Motherhood is inspiring and equipping thousands of women to set up their own business, according to a new study.
Yet around half of them feel they would never be able to juggle motherhood and a business if it wasn’t for the internet.
Forty percent of ’Mum Magnates’ get the idea to start their own business while pregnant, or within a year of their baby being born.
Statistics
92% attribute their success to the range of qualities acquired through motherhood – including multi-tasking, planning ahead, a can-do attitude and efficiency.
But 51% of those surveyed say that without the internet they wouldn’t be able to act on their entrepreneurial ideas, as they wouldn’t have the freedom and flexibility to work around family commitments.
More than a quarter (27%) log on to work after 5pm, 55% of whom work between 9pm and midnight.
Nearly a third (30%) of businesses formed by mums are entirely internet-based.
Yell.com, the online version of Yellow Pages that commissioned the study to mark its sponsorship of the Inspirational Business Mum of the Year category at the 2008 Prowess Awards, worked with renowned psychologist Dr Geoffrey Beattie to analyse the results.
40% of ’Mum Magnates’ get the idea to start their own business while pregnant, or within a year of their baby being born
Beattie thinks some of the profound psychological effects rendered by pregnancy are conducive to entrepreneurial thinking.
“Pregnancy has a big effect on the body and the brain,” he says. “It can elevate your mood for significant periods of time.
“When people are in an elevated mood state, they are prepared to consider riskier types of initiatives such as launching a business.
“This can lead to the translation of an initial break-through idea into action.”
Once mums have made the decision to set up their own business, they perform a remarkable 18 different job roles – from cook right through to accountant – during any average week.
In monetary terms, respondents estimate that they would have to pay an annual salary just shy of £50k for someone else to undertake these tasks.
Yell.com is now calling for budding mum magnates to nominate themselves for an award and follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner Sarah Steele and her national chain of children’s nurseries.
