Never start a business just to make money. Start a business to make a difference.
marie Forleo
When I started our traditional business, I thought I was a purposeful mompreneur. My goal was to earn an income and to have a creative outlet. I was making people happy with my food creations. Until I saw a bigger purpose for starting a business. It is no longer to serve me and my family. I want a business that would help as many people as possible.
In recent months, I rediscovered an online business that allowed me to set a higher goal. The purpose is no longer centered on my desires, but on helping other people. As Marie Forleo says, I want to make a difference in the lives of other people through our new business.
Here are the values I have to embrace to become a purposeful entrepreneur. Mind you, I don’t carry these traits so comfortably today because I am still a work in progress.
Keep an Open Mind
You can start any business or side hustle while still being a mom. One trait you need to have is keeping an open mind. If you really want to be a purposeful mompreneur, you need to do your due diligence knowing what your purpose is to start a business. Attend workshops on the different businesses that interest you. Ask your friends who are already in business. Say yes to invitations to business presentations. Pay attention and ask questions.
Ask the Lord for opportunities, wisdom, and clarity. Start with a small business that you think is a wise move for you. The journey to entrepreneurship will not be easy. But in the end, you are the only one who could say, “It is worth it.”
Since moms have their hands full, it is wise to start with a business that could provide a passive income in the future with a few hours of ‘work’ daily. Passive income is a continuous flow of revenue on work done once. And the best example is my self-published book. I was active once in writing the devotional, but I get paid every time someone buys a copy. Part of my plan is to continue to write books in 2022, which will add a stream of revenue for me.
Be Teachable
No mompreneur is an island. As you plan your business, it is important to ask for help from other entrepreneurs. Find a business coach or a mentor who would guide you along your journey. Be humble to seek help because you don’t know everything. Pride will lead you nowhere.
Attend webinars that help you grow the business, but prioritize personal development and leadership training. When we grow as a person, our business grows with us. When I started this online business, I knew something has to change. If I want a better future, I need to shift from having a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. One of our mentors said, “Your dreams are outside your comfort zone.” Insisting on my old way of thinking did not get anywhere. Then why should I continue to listen to it today? Growth is outside my comfort zone.
Be a Visionary
How do you envision your future? One mistake my husband and I made was to not plan the future of our family. The thrill of togetherness kept us inside our fantasy world. One at a time, the children came and so did the bills and monthly expenses that came with raising a family. Oh, if we only knew that being married and having children is not all that blissful, especially in a single-income household.
Couples know that when finances become an issue, it affects the relationship. There was a lot of finger-pointing and blaming on my end. As I write this, I can’t help but feel angry at my old self, but let’s not go there anymore.
Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Despite our mistakes, we believe in a sovereign God. He knows we were not wise stewards of our time, talent, and treasure in the past. But He has given us the opportunity to start again.
Understand Stewardship
We need money to survive. Isn’t it why we work, start a business, or create a side hustle? Yet money becomes a sensitive topic, especially in the Christian circle. We equate riches or money with greed. In fact, the Bible warns us of this.
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1Timothy 6:10
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. Ecclesiastes 5:10
In both verses, money is not the source of evil but the love of money—which is greed. To counter this, we ground our hearts to the truth that God owns everything and we are His stewards. We own nothing. And when we die, we leave everything.
And because we own nothing, we ask the true Owner how He wants us to spend the money He allowed us to earn. So, mindless spending and investing in get-rich-quick schemes are out of the question. We give back our tithes to the Lord as an act of worship, too.
As followers of Christ, we do things differently. We do not ‘hustle’ like the world because we know our priorities and we have a stewardship mindset. Yes, we need to earn to provide for our families, but not at their expense. In our quest to be financially free, we may have to sacrifice time for them as we build our business, but it will not be our norm.
Greed and envy will not push us to do more. Because we want to be purposeful mompreneurs, we know when to stop and when to keep pushing. The way we do our business is also worship to God.
Will my full calendar and attitude glorify God in the end? Or will it exalt how busy or how determined I am? Does my income highlight God’s character or mine?
Pursue Personal Growth
I recently watched the series, Downtown Abbey on Netflix. Maybe you are familiar with this series set in 1912s about an aristocratic family in Yorkshire. As the years go by, the head of the household, Lord Grantham, refuses to go with the changing times. He insists on his old way of doing things, which would affect not only his estate but his village. Eventually, he listened and agreed that he must adapt to the changing times.
As a 40-year-old woman, I realize that the vision I created for my family will not come to pass if I have the same mindset I had 10 or 15 years ago. Something has to change. So, I read books, listen to podcasts, have mentoring sessions, and continue to attend training given by our online business. I am happy to learn and slowly apply the lessons from each training. Why slowly? Because I can be stubborn and, like Lord Grantham, stick to what I know. I am afraid of change and of what people might say.
Aside from improving my business acumen, what really matters to me is how am I growing on a personal level. I know that as I get better, my business improves too. So, personal growth in business is as important as developing the skills to become a purposeful mompreneur.
As I share these insights with you, I am also talking to myself. I have a long way to go before I become a successful entrepreneur, but I started my journey already. And I am looking forward to seeing the faces of the people I have helped. Are you looking into starting your own business soon? What kind of business are you looking into? Here’s to becoming a purposeful mompreneur.
