One of the nice by-products of choosing an entrepreneurial lifestyle is the fact that we get to be role models for our children. Our children have watched us work to realize our professional goals, creating our own rules as we went.
By now, enough has been written about ‘having it all’ that we can recognize that concept for what it is: The Supermom is as mythical as the unicorn. Studies have shown, in fact, that those of us who try to do it all — work, raise a family, carve out time for our relationships, and ourselves — are actually at greater risk for depression than those of us who accept that we can’t do it all.
Our mothers, bless them, paved the way for us to do whatever and be whomever we want.
Do you have a fear of networking? Turns out that lots of us do. Basically, unless you’re an extrovert, networking makes us sort of uncomfortable.
But if you’re self-employed, networking is an effective strategy to grow your business. And if you’re in biz for yourself, you always need to be selling. Not overtly, mind you.
Back when I worked downtown, I had a BlackBerry. Everyone did. Savvy companies even gave them to their employees in order to reach them more easily after hours and on weekends.
As far as I can tell, the downtown-y types still wield their BBs. But nobody else does, and that has become a problem. Faced with lagging sales and the increasing dominance of the iPhone, Blackberry has put itself up for sale.
BlackBerry attempted a comeback with its latest smartphone, but it seems a case of too little, too late.
When we started our business, Admiral Road Designs, in 2002, we had three goals. First, we wanted to put our business education and experience to use and contribute financially to our households. Second, we wanted to be available to our families but we also wanted to remain engaged in the workforce. Third, we wanted to grow a business that would be ready to take off when our kids were.
It was incredibly helpful to know what we were hoping to achieve.
This week Mom Ink had the opportunity to speak to Erin Green, the newly appointed Canadian Country Lead at Etsy. There were a lot of reasons we were keen to chat with Erin. Etsy is an online marketplace for independent creative businesses—something we have a lot of interest in from our days making handmade blankets at Admiral Road. Plus, Erin’s professional pedigree is enviable: She launched her career as an entrepreneur in her early twenties with her vintage clothing shop.
Want to know something cool about entrepreneurship? It’s hereditary. True story. There is considerable research that supports the idea that entrepreneurs are raised in homes where at least one parent is self-employed. It makes sense. When kids grow up watching hard work and creativity lead to results, it can lay the foundation for great things ahead.
This week marks some major changes in the Canadian retail landscape. The week kicked off with Loblaw’s announcement of its planned takeover of Shoppers Drug Mart. Loblaw’s past sales struggles are well documented, and the company is now jockeying for market position among the large U.S. retailers like Walmart and Target.
The second announcement came with the news that Honest Ed’s, the historic bargain retailer in downtown Toronto, is up for sale.
This week I had the opportunity to meet SUBWAY® Restaurants Co-founder and President Fred DeLuca for lunch in Toronto. Although I’ve enjoyed many SUBWAY® sandwiches over the years, I have to admit, I didn’t know much about Fred before this week. Fred might be the most wildly successful entrepreneur I'd never heard of. He also seems like a really great guy.
Did you know that Fred DeLuca opened his first restaurant at the age of 17?
A few weeks ago I found myself hiking up ski hills for hours in very cold weather. There was also plunging into ice water, crawling through subterranean passages, wading through waist-deep mud and hurtling myself over 12-foot walls. Did I mention running through live electrical wires?
I’ll bet you’re thinking this is a piece about some kind of political torture situation, right? Actually, I volunteered for all of this. On May 11th I participated in Tough Mudder at Mount St. Louis Moonstone, north of Toronto.
It’s no secret: We’ve had a girl-crush on the women of Mabel’s Labels since, well, pretty much since we first laid eyes on them almost ten years ago. Admiral Road has always had lots in common with Mabel’s Labels, so it was a natural attraction: We started our companies around the same time; both companies make personalized products here in Canada; and we all started businesses in our basements. It’s on this last point that our corporate lives diverged.
I once auditioned for the Ice Capades. I thought I could run away from a difficult period in my life to tour with the show across America. To be fair, I hadn’t skated seriously since high school. I thought my lack of training would be the biggest strike against me.
The latest tragedy in a grim news cycle stems from Bangladesh, where, as we all know by now, a textile factory collapsed killing nearly 400 workers inside. We’ve also learned that the factory manufactured clothing for Canadian company Loblaws’ Joe Fresh brand.
For the past few years we’ve had the great fortune to offer Speed Coaching to the fabulous women at the Women in Biz Network Conference. Last year we got to know Avery Swartz, who, as her web site will tell you, makes web sites. Turns out though, that’s not all she does.
I am using this space today not as a small business expert, but rather to write about something very personal and meaningful to me: the Boston Marathon.
Having run the storied race two times, I always think of the Boston Marathon at this time of year. This year, however, it has been on my mind more than usual, even before the tragic events of April 15th.
If you’re familiar with our work here at Mom Ink, you’ll know that we’re mad about customer service. We are firmly of the belief that delivering outstanding customer service is one of the cheapest, most effective ways to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Last post we told you about the Chinese publication of our book, Mom Inc. In China the subtitle reads, “Good Mother Will Make Money.” Given the outrageous nature of this claim, we’d like to go on the record and clear a few things up.
Do you want to make more money? There are two ways to increase revenue in your business: You can sell to more customers, or you can sell more to your customers. At Admiral Road, for example, that means we can grow the company by selling blankets to more people, or we can sell more blankets to customers who have already purchased from us. Ideally, we’ll do both.
Judging the recent MOMpreneur of the Year Award got us thinking about competition and how it affects us. As small business owners, competition is something we all need to navigate.
