By now many of you have heard the term mompreneur which applies to the large number of entrepreneurial women who are working from home running successful businesses while raising their families. This combo of the entrepreneurial spirit combined with being a busy mom working from home has sprung the new term “mompreneur” into existence.

Lisa Druxman, Founder of Stroller Strides, is one such mompreneur and is our featured guest in this Episode of The Small Business Trends Radio. Lisa started her business out of her home and, at one time, had 8 employees coming in, each with their own keys and their children in tow – until she eventually franchised the business. Lisa shares her personal story of how she created her franchise and how to find a little bit of peace - in the wonderful chaos of a busy mompreneur.

Here’s a sampling of topics from the show:

• Make sure you — do something you love. Because on the days that are tough (and there will be days that are tough), loving what you do will pull you through them.

• Three tools for mompreneurs — that Lisa recommends are 1.) a blackberry; 2.) a web based business center service such as Earnware and 3.) hire a nanny/housekeeper. Because ladies, it doesn’t matter who makes the bed or does the dishes - this will make you a much happier mom and a better businesswoman.

• Franchise startup costs — can run anywhere from $60k to $200k. The cost depends on how many states your business is in and the attorney fees involved for filing accordingly.

• Franchising laws — are changing all the time so make sure that you retain an attorney that specializes in franchising. This was a mistake that cost Lisa dearly with The Federal Trade Commission and took some real hard work to rectify.

• The International Franchise Association (IFA) — can assist you in franchising your business. However, a thick skin is required for a business at this level and being a franchiser is no small task. It requires money and time - which may not be fitting for a mom whose main goal was to spend time with family. But it CAN be done and Lisa is fortunate enough to still be working from home.

Lisa’s story is inspiring and amazing, considering her young age, and she’s helping moms everywhere stay in shape through Stroller Strides, a specialty “mom” fitness program that incorporates your children - and their strollers - into a series of exercise routines. You can hear Lisa’s story and learn more about Stroller Strides by clicking the red and yellow player below and listening to her full interview.

Brought to you by our sponsors:

JumpUp.com and Infusionsoft.com

Listen Now:

 How A Mompreneur Created A Franchise From Home [29:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted by Staci Wood | | Permalink

1. I love hearing success stories like this. To have a small idea that you start on the side become a successful business with franchises, is a really great accomplishment. Lisa offered an informative look inside of her personal experience.

   Comment by Amanda — 5/15/2008 @ 10:01 am

2. Lisa’s story is quite impressive and I’m left asking myself, “How did she DO all of this?” To actually make something of this magnitude happen is a huge feat, I’m sure. And it’s only been 7 years! And I’m also impressed by the fact that Lisa is STILL able to remain a work-at-home mom while running a business franchise - amazing. Stroller Strides is a wonderful concept as well and I can see how the phenomena was able to spread so quickly. What an ingenious idea, Lisa. Kudos to YOU!

   Comment by Chris — 5/15/2008 @ 12:02 pm

3. Staci,

   It’s incredible to see someone like Lisa take something they love and turning it into a profitable franchise, truly a success story. What’s more, she has the heart to help other budding mompreneurs along the road to success with insight and advice. It’s admirable to see anyone take a hobby or a passion and turn it into a stay at home job! She also made a good point about finding an internet service catered towards small business owners. For that, I’d like to recommend Microsoft Office Live Small Business. It’s a great tool for any entrepreneur’s arsenal; I suggest you check it out. I’ve been using it for the past few weeks, and I just love the organized e-mail system (it even checks the status of sent messages!) and the easy-to-use website layout designer. Now, I don’t know the first thing about HTML, but I managed to design a fabulous layout for my webpage with OLSB.

   There’s more information at http://smallbusiness.officelive.com

   The best part, in my opinion, is the free personalized “.com” URL you get on top of everything else! Oh, and Microsoft hosts everything on your site for free as well. It’s a real money saver, and a quick and efficient way of starting and running your business online. I just thought I’d let all the mompreneurs out there know about it. Now, I work with Microsoft, so if you or any readers have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them! My personal e-mail address is k-rosenberg@live.com. Feel free to e-mail me anytime! Thanks for the awesome read, I hope to be in touch!

   Best,
   Kimberly

   Comment by Kimberly Rosenberg — 5/15/2008 @ 4:40 pm

4. Lisa Druxman: Inspiring story! I will contact you regarding some questions about franchising. I have a business idea that could fit as a franchise concept.

   All the Best,

   Martin Lindeskog - American in Spirit.
   Gothenburg, Sweden.

   Comment by Martin Lindeskog — 5/20/2008 @ 1:27 am

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