`MOMPRENEUR' TAKES JOB HOME.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer If her body cooperates, Terri Mouton mouton lamb pelt made to resemble seal or beaver. will step into the dual role of Suzy Homemaker and fearless entrepreneur in 12 days. The pregnant Studio City resident, whose baby is due April 11, will close her food store on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. on Monday. She will move her second business, a marketing firm that she had run out of the store's back office, into her home. Running a home-based business will be a big change for the marketing executive and retailer. But at 38, faced with the birth of a daughter, Mouton decided it was time to realign re·a·lign tr.v. re·a·ligned, re·a·lign·ing, re·a·ligns 1. To put back into proper order or alignment. 2. To make new groupings of or working arrangements between. her priorities. ``It took me a long time to come to a decision to have a family,'' said Mouton, whose marketing company bears her name. ``I want to do it right.'' To her, doing it right means personally caring for her daughter. Since she wants to continue working, she will set up a home-based business. ``The thought of leaving my baby in child care or having my husband raise her without me is depressing,'' said Mouton, whose spouse is an actor and producer. ``I don't want to miss out on her first word and first step. I want to watch her grow up. Motherhood gave me a new perspective.'' Mouton will become what writer Patricia Cobe calls a growing number of ``mompreneurs.'' They are mothers who raise their families and run a business under the same roof, said Cobe, co-author of ``Mompreneurs, a Mother's Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Work-at-Home Success.'' Cobe estimates that mompreneurs run 10 million of the 30 million home-based businesses nationwide. The National Foundation for Women Business Owners Many online and offline organizations have been created to collect information about businesses around the world owned and operated by women. Many other organizations have been created to assist the women that own and operate those businesses. estimates that women-run, home-based businesses provide 14 million full-time and part-time jobs. And the trend is growing. In two years, membership in the Carlsbad-based Association of Enterprising Mothers has grown to 900 - without the benefit of advertising. The year-old Home-Based Working Moms organization has received 3,500 inquiries about its services and enrolled 300 members so far, also without any advertisement. About 2,300 have shown interest in the Texas group's 3-month-old Web site. Last week, AT&T's Resources for New Business program announced that it would target mompreneurs. The program helps entrepreneurs start new businesses, from financing and writing a business plan to advertising and marketing. AT&T sells a start-up kit and other services. Mompreneurs sell anything from gift baskets A gift basket, or fruit basket is typically a gift that is delivered to the recipient at their home or workplace. There are different varieties of gift baskets, some which have fruit only, some with dry/canned goods only (such as tea, crackers and jam) although the standard and crafts to word-processing and marketing services. Lesley Spencer, founder of Home-Based Working Moms, said that about half of the mompreneurs previously were midlevel mid·lev·el n. The middle stage or level, as in a series, course of action, or career. professionals, and most of the rest were homemakers and clerical workers. Spencer, who has a master's degree master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. in public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most , quit a job coordinating tours for a golf association to run Working Moms out of her home. She makes half as much money but doesn't miss her corporate paycheck. ``I had always planned on using day care,'' she said. ``But when it came down to it, it was very hard. You don't want to leave (your child) all day, every day.'' After having her baby, she went back to her job briefly. She remembers crying frequently at work because she missed her baby. Like Spencer, many women become entrepreneurs because of motherhood and the desire for greater flexibility in life. ``They want to have the time to spend with their families - to go on class trips, to be there at soccer games and school plays - and still keep up their career skills and be their own bosses,'' Cobe said. Many workers also turn to entrepreneurship as a solution to corporate downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing . They spent a lot of time and energy at work, and they rechannel that effort into their own home business. ``They no longer think it's worth it to sacrifice all that time and effort in the corporate workplace,'' Cobe said. ``They take those skills to the home.'' That's what 39-year-old Jennifer Rosky of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. did. The former marketing executive for Nestle and Max Factor used her skills to launch a marketing-consulting firm out of her garage: Solution Marketing. She had been laid off three times and decided she wanted more control over her life. ``My life belonged to the company,'' she said. ``Even if I put in 60 hours a week with my blood, sweat and tears, I didn't have control over my future.'' With two young daughters to take care of, Rosky struck out on her own two years ago. Since then, her firm has grown from a one-person shop to business employing 20. ``There's a lot of instability in the corporate world,'' Rosky said. Her home-based business was ``a way to nullify nul·li·fy tr.v. nul·li·fied, nul·li·fy·ing, nul·li·fies 1. To make null; invalidate. 2. To counteract the force or effectiveness of. that instability.'' Sarah Edwards quit her job after the stress led to a kidney infection kidney infection Pyelonephritis, see there . She also was disappointed that someone else was raising her son. ``I was working in child development. And knowing what was best for kids, I could see that someone else was raising my son,'' she said. ``I respected (our housekeeper) but didn't agree with her on everything.'' Edwards and her husband, Paul, both quit their jobs to work at home. She was a counselor and he was a political and public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. consultant. They gave up frequent dinners out and reduced spending on clothes. They didn't take a vacation for 10 years, but Sarah Edwards said she didn't feel deprived because they were enjoying their lives. The Edwardses have written seven books on working at home. The latest, published earlier this month, is called ``Teaming Up.'' They also have a radio and cable TV show. But their success is second to the welfare of the family, the couple said, echoing the sentiments of other work-at-home parents. In a survey conducted among parents with home-based businesses, the Edwardses found that five out of six believe they became better parents. Seven out of 10 said their children's grades improved, while 83 percent thought their kids' behavior got better. Nine out of 10 believe their kids are happier because one or both parents stay home. ``I think parents underestimate the importance of their role in bringing up their children,'' Sarah Edwards said. ``The common attitude is that kids can raise themselves. They really can't. Kids really need their parents.'' NO PLACE LIFE HOME Resources for starting a home-based business: Home-based Working Moms P.O. Box 500164 Austin, Texas 78750 Attention: Lesley Spencer (Web site is www.hbwm.com) Association of Enterprising Mothers 6965 El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
Carlsbad, CA 92009 (800) 223-9260 MAHEM MAHEM MAgnetoHydrodynamic Explosive Munition (Moms At Home, Entrepreneurially Minded) P.O. Box 886 Newport Beach Newport Beach, residential and resort city (1990 pop. 66,643), Orange co., S Calif., on Newport Bay and the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1906. It is a popular seaside resort and yachting center. Manufactures include electrical and medical equipment, computers, boats, and adhesives. , CA 92661 (714) 723-0756 American Home For the American mortgage lender, see . The American Home is a center of intercultural exchange located in Vladimir, Russia. The home is designed to model a typical American suburban home and its main focus is the ESL school that provides lessons for Russian students. Business Association 4505 S. Wasatch Blvd. Salt Lake City, UT 84124 (800) 664-2422 - SOURCE: Daily News Research CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: (Color) Expecting the birth of a daughter in April, Terri Mouton is closing her Studio City shop to run a home business while she cares for her baby. Gus Ruelas/Daily News Box: NO PLACE LIFE HOME (See text) |
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