The Business Baby Shower: An Interview w/ Traci Bisson

The Business Baby Shower concept was recently developed by Lucinda Cross of Corporate Mom DropOuts and Traci Bisson of The Mom Entrepreneur both of whom have spent many years supporting and educating women entrepreneurs about how to start and grow a business.

This is a great way to grow your business, gain media exposure, etc. I just interviewed Traci Bisson and you can learn all about what the Business Baby Shower is, the prizes, what you need to do to enter, and everthing else you need to know right here, so read on…

Amy: Traci, please tell us a little about the Business Baby Shower and why it was developed.

Traci: The Business Baby Shower is a contest to celebrate entrepreneurial moms and all they do to birth and grow a successful company while balancing family life. Entrants are asked questions that require them to have a clear understanding of their business and the challenges they face. This is a great exercise to go through when starting or growing a business.

This Contest, which runs from January 1 – April 30, 2010, will create awareness of mom entrepreneur companies and their products and services. Participants will complete an Application process as well as submit a two minute video of their business for consideration by our esteemed panel of judges, which includes Tamara Monosoff of Mom Invented, Stacey Kannenberg of Cedar Valley Publishing and Andrew Morrison of Small Business Camp.

Three winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd place) will be chosen in May. Winners will receive thousands of dollars worth of media exposure for their business from our Media Sponsors as well as gifts, services and bonuses from our Contest Sponsors. 

In addition, the first 200 applicants will receive two special gifts. The first is a free download of the popular book PR in Your Pajamas by Elena Verlee (value of $29), and the second is one-month of free accress to Care4Hire.com’s database of care providers (value $34.99).

Amy: What is the application process?

Traci: You will be asked questions that require you to have a clear understanding of your business and the challenges you face. This is a great exercise to go through when starting or growing a business.

Your submission will be judged on the following criteria: (i) degree of business solution; (ii) creativity of solution; and (iii) practicality/broad applicability of solution. See Judging Criteria for more information.

Before entering the Contest, you must be a member of The Mom Entrepreneur Online Support Group. Membership is free. If you are not currently a member, please click here…> to apply. In addition, please make sure that you have signed up for Corporate Mom Dropouts’ Newsletter and Mom Business Tool Kit, which is also free. Both of these resources are invaluable to mom entrepreneurs.

You must upload your two minute or less video introducing us to your business. Have fun and be creative. We want to get to know you better, learn more about your business and why winning the Business Baby Shower Contest will help you start or grow a business.

Finally, submit your $25, non-refundable, application processing fee and hit the submit button!
 
Amy: How many applicants do you expect to have?

Traci: Between 200 – 500
 
Amy: What will the winners receive?

Traci: Winners will receive thousands of dollars worth of media exposure for their business from our Media Sponsors as well as gifts, services and bonuses from our Contest Sponsors. Prizes include business coaching, advertising packages, bookkeeping services, business books, formation of an LLC and operating agreement, legal services, PR consulting, social networking package, IT consultation, and much, much more. A full list of prizes can be seen here http://businessbabyshower.com/prizes/.

 
Amy: I know you’re very up-to-speed w/ lots of the latest interesting statistics on women in business. Can you share some of these with us?

Traci: Women entrepreneurs are opening new businesses in the United States and Canada at an amazing rate. They envision an opportunity to develop a new product or service, and pursue that vision in search of independence and financial reward.

According to a recent study conducted by the Center for Women’s Business Research:

·         There are 10.1 million firms owned by women in the U.S., employing 13 million people and generating $1.9 trillion in revenues.

·         Women own 20% of all firms with revenues exceeding $1 million.

In today’s current economy, mom entrepreneurs face different challenges starting and growing businesses as compared to several years ago. 

Much like a soon-to-be mom who is giving birth to her first, second or fifth child…the Business Baby Shower was developed to support mom entrepreneurs both financially and mentally to help prepare them for professional and personal transitions as they start a business or take an existing one to the next level.

Amy: What tips can you offer for balancing motherhood and running a company?

 Traci: Here is how I make it work:

·         I moved my office back home and took my son out of daycare.

·         I no longer travel.

·         I am very particular about the clients I work with – I take the time to learn more about them as a person – will my “family first” motto fit with their beliefs?

·         I changed my work week to Monday – Thursday and spend Fridays with my youngest son who is not yet in school.

·         I changed the message on my voice mail to say that I will be returning calls between 10:00am – 2:30pm, Mon – Thurs so clients clearly know when I will be in touch with them and when I am out.

·         I told the occasional client who called me at home that it was not OK to do so anymore.

·         I thank clients when I have to switch their phone conference or meeting because my children have a sporting event or field trip.

·         I send weekly progress reports to clients about projects so they are clear about what has been accomplished on their account and if there are any unresolved issues.

·         I purchased a Blackberry so I can monitor client emergencies via email when I am away from my home office.

·         I only schedule evening phone conferences and Twitter parties after the kids are in bed.

·         If I say I am going to spend the day with my kids, I stick to my promise.

·         I clearly explain to my kids what my work and my play hours are.

 ~end of interview~

I hope this has been helpful… this is certainly a great resource and many thanks to Traci and Lucinda for creating it!