The term ‘mumtrepreneur’ is a relatively new one, which is a woman who runs a business or enterprise while also having and looking after children. Most parents will tell you that this duality is impossible when doing both full-time, but these momtrepreneurs have certainly carved their way in the world and are seeing benefits that extend beyond a fat salary and lifestyle flexibility. If you’re a mother and either has started an app or are about to, then you might be broaching on app mumtrepreneur territory yourself. We’ve got some tips on how you can get closer to this status, and what to look out for along the way.
Get comfortable with delegation
Sacrifice is a value known well by mumtrepreneurs, and this is the secret sauce that is going to allow you to dominate both domains (business and bubs) and make great strides doing so. There is an art to choosing what to delegate, as you want to be part of your children’s lives and intimate with your business brand and essence. So let’s see what sacrifices could be possible.
What does sacrifice look like with your business? You can find an app developer in Melbourne for the build, hire a virtual assistant, work with a graphic designer to create batched content and maybe even work with communication/digital agency on retainer so they can look around for and take advantage of opportunities.
What does sacrifice as a working mother look like? Delegate cleaning to a professional, order your groceries online so you simply have to collect them and organise carpools with families in your area. Ultimately you want to be maximising time having fun and watching your little ones grow, with the chores being the only time you cut corners.
Identify your niche and own it
Success as an app mumtrepreneur will come easier and more authentically if you tap into a niche or personal brand, as this is how your followers and app users are going to learn about you and your business. Just as every mum is different, as are the many incredible app businesses they have brought to the market. It could be a pregnancy nutrition app that designs, recommends and optimises your diet to align with your trimester. It could be an accounting app which can be used for mums and dads who look after the family budget.
Your options are limitless. It’s best to choose a niche or area that most speak to you as a person, as you are the asset and will drive the success of your app and your business life will be more fun when you are doing what you love.
Establish a realistic budget and business milestone
Sure, a budget and a business plan might seem like an obvious tip, but the nature of an app-based business is different from other business formats and you need to capture this on your budget. You have to account for maintenance and upgrade spends, as well as marketing to actually launch your app to your intended audience. You should include legal fees in copyrighting and registering your business. Make no mistake, an app business is a profitable and smart decision, but just because you aren’t including typical overhead costs in your plan doesn’t mean those allocations aren’t going somewhere else.
The same consideration should be applied to your business plan so that you are working towards realistic outcomes and stay accountable to these responsibilities. As an app mumtrepreneur, maybe these are around download targets, review targets, user testing or even the growth of your adjacent services and platforms that have grown in tandem with your app. If you aren’t sure what sort of goals you should be shooting for, you might even want to consider getting a business coach or mentor.
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If you can accomplish raising happy and healthy kids, then building an app and transforming industries will be a breeze! Take some time to identify other mumpreneurs that inspire you and study their app business beginnings to see what you can glean from this success.