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Internet lets moms
run jobs that pay
By Bruce Freeman
Scripps Howard News
Service
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.11.2007
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Q
When my husband and I had our first
baby, we both thought it was a good
opportunity for me to drop out of my
corporate career. We can live on his income
alone, and I really wanted to be a full-time
mom. I still do, yet I miss some of the
intellectual challenges and social
connections of my previous life. Is there
any way of getting some of that back without
going back to work?
A Your timing couldn't be better. For earlier generations of former
career women who became mothers, the choice was stark: Stay at home
or return to the workplace. But the Internet has rewritten that
rule, especially as it comes to running a small business. Now we are
seeing a new phenomenon called the "mompreneur."
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These are women who use their Web
skills to start home-based businesses. Some start selling items on
eBay. Others might be chatting in online forums and discover they
have a skill they can provide to others in their community. In doing
so, they contribute to the family coffers, of course, but they also
get back some of what you are missing: intellectual challenge and an
extended social network.
Brad Smith, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's
small business division, says many mompreneurs don't think of
themselves as entrepreneurs in the traditional sense. "There is a
perception that the typical entrepreneur is male and works 80 hours
a week to get up and running, maintaining and growing his business.
"What we're seeing is that one of the fastest-growing segments of
entrepreneurs is moms working out of their home on top of their
existing full-time job of running the household and raising a
family. With the Internet, women and mompreneurs have a lot more
freedom and flexibility to balance both career and family."
"There's no reason why growing a business and growing a family can't
go hand-in-hand," says Smith. "And for some mompreneurs, by the time
their kids have grown up, their personal businesses may have taken
flight as well."
● Bruce Freeman is a small-business owner and an adjunct business
professor at Kean University in New Jersey. Contact him at bruce@smallbusinessprof.com.
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