When I left the workplace to focus on starting a family, I didn’t really have a plan. I knew that my current job wasn’t going to work – it involved 60% travel, a lot of which was international. My husband, who is generally a worrier when it comes to money, was incredibly supportive of my vague vision for the future. I was pregnant with our first child and had no idea what I was in for. I wish I had had MOM, Incorporated to help me get started. Aliza Sherman and Danielle Smith do a wonderful job of helping you come up with a plan, and then put it into action.
MOM, Incorporated is, first and foremost, a book about starting your own business. But it’s geared toward women (and men) who have families and aren’t willing to ignore them to get ahead. It covers a wide range of topics (coming up with the right idea, buying a domain name, registering a trademark, finding office space, marketing, handling finances, taxes, making things legal) and it does it all in a friendly, conversational style that is accessible to everyone. It also includes charts and worksheets to use as tools.
Starting out, my biggest challenge was that I didn’t even know what I needed to know. MOM, Incorporated tells you what you need to know. You’re not going to find comprehensive coverage about each little detail, but you will find enough to get you started. You’ll have enough knowledge to delve deeper if you need to. For example, you’ll get a good sense of whether you want an LLC or a corporation (or something else entirely), and then you can look more into exactly what you need to do to move forward.
I had the pleasure of joining Aliza and Danielle at the local stop on their book tour. They urged us to stop trying to achieve “balance” and recognize that everything can’t be balanced all the time. They also asked us to stop apologizing for everything. These two fabulous women (both of whom I’ve had the joy of chatting with in the past), get “it.” They get what it’s like to be a mother and have to juggle work with parenting. They get what it’s like to start a new venture (sometimes over and over again) and not know where to begin. And, perhaps most importantly, they understand that their individual stories won’t resonate with every reader. They’ve also included the voices of other female entrepreneurs. And that rounds out the book to not only being a “how-to” manual, but an inspirational one. It’s like having a group of talented female mentors in your backpack. They bring a wealth of knowledge and a variety of perspectives to the journey. If one doesn’t speak to you, another will.
If you are thinking of starting your own business, or you’ve planted the seeds but need help growing to the next level, I strongly recommend MOM, Incorporated
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of MOM, Incorporated as one of the first attendees to arrive their book tour event. There was no promise of a positive review and the opinions contained in this post are my own. This post contains affiliate links which have no bearing on the tone of the review.
