KEY POINTS:
Meet the Mumpreneurs. They're the new mothers who spurn returning to work to start up a small business.
At new mothers' coffee groups where it seems that every second mother has a great idea for a business that will keep them at home with their kids, those that succeed become legend.
Mother of four Rachel Brill-Holland started her business Menumade.co.nz with Catherine Wheeler, who she met in coffee group, and it's still going strong four years later - although it only provides a part-time income.
The pair launched their internet-based service in 2003 providing a weekly plan of evening meals along with a corresponding shopping list. The website contains a list of menu options, each of which automatically scales by family size.
It's not uncommon for Mumpreneurs to leave high-powered jobs to have children, only to find they can't face returning to work full-time as they'd planned when it means saying goodbye to their bundle of joy for eight hours or more every day.
For many Mumpreneurs, the lucky ones at least, the household has another breadwinner, so drawings from the business aren't essential to keep food on the table.
That isn't always the case - certainly not for single mothers, many of whom do need to focus on the bottom line of their businesses.
Baby-related businesses are the business of choice for many new mothers. It's often what they're passionate about at that time of their life. It also means that the customers will understand when the Mumpreneur plans business meetings around child commitments, or, as is often the case, the sound of a breastfeeding infant can be heard down the phone.
Another popular option mothers with young children choose is to go into multi-level marketing businesses: anything from Tupperware to health supplements such as Usana, which often have good business support from the parent company and hours can be worked around family commitments.
Women differ from men in their approach to business, points out Clyth Macleod, director of Business Appraisals Limited. They are, he says, more empathetic, have better listening skills and often make good salespeople.
It's a mistake, however, to start a business on a whim without doing proper research. Mums are people, says Macleod, and they need to apply the same rules to starting a business as anyone.
"Don't start a business unless you have a really good idea, a thorough business plan, more money than you think you will need and are able to be totally committed to the enterprise, particularly in the first few years. My number one tip is get sound financial advice and your records and systems right from day one."
Mumpreneurs came in for a stiff talking to from the head of Britain's women's enterprise taskforce earlier this year. Glenda Stone said that too many enterprises run by women were primarily "cottage industries" and they needed to up the ante and go for profit before passion.
"So you are not going to necessarily see women look at the mobile phone market and think, 'Oohh, I can get 3.2 per cent of that market, I'm going to go for it'. They'll think, 'A lot of women are time-poor, I'll try to help them'. There's this kind of help thing that goes on," said Stone.
Macleod adds: "Women are also less likely than men to believe that the joy of business was contained in the bottom line." That was certainly the case for Pippa Jenks who set up cloth nappy manufacturing business Snazzipants.
Jenks had been given some old-fashioned cloth square nappies when her son Luka was born.
"I had wanted to use cloth nappies for Luka, but found the choices in New Zealand to be very limited, and leaky. I started to look online, and discovered a world of cloth nappy options I could only dream about. So began the search for the perfect nappy." Snazzipants officially became a company in 2003.
Fortunately for Jenks, her mother Maria had recently retired from owning her own freight business and had both time and business acumen.
"The goal for me was having something we could work on together, selling a few nappies online and bringing in some income from a business that would keep me at home with Luka," says Jenks.
Even so, the mother-and-daughter team invested $25,000 in their enterprise before going to market. They launched at a parent and baby show in Auckland in 2003.
"The costs just kept creeping up." Fortunately the nappies were a hit at the show and sold out.
Although started as a cottage industry, Snazzipants now employs a machinist, dispatcher and two shop staff for the retail store which opened in Milford on Auckland's North Shore this year.
"Snazzipants grew as an online business, mostly through word-of-mouth," says Jenks. "More nappy companies started to spring up in New Zealand, proving to us that the time had come for a more environmentally sound, chemical-free and financially sound way to nappy your baby," she adds.
"I had my second baby, Pearl, in January 2006 and began to find that running an internet business from home while looking after two preschoolers was a bit of a challenge. In April 2007 we opened our retail store in Milford on the North Shore. We were able to bring in a whole new range of fabulous nappies now we had the extra space."
The reality is, every female entrepreneur with children knows her kids are the weak link in the chain of juggling work and family, says Macleod. Some will plan their business in a way that allows them to work around their children, others will go down the childcare route.
One thing that many budding Mumpreneurs don't understand is the difference between self-employment and owning a business. For many, especially professional women who choose to work from home as consultants once they have children, they're replacing one sort of wage with another - being paid a fixed amount for the hours contracted.
The antithesis of the Mumpreneur running a cottage industry was the late Anita Roddick, the patron saint of entrepreneurial mums, who set up the Body Shop to create a livelihood for her family. Her success is legend - with over 2000 stores in more than 50 countries.
Titirangi-based Deb Cairns was sure that she didn't want a cottage industry when she started her Mumpreneurial business State of Grace, a sustainable funeral service with a difference.
Cairns had previously built up and subsequently sold a successful business with her husband called Phoenix Organics. The money from the sale gave Cairns a chance to develop a new business and this time teamed up with fellow Playcentre mum Fran Reilly.
The pair invited a US sustainable funeral expert over in 2004 to train them. The business had a soft launch in 2006 and they got fully up and running this year when their website Stateofgrace.net.nz launched. Cairns expects that she and Reilly will begin taking a salary within the next few weeks.
The pair's business won the Northern Region's Sustainable Business of the Year award for 2007. The materials used in the company's funeral products are sustainable, including hand-woven willow caskets, biodegradable plastic to line caskets and recycled wool batting for casket mattresses. Where possible they don't embalm, and loved ones are kept at home for several days after their death.
Business associates have suggested to Cairns that she franchise the business - which would bring in passive income.
As with any business, there is a wealth of information and help available for Mumpreneurs from government and other sources. New Zealand Trade & Industry (NZTE) client manager Richard Barrand says the government-run website Business.govt.nz is a great place to start.
The website has links to vast amounts of useful information for start-ups, without being overwhelming.
The NZTE provides free training for new businesspeople through organisations such as Enterprise Waitakere, and Enterprising Manukau can provide one-to-one advice, workshops and training, mentoring and business facilitation.
Once you've got the business up and running finding a mentor can be very helpful, says Barrand.
This can involve seeking out your own mentor. Business Mentors New Zealand, an organisation sponsored by both government departments and private enterprise, provides mentors free of charge to small businesses - although there is a $112.50 registration charge.
Networking is also highly beneficial for new businesses. If you're working on your own it will help to keep you sane. But it can also give you new business leads.
Networks can be informal through coffee groups, friends, family, old colleagues, sports clubs, churches and other organisations you belong to. More formal ways of networking include joining relevant industry bodies, Rotary, Lions or similar clubs.
There are also formal business networks such as Business Networking International (BNI). Each chapter of this organisation enables cross-profession networking resulting in business leads.
Most banks have businesses advisers and some such as the National Bank have business planning tools on their websites.
Finally, Queensland-based Kiwi Rochelle Dent has produced a programme called STOP Mumpreneur Madness! Five Steps to Finding the Time for Everything.
Useful information can also be found on Homebizzbuzz.co.nz
