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Starting and growing a business is no easy task, especially for parents who must juggle it with their children’s school activities, household responsibilities and personal interests.💪

As a dadpreneur with two kids and a heritage of business-oriented generations, I encounter these challenges myself.🙌

A recent study from the Family Enterprise USA indicates that 70% of businesses in the U.S. are family-owned, employing 59% of the private sector workforce and contributing to 64% of the overall GDP of the country.

These findings reveal the significant impact of family businesses on the U.S. economy, highlighting the importance of supporting and empowering parent entrepreneurs.

As I went back to my entrepreneurial roots, I decided to interview successful Parentpreneurs to improve my own chances to succeed. Listening to their success stories has taught me that starting a family doesn’t hinder anyone from pursuing their personal ambitions or merging business ownership with active parenting.💯

Here are five insights I gathered from meeting inspiring parent entrepreneurs who achieved success in both their professional and family lives. I also discussed these in detail in my e-book.👀

1. Starting point: Finding their “why”✨

While some may not have initially planned on running their own business, most of the parent entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed were driven by a desire to escape the 9-to-5 grind, prioritize their health and nurture family relationships while still contributing financially to their households.🙌

It’s not uncommon for successful corporate professionals to seek alternatives due to burnout, affecting their physical, mental and emotional health. According to Mental Health America, 73% of employees reported that workplace stress affected their relationships with family, friends or colleagues. 

The stress of commuting, long hours, heavy workload, job insecurity and the rigid structure of corporate life push them to regain control of their lives and start their own ventures.

Actively seeking and understanding their “why” gives them a clear purpose to make more intentional decisions and keeps them focused on reaching their goals. This deep motivation is what also helps them stay on track and power through the challenges they encounter in running their business.📣

2. Common regret: Not taking action sooner🚨

One common regret among mom and dad entrepreneurs is not taking action earlier. Even with an “ultimate why” as a great starting point, they often delay turning that motivation into tangible actions because of fear of failure, uncertainty about their skills, lack of resources or simply being stuck in planning mode.⛔

Many parentpreneurs I interviewed wish they hadn't waited for the perfect moment to take the leap. Looking back, they realized that they dictate the right moment by taking that first step.

Hence, their best advice for newbies is to just dive in and learn through experience. Go ahead and set up a business social media account, post your first piece of content and go live.✅

3. No. 1 struggle: Having the right mindset💯

One of the biggest challenges in starting a business is maintaining a positive mindset. Every single parent entrepreneur I’ve interviewed has experienced imposter syndrome, doubted themselves and felt exhausted at times.

What's surprising is that even those who have been in business for several years still experience self-doubt and down days. They accept that developing the right entrepreneurial mindset is a continuous journey and adopt various strategies to sustain it.💡

Most of them cope with these blockers by listening to growth mindset podcasts, keeping a gratitude journal, not working on weekends, getting a workout in or mentoring others. They make time for unwinding, self-care, spending time with family away from work and  joining a supportive community.🤝

4. Top resources: Online tools and platforms🛠️

All of the parentpreneurs I’ve interviewed use and maximize online resources to run their businesses. They recognize that with today’s technology, the most valuable resources and opportunities are found in the digital world.💻

Data from Markinblog shows the U.S. as the leading country in eCommerce with over 13.7 million online shops as of July 2024. It’s no wonder that the mom- and dadpreneurs I know have established an online presence.

It is where they do market research, advertise their products and services, engage with their audience, build a network, monitor their competitors and develop business strategies.

Using online tools and platforms also allow them to master new skills, do business transactions from anywhere and significantly improve their efficiency and productivity.🎯

Indeed, leveraging online resources make it easier for parentpreneurs to grow their businesses and manage family responsibilities at the same time.💯

5. Best investment: Continuing education and microlearning👨🏻‍💻

Parent entrepreneurs are strong advocates of lifelong learning. They believe that continuous upskilling and staying updated with industry trends, new business strategies and emerging technology are crucial for sustaining business growth.🚀

Microlearning has become a game changer for them, providing convenient access to effective and efficient learning resources that help them acquire specific skills and knowledge directly applicable to their business.💎

6. Key to success: Building a community and networking🌐

Parentpreneurs from various backgrounds emphasize the benefits of digital and in-person communities in driving the success of their businesses.🔑

Face-to-face interaction fosters personal relationships, collaborative opportunities and real-time feedback for support and partnerships. Meanwhile, a virtual setting allows them to grow rapidly and gain new perspectives as they connect to a vast network of audience, mentors, experts and peers globally.📲

Their tip is to not focus solely on increasing follower count on social media and instead, prioritize building trust and genuine connections with the audience by making them part of their personal journey.🙌

A survey by Quickbooks shows 9 out of 10 business owners have improved their customer service through digital communities and 93% of entrepreneurs share business advice and insights among peers.

Hence, joining these communities can greatly help start-ups and provide support for parentpreneurs when they feel discouraged, isolated or lonely in their entrepreneurial journey.

Drawing on these insights, I am consistently improving Fud, a social hustling community aimed to connect business-minded individuals globally and provide bite-sized resources to support their journey in starting, growing and succeeding in their ventures.🔥

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