Story for your blog”.

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