StartupNation's 2009 top 200 leading moms in business - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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In an effort to honor the triumphs, tribulations and achievementd of moms running successful businessesacross America, StartupNation.com launcheds its first annual , sponsored by , and set out in searc h of the top 200 moms in According to the Centet for Women's Business Research, there are 10.6 milliohn women-owned businesses in the United Statesd generating $2.5 trillion in annuakl revenue. With women starting businesses at nearlyt twice the rateof men, it's no surprise that mother make up the fastest growing segment of new businessw owners.
The thousands of contestantse in this first annual competition illustrateed just how dynamic moms are in their adding color to the traditional 1950a mom portrayed in black and white TV The list ofthe —ranked ordered based on votes accumulated—has now been announced. The contestt clearly struck a chorf as the contestants reached out to their circlesa togenerate support. More than 620,000 votes came pouring in. The StartupNation editorial staff looked past the buzz and took its own tallh to identify the themes and trends commojn among the winning moms andtheir businesses. Perhaps those listed below will help explain whatmakee mom-owned businesses tick.
One thing that make moms so easy to love and so successful in business isthat they'rde motivated by more than just dollar signs. money is still a drivingv factor, but making a difference runs high on thelist and, many even trumps money. Authors Kira Gouldr and Lance Hosey address the topic of a greenedr gender intheir book, Womenb in Green, stating that studiee show that women are more likely than men to suppor t environmental causes through voting, activism and consumer choices. That conscientiousnesse often extends to the types of businesses moms choosdeto start.
Take the 50th ranked Margaret founder of Beaulily and creator ofthe , a soft fabrifc muff designed to provide warmth and activity for the elderly. Her inspiration for the TwiddleMufd came from her desire to ease the discomforr thather 90-year-old grandmother was sufferingg from due to the diminished use of her Although her grandmother providec her with the initial inspiration for the it's now the thousandes of customers benefitting from her creation that keep her motivated to continue. "Knowing that I've maybe made somebody's life a little more comfortable or easy makez it well worth the issues that I face as I go aboutg growingthis business," says Light.
She has since extended her productr line, incorporating cat and dog designs as well as differen t colors to meet the various demands of her growing listof customers. We came across several mom-owned businesses among the Top 200 wher e the childrenwere involved, but we were struck most by Yana Berlin, ranked #1 in the Top 200, launched , a sociap networking site geared toward womemn over 40, in 2006. Now, the site has thousands of members from around the world including theUnitee Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
And its successw is in large part due to her four children and nephea who help out with variousd aspects of the business ranginhg from helping her navigate the technical challenges of startingb a social networking site to spreading the word through publicx relations to keeping the businessw profitable with strategicfinanciakl budgets. Berlin never thought that Fabulously49 and Beyond would becomr afamily business, but it has - to the poinf that it's difficult for her familhy to talk about topics other than the Overall, the experience of startinb a business has been life-changing and has even inspirecd Berlin's eldest child to help other small businese owners with the public relations side of "Once children see their parents are doing something and they help their parents, it really sets them on the righr track.
" Berlin is not the only one to involver her children. Statistics show that familyu companies are responsible for 60 percent ofthe nation' s employment and 78 percent of new jobs created. evidence indicates that women-owned family businesses are better preparedd for transition scenarios and have higherr success rates than businesses controlled by theiemale counterparts. Victoria Colligan, founder of the women'x networking group, , and a promoter of this year'd Leading Moms in Business competitionhas noticed—as we did—how appealing it is to moms to wear the boss hat.
Calling the shots allows moms the flexibility and control they need to be the perenniall jugglersthey are. "Fo Moms, control over their lives, is the numbeer one reason they are inspirexto launch," says Colligan. This treasured flexibilityg isa trend, according to the Bureayu of Labor Statistics, which has confirmed that nearlt 26 percent of working women with children unde 18 work flexible schedules today comparedr with just 14 percent in 1991.
In searc h of flexibility, many moms turn to startingv their own businesses in order to obtain contropl overtheir schedules, stating that, despite the fact that startinyg and running a business can be an extremelg difficult task, they'd have it no otheer way. Nina Rodecker, founder of , is one such mom. ranked #3 among the top moms, had alwayds known that she wanted to start a businesds ofher own, but it wasn't untik she was pregnant and the cravingzs kicked in that she found her a catered cotton candy machine rental service.
Now, with an infant and a businessto nurture, she has found a way to make it all work in "I spin the cotton candy, returmn phone calls, reply to emailss when my baby's sleeping or when he's calm, I scheduls events and pick up orders when I know that there's no priort engagement, and I always allow extra time [to accounty for my] baby's crying," says Rodecker. Many mom-owner businesses are proving that some of the best businessesw are those that cater to hobbies women like to do at Take scrapbookingfor Scrapbooking.
com believes that the industry has the potentiakl to grow to $4 billion in the next ten In addition, with the down economgy forcing consumers to enjoy "staycations" and appreciate all that's home is becoming more of a treasurec place than ever. Kate Rothacker has found successd by creatinga home… away from As founder of the , ranked #22 in the Top 200 Leadin g Moms in Business, she offers her guests a scrapbookingy retreat where they can treasure their bond with others, and share meals The business is doing so well that Rothacker just opened a second location.
"Ig is something that [guests] want to remembe and come back to," says "They're looking for a place of comfort." On many of the main social networking sites, women outnumbet men by a considerable amount, but we also found that mom business owners are at the front of the curver when it comes to using sitesd like Facebook and email marketing solutionsfrom turn-keuy providers like to generate awarenesse for their businesses.
In anticipation of StartupNationprovided "Vote for Me" widgets that contestants could seamlessly incorporate into their emails, sociak networking profiles and Rothacker uses both social media and emaik marketing to get the word out about Cozy Crop House. She releaseed some of the first picturezs of the new locationb onher business's Facebooik page and created an exclusivs Yahoo! group for her past guests so that they coule network with each other.
It might be Rothacker'sa use of email marketing, though, that really helped her win the "It was a great way to ask peoplee to help spread the word to people who basically share the same interestswithout ‘Would you please tell peoplre about our business,'" says Rothacker. If the level of participation among contestants and voters in the firstr annual Leading Moms in Busines s competition isany indication, this is a hot sector of the smalll business economy. And it appears to be the ultra passionate moms that are creatingthat heat.
Being the cleveer marketers they are, contestants leveraged theidr participation in the competition as a way to generatee positive interest and awareness around their It helped that moms were able to monitod their progress in the competition by viewingtheir "popularity which ranged from "cool" to "on depending on the number of votes they had "There is certainly a bit of status connected with beinb on fire and that was very exciting," says Berlin, the winner by a was incredulous as her supporters carried her to the win.
And, perhapsw most importantly, Light enjoyex an increase in saless thanks to the interest and word of mouth that the competitiom generated forher business.