Finding Joy in Mom Entrepreneurship

Guest post:: Angie Noll is the founding owner of Reconciled Solutions, which helps high-achieving small businesses with cloud bookkeeping and payroll through QuickBooks Online, profitability improvement, process improvement, cash planning, and budgeting support. She’s also a proud wife and mom and the keeper of the calendar. Here, she writes about finding joy in mom entrepreneurship. 

Looking back and finding joy in mom entrepreneurship

As I take stock of my past year as a mom entrepreneur, I look back at the lessons I have learned and what has brought me joy. Being a mom and business owner is a balancing of great proportions!

I have met some astounding mommas out there who have brilliant ideas for how to improve the world around them. I see their struggles, wondering if they have what it takes to be a mom entrepreneur. They question their own endurance, stamina, and determination. Starting your own business is a bold move. I want to give hope to potential future business owners out there: Some of the joys of mom entrepreneurship are such that you will never regret the efforts (and loss of sleep.)

Small but powerful things have brought me joy.

In my 11 years in business, I have learned to enjoy what is given both in business and motherhood. I proudly take ownership of often small-but-powerful things – some as a mother, some as an entrepreneur. I’ve ranked them in order of what has brought me the greatest joy:

10. We changed the name of the company last year from Norita Co. to Reconciled Solutions. In the process, I learned that birthing children is easier than changing the name of your business! Still, I do love our new name and brand.

9. My kids pick out their own clothes, make their own breakfast, put the dishes away when they are done, pack their own lunches, and find their own way to school (on-time) at least 99% of the time!

8. I have built some mighty fine repeatable processes in the past year that are helping me scale my business! I even set up a process for formatting the email signature line within my company. Exciting work it is not, but it is powerful.

7. My kids are polite and kind, and they must have learned it from somewhere (we have had some good nannies who demanded politeness). Although I like to think my hubby and I had something to do with it too.

6. I became a Certified Profit First Professional last year and it has helped me feel more confident in my own business decisions.

5. I have a script for making cold calls! (Don’t ask me how many cold calls I have made lately, though.)

4. I have a staff and they depend upon this business for their financial security. I am so proud that I am able to provide competitive paying jobs to talented people.

My small business contributes to our economy. How cool is that?

3. My teenage daughter still talks to me about important stuff. I think she kind of likes me too. She said I was the “chill” mom in her group of friends and their moms.

2. We really are helping people find financial stability in their lives and they sleep better at night because of it. The work we do in helping them understand their finances and create profitability is powerful and important.

But my number one reason?

1. I am a living, breathing example to my kids that we can go after what we want in life.I can walk the talk. I am building a successful business that truly helps our clients while supporting and raising my family.

The lessons are applicable everywhere.

Turns out that so many of the valuable lessons that I try to teach my children are lessons that apply to business as well. One that has been especially poignant for me as of recently has been Resilience. They actually have seminars about it in school now, and you’ll find it discussed everywhere from TED Talks to Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Option B. 

Resilience and fortitude have made lasting impressions on my business and personal lives. We tell our kids that life is a marathon, not a sprint. I tell myself the same thing in business as I try to nurture and grow, to fall down and get up, to strive and fail and do it again, and again, and again. If as a business owner, I can beef up on resilience and fortitude, then I know I have an audience of future leaders in my home who are watching me lead by example.

From one Founding Mom to another, if you are considering becoming a business owner too, maybe this list will help you make your decision. Perhaps it will inspire you to be as crazy as me and to create something wonderful. As I continue into 2018 headstrong and (hopefully) smarter than last year, I will focus on finding joy in mom entrepreneurship.