Wikipedia defines a mompreneur as a female business owner who actively balances the roles of mother and of entrepreneur. The term was introduced in about 1994.
Earlier, there were restrictions on women going out and doing any professional work. So, they did not start their own business, but that aspect is fading away now. Feminism is in and it brings gender equality with it. There is a sense of awareness amongst the women, or moms, that has given them the freedom to do what they want to do and not just listen to the society. That is one of the biggest reasons there is a surge in mompreneurs.
It is a fact that the ability of moms to multitask, which they learn after perfecting simultaneous parenting and household chores, helps when being an entrepreneur because you need to nurture and grow your brand like your own child with a lot of patience. Balancing the two is very important. You have to be an entrepreneur at home and a mother when in the office, there is no set of dos and don’ts. So, when you have children, you first learn that no journey is the same. You speak to your fellow moms during the journey, and they have their own path and ways. The amount of patience a child can teach you, nobody else can do that.
Founder of a popular cafe in Delhi, Neha Bhatia has been a mother and an entrepreneur for the past thirteen years and as is the case with any teenager, the journey has been full of ups and downs for her. It is a daily marathon when she works extremely hard to achieve perfect balance between work and quality time with the kids. “The core idea is to not take yourself too seriously. Be vulnerable with the kids and not attempt to be the trophy mom. It is not always easy and can get hard but just like the core idea of parenting, it is as rewarding as it is difficult and challenging. I am heartened as more women are being able to achieve this balance between their goals and family lives. We also have a better ecosystem of support. I would not be able to manage this dual role without the ongoing support of my family,” she tells us.
Becoming a mother became the greatest catalyst for change in a lady’s life. Take the case of Sweta Mukherjee, Founder of Social Knit. She was working for marketing brand alliances and activations, when she became pregnant. A difficult pregnancy led to her taking a break, post which she realized it would be difficult to give her full attention to work.
Mompreneur owned businesses are on a rise
“With a rapid growth in their numbers, Indian mompreneurs now have the benefit of joining communities of empathetic, adaptable, and high-performing women who can accomplish a lot by working together and collaborating more. In the PR and Marketing sector, we deal with clients from all backgrounds and mompreneurs are certainly the more particular ones with a keen eye on each strategy and every campaign they opt for. More brands collaborate with mom bloggers now, and certainly we are featuring more elaborative and impactful news coverages about women owned businesses than ever before. All in all, the mompreneur trend is on a rise indeed,” says Abhishek Kapoor, an Indian Author and Founder of Digital Golgappa, India’s leading PR and Marketing agency.
Celebrity Mompreneurs
Priya Ahuja Rajda, who was seen twice at the cover of The Eagle Eye Magazine is a Fashionista mom. Balancing acting, home, and kid along with her regular content creation is tough but she does it perfectly. Just as her on screen character of Rita Reporter, who was supported by the entire Gokuldham society, she is a valiant character in her real life too.
Family Support and Time Management
For obvious reasons, time management and family support are essential components of being a mompreneur, as is the case with Tanu Chhabra, an artist, and a chef at a home delivery and takeaway food joint in Noida. She is now the mother of a college going girl, Vaishali Chhabra but started when her daughter was just three years old. Tanu acknowledges that while finding balance in all facets of life is difficult, it is also not impossible. She views her family as her biggest supporter and the force that propels her forward.
Tips for budding mompreneurs
The most important advice for mompreneurs is to never give up. After the birth of her children, a person can begin her entrepreneurial path. Never give up; each setback helps you learn something that will improve and influence your next attempt.
