MAKING THE LEAP:
WHAT ASPIRING MOMPRENEURS CANLEARN FROM THOSE IN THE TRENCHES

Women-owned businesses continue to drive economic growth, spark innovation, andkindle the aspirations of future entrepreneurs. Women own about 40 percent of small
businesses in the U.S. and generate about $1.8 trillion per year in revenue1. One inthree of those women-owned businesses is headed by a mom2, and yet there’s little
data about this thriving segment.
PicMonkey commissioned an independent online survey in July, 2019 to gain insightspecifically into expectations versus reality. What are the issues preconceived bymoms on the brink of starting, and do they match the issues reported by those whohave already begun?

1,000+ SURVEY RESPONDENTS:

The survey sought to understand:• Why mompreneurs want to start/run their own business• The hurdles mompreneurs face, when starting or running their own business• The key benefits for mompreneurs in having their own business12

about.americanexpress.com/files/doc_library/file/2018-state-of-women-owned-businesses-report.pdf
www.workingmother.com/content/small-business-week-remember-mompreneurs

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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
1. Necessity is the mother of mom-vention
Among respondents who’ve started their own businesses, the majority
reported their motivation for making the leap was working around family
life and commitments. Whereas those who are thinking about starting abusiness rated “a lifelong dream” as their main reason. Reality is more of anudge factor than dreams.
2. The work/life struggle is real
Aspiring mompreneurs are onto something when they cite family mattersas an expected challenge: doers testify it’s valid. Three of the five “challenges of starting a new business” choices for which dreamers’ selections
most closely match doers’ are related to balancing work and life.
3. Marketing challenges matter to doers
For doers, the chief concerns in running their business are pragmatic:
How am I going to get new customers? How do I best monetize myproduct or service? How should I market it? Dreamers see the samechallenges ahead of them, but they don’t call out marketing as much asother challenges which may absorb less of their energies when they takethe leap.
4. What holds moms back is also what fulfills them
Both dreamers and doers reported that taking the financial risk of startinga business is the primary cause of delay—the thing that keeps/kept themfrom getting started. And yet, in choosing the chief reward for taking theleap, both indicated financial freedom as the key benefit for doing so.

THE DATA IN DEPTH
1. Necessity is the mother of mom-vention
The greatest number of respondents in the doer population of mompreneurs (41%)
reported the reason for starting their own business was working around family lifeand commitments, whereas the greatest number of dreamers (27%) cited fulfilling alifelong dream.

WHY DID YOU / WOULD
YOU START A BUSINESS?

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2. The work/life struggle is real
Aspiring mompreneurs are onto something when they state family matters as an
expected challenge: doers testify it’s valid. The five “challenges of starting a newbusiness” answers for which dreamers most closely match doers are:

3. Marketing challenges matter to doers
Having made the leap to start a new business, the doer mompreneurs’ priorities
center on pragmatic issues. Doers’ top challenges and obstacles are:Dreamers foresee monetizing and acquiring customers as challenges they’ll face, butmore of them put financial investment and knowing where to start as a challenge thanmarketing. Numbers in the top categories for dreamers are:

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4. What holds moms back is also what fulfills them
In response to the question, Why have you waited/Why did you wait?, responses
were consistent between dreamers and doers, with financial concerns being thebiggest reason.

WHY HAVE
YOU WAITED?

This finding resonates with anecdotal discussions with working mothers. Withfinancially dependent children still at home, mothers describe a significant
psychological barrier to overcome, when moving from working for a known andreliable paycheck, to generating their own revenue in a new business. Many people
feel the need to save up a significant sum of money as ‘backstop’ or cushion forstarting and running their own business. Often, that savings effort takes time.
WHAT IS THE PRIMARY BENEFIT OF BEING A MOMPRENEUR?

Finally, with regard to the perceived/actual benefits of being a mompreneur, both
dreamers and doers were similar in their outlook. While financial concerns may prove
to be the biggest barrier to starting a business, financial freedom is perceived as themost important benefit.

