Far too many women use their children as an excuse for why they wont start a business. Let's get rid of this as an excuse, because when you get rid of the excuses, you can face the real fear and get past it.

In the research period between 1997 - 2002, women business owners increased almost 20%, with business start ups as a whole hovering around only 10%. That means that women are succeeding in starting businesses, according to the Small Business Administration. Why not you?

Many small & home businesses are much more flexible than many corporate settings. If a business coach can't help you find a big business that wont scoff when you ask off for a child's scout meeting; perhaps it's time to have a professional business coach help you find or design a business where YOU control the hours and flexibility.

The life of a "Mompreneur" isn't for everyone, though. Be very honest with yourself about your level of lazy vs. level of perseverance. Starting a business is no time to slack. It IS, however, a time for prioritizing and schedule management.

Instead of using your kids as an excuse not to take the exciting step into owning your own business or working from home as an independent contractor - Involve Them! Let them learn about business right along side of you. They will learn social skills from you, as you interact with clients, and understand WHY they have to learn math, in school, when they see you calculate price or profit margin. They could get a whole new respect for where your money comes from, rather than believe it grows on trees, when you pass out their allowance.

If you have pre-teens & teenagers, in addition to having them help out more around the home, you could hire them for small business tasks. Let them stuff envelopes for your client mailings. Let them check your written materials, as their fresh-from-English-class eyes may catch a double word or wrong word, that a spell check would miss. Bring them in as interns, and let them see how their efforts help your business and lead to a college fund bonus for themselves.

Like many other women business owners, you probably already have many of the skill needed to run a business and keep your family life in order. If you are in charge of paying bills and balancing the family budget, you already have basic accounting knowledge. Chances are, after years of juggling bag lunches, play dates, homework, housework, soccer games, dance classes, and hopefully some taking-care-of-mommy time, you have the schedule management thing licked.

So, why not?

Go ahead. Take a chance. Start a business!

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