I have read a few blogs recently about the name “mumpreneur“. It causes heated debate, some people love the name, some people hate it. This is my view.
Firstly, do I view myself as a mumpreneur? Well – yes I do – I’m a mum, and I run my own business. I work part time as I only have limited childcare and I want to spend as much time as possible with my girls while they are still so little. My clients are aware of that. If they want to contact me urgently during working hours then they can, but sometimes they may get some background noise (!). I always aim to respond to non-urgent queries quickly, but sometimes it will be late in the evening. I would rather potential clients know about my other commitments up front so they can choose whether or not that works for them.
However, I don’t believe that my ability to run a business is in any way compromised by also being a mum. Instead I think that someone who is able to juggle a business with raising their children where they are the primary carer (male or female) is demonstrating some fantastic skills – multi-tasking and the ability to prioritise to name just two. I think being able to combine the two is something to be admired, not something to be denigrated.
Really it comes down to other people’s perceptions. I was discussing this with a friend and client a couple of weeks ago. She is also a mum who runs her own business, but she dislikes the term mumpreneur because she knows that some people view mumpreneurs as more likely to exchange cake recipes than business ideas. I completely understand her perspective, and wouldn’t like to have that kind of label – I’m not averse to a decent cake recipe, but when I meet other business people that isn’t the first thing on my mind.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone setting up a purely lifestyle business to enable them to contribute financially to running the household while not compromising their time with their children. But I wouldn’t put myself in that bucket. I’m much more driven than that, and am genuinely passionate about working with women in business (and some men – approximately 25% of my clients are male) to help them run their businesses more effectively, saving them time and money.
The statement Rebecca made that really stuck with me is that giving yourself such a label could affect your business, how others perceive you, and could even limit your potential future growth.
So would I describe myself as a mumpreneur? Probably not. I don’t want to be limited by other people’s perceptions of a label. But I wouldn’t view somebody who does describe themselves as a mumpreneur as any less able, or any less willing.
What about you? Do you describe yourself as a mumpreneur? What do you think of someone who does?