PICMONKEY, LLC · 1505 5TH AVE, SEATTLE, WA 98101 · WWW.PICMONKEY.COM

MORE NOTEWORTHY INSIGHTS
Facebook and websites reign supreme:
When it comes to business success, researchers probed survey participants on topics
related to marketing channels and the importance of networking. Not surprisingly,
participants are Extremely Likely/Likely to value online marketing channels, with
Facebook and websites the most likely go-to for both dreamers and doers.
HOW LIKELY ARE YOU TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS USING THESE CHANNELS?

Networking events are important:
It was clear from the Collaboration1 survey conducted earlier this year, that small
business owners value the advice and guidance they receive from their network ofadvisors. When researchers asked mompreneurs about the importance of attending
events with their peers for networking and advice, their responses echoed thosein the collaboration survey: 67% agreed that networking events are Important orExtremely Important.

HOW IMPORTANT ISATTENDING EVENTS, TO
NETWORK AND SHARE
BUSINESS IDEAS WITH
OTHER MOMPRENEURS?

1

www.picmonkey.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Entrepreneurs-Collaboration-Network-Survey-1.pdf

PICMONKEY, LLC · 1505 5TH AVE, SEATTLE, WA 98101 · WWW.PICMONKEY.COM

DEMOGRAPHICS OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS
The survey was conducted online by Sapio, a leading market research firm, in July
2019. Responses were collected from 1,015 “mompreneurs,” defined as women withat least one dependent child living at home who have started or are considering
starting their own business. 515 identified as “thinking about starting a business” and500 identified as having started
a business.
SAMPLE OF 1015 MOMS:

500

have started
a business+515

SURVEY RESPONDENTS BY REGION:SURVEY RESPONDENTS’ AGES:PICMONKEY, LLC · 1505 5TH AVE, SEATTLE, WA 98101 · WWW.PICMONKEY.COM

thinking aboutstarting a business

SURVEY QUESTIONS
How many children under the age of 18 do you have living at home at least 50% of thetime? What is the age of your youngest child?
How interested are you in starting your own business, including doing independent
contract work?
When you think/thought about starting a new business, how challenging are/were
each of the following aspects?
How important are/were each of the following aspects of starting/when you started anew business?
What would you say were/are your top three obstacles to starting your own business?
Which answer best represents why you started your own business / why you’d want tostart your own business?
If you waited / have been waiting to start your own business, choose which answer best
represents you, and why:
• Financial freedom• Having my own business forces me to carve out time for myself to work on
my own goals and ambitions• Learning valuable skills that I can pass along to my children• The connections I can make with other mom-preneurs• Other
How likely are you to promote your business via the following channels?
• Instagram• Facebook• Twitter• Personal website• Email promotions• Print/Digital advertising
How old are you?
What is your employment status?
Which of the following regions do you live in?

PICMONKEY, LLC · 1505 5TH AVE, SEATTLE, WA 98101 · WWW.PICMONKEY.COM

CONCLUSION
This survey of dreamer and doer mompreneurs provides actionable insights into thechallenges, benefits and opinions of this growing group of small business owners. Itaffords a deeper understanding of why mompreneurs wish to start and run their own
business, what hurdles they face, and what are the most important perceived benefitsof mompreneurship. These survey findings are useful to mompreneurs (dreamers anddoers), their business partners, and their personal/professional networks.

About PicMonkey
PicMonkey helps people and businesses create stunning visuals for social media,
digital marketing, advertising, and beyond. PicMonkey’s continually refreshed libraryof effects, graphics, templates, and fonts, plus a resource center with tips and tutorials,
makes content creation easy and inspiring. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington,privately held PicMonkey is backed by Spectrum Equity.

About Sapio
Sapio Research is a global, full-service market research consultancy. In addition toonline surveys, provides high quality insights which deliver against key businessobjectives and inform messaging for B2C and B2B businesses.

PICMONKEY, LLC · 1505 5TH AVE, SEATTLE, WA 98101 · WWW.PICMONKEY.COM