says Tamara Monosoff, inventor of the TP Saver—a
device to keep children from unraveling toilet paper
rolls—author of The Mom Inventors Handbook and
founder of Mom Inventors ( www.mominventors.
com). “This is our opportunity to keep the cycle of
success moving forward.”
More information
When women such as Parlapiano, Monosoff
and Tamsevicius started out, they had no idea how
to write a business plan, find funding, locate manufacturers or market their products. And there wasn’t
a lot of information available to help them deal with
the unique challenges of running a business and a
household simultaneously.
“I researched the start-up books that were out
there and saw that a lot of critical information was
missing,” says Tamsevicius. “Things like how to create a Web site for your business, how to market it,
get first clients and take your business to the next
level were missing.”
In the 11 years since Parlapiano and Cobe
released their first book, Mompreneurs®: A Mother’s
Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Work-at-Home Success
(Perigee, 1996), the number of Web sites for women
entrepreneurs has grown like wildfire. Do a Google
search for “mompreneur” and you’ll get about 67,000
choices. Sites such as Ladies Who Launch, StartUp
Princess.com ( www.startupprincess.com) and the
National Association of Women Business Owners
( www.nawbo.org) are full-blown communities, providing support and creating relationships while
dispensing the advice—business and work/life balance—that was so lacking a decade ago.
“I have no background in product development
or marketing,” says Julie Steele, inventor of the No
Squeeze Juice Box Holder ( www.nosqueeze.com).
“Tamara [Monosoff] at Mom Inventors was so gen-
erous with information, pointing me in the directions I needed to get started. She became a mentor.”
“As a community of moms helping moms,
we seek to nurture what mothers do best: solve
problems,” says Monosoff. “There are 82 million of
us in the United States. We represent the largest
source of untapped entrepreneurial intelligence in
this country.”
More support
A woman with a parenting inspired
business concept nowadays
doesn’t have to take on start-up risks alone.
Women who believe they
have a marketable idea—baby
related or not—have a choice
to make. They can manufacture and market it on their
own, or they can go the
licensing route, selling the
idea to another company that
will make and market it.
Mom-run businesses such as Parents of Invention, WebMomz and Mom Inventors will take an
idea, handle all the details of bringing a new product to market and give the inventors a percentage of
the royalties.
“Our company produces products made by and
for moms: products that are sold through retailers
nationwide,” says Monosoff. “Each product carries
the Mom Invented brand—a brand symbolizing the
dynamic creativity of moms everywhere and our
potential connection to each other.”
“Starting a business or inventing a product
isn’t necessarily any easier,” says Parlapiano. “It’s
just that there are so many more support systems
and resources.”
R-e-s-p-e-c-t
It used to be that running a business from home
was somehow akin to admitting failure, an inability
to compete in the “real” world. Now, with about half
a million moms running their own businesses, entrepreneurial mothers are finally being taken seriously
by the traditional work world.
“In the past you had a lot more to prove,” says
Parlapiano. “Now, women are getting more respect.
You’re taken seriously now if you have a work-from-home business.”
“Although people are usually surprised when
they find out the size of my at-home business, there’s
never a question of whether I’m a ‘real’ businesswoman,” says Denise Marshall, inventor of the Mac &
Cool ( www.macandcool.com), a handy dish that cools
kids’ meals.
“The image of work-at-home women
has changed so much,” notes Westerdahl. “I
have met some of the brightest, most determined women who work from home and are
true business successes.”
Says Laurie Zerga, who runs her culinary
school in California, “Far more people are
impressed that I took the risks.”
Staying small to stay at home
While work-at-home success has grown, not
all moms are looking to grow. Many women have
made the choice to keep their business smaller and
more manageable, to keep their eye on their original
goal—staying in touch with their children.
“The way [my business has] been growing so far
has been great,” says Westerdahl. “Part of me wants
it to become worldwide. But if it came to that, I
would hire more people. My priority is to be with
my kids.”
“My priorities have been to make sure I have
time for my children,” says Zerga. “I have managed
to keep it purposely at a manageable level, so I have
time with my daughters and time to help at school.
I’ve held the reins in check.”
Tamara Monosoff
could be called the Godmother
of Invention. Author of The
Mom Inventors Handbook and
Secrets of Millionaire Moms,
Monosoff has built on the
knowledge she obtained
developing her first mom-inspired invention, the TP Saver.
“There are a lot of women
with great ideas who want to
see products on shelves, but
don’t want to go into business,”
says Monosoff. “My business will
take the product and license it,
and we’ll put the Mom Invented
brand on the package and the
mom’s picture on the back.”
Why the mom’s picture?
“I read a history book about
how women have always been
inventive, but not credited,” she
says. “We hope that the picture
will inspire other women to
think, ‘That could be me.’”
BARRY DAVID MARCUS
