All posts by : Mary Dickson

As a mompreneur navigating the dynamic landscape of business and motherhood, leveraging the right tech tools can make a world of difference. In 2024, staying organized, boosting productivity, and maintaining a tech-savvy approach are essential. Here’s a roundup of must-have tech tools that can elevate your entrepreneurial journey this year:

1. Trello for Seamless Task Management

Trello offers an intuitive platform for managing tasks and projects. Create boards, collaborate with your team, and keep your projects organized with this visual and user-friendly tool.

2. Asana: Your Project Management Companion

Asana is a powerhouse for project management. From setting deadlines to delegating tasks, Asana ensures that you and your team stay on track and achieve your business goals efficiently.

3. QuickBooks for Hassle-free Finance Management

Simplify your financial tasks with QuickBooks. Track expenses, generate invoices, and gain valuable insights into your business finances, allowing you to focus on what you do best.

4. Buffer: Elevate Your Social Media Presence

Buffer is a social media management tool that simplifies scheduling and analyzing your social media posts. Save time, maintain consistency, and engage with your audience effectively.

5. Slack: Streamlined Communication Hub

Enhance team collaboration with Slack. Create channels, share files, and communicate in real-time. Keep your team connected and projects moving forward seamlessly.

6. Mailchimp for Effective Email Marketing

Mailchimp remains a go-to platform for email marketing. Design captivating campaigns, analyze performance, and nurture your customer relationships with this user-friendly tool.

7. Canva: Empower Your Graphic Design Skills

Canva is a game-changer for graphic design. Create professional-looking graphics for your brand, whether it’s for social media, marketing materials, or presentations.

8. Toggl: Master Time Management

Take control of your time with Toggl. Track how you spend your time, identify patterns, and optimize your workflow to maximize productivity.

9. Shopify for E-commerce Excellence

If you’re in the e-commerce sphere, Shopify is a go-to platform. Build and customize your online store, manage inventory, and streamline the selling process.

10. LastPass: Enhance Cybersecurity

Protect your digital identity with LastPass. Safely store and manage your passwords, ensuring robust cybersecurity for your business.

11. Google Drive: Collaborate Effortlessly

Google Drive facilitates seamless collaboration. Store, share, and access your files from anywhere, promoting efficient teamwork.

12. Zoom: Virtual Meetings Made Easy

Zoom has become a household name for virtual meetings. Host webinars, conduct video conferences, and connect with clients and team members effortlessly.

Embrace the power of these tech tools to streamline your business operations, enhance collaboration, and propel your mompreneurial journey to new heights in 2024! 🌟

Stay tech-savvy and successful.

Happy New Year

If you are on the Motherhood and Entrepreneurship journey, then you know how important it is to be organized and have a plan for everything.

After all, when you are responsible for both your business and your family, there is little or no room for missing deadlines and moving on auto-pilot. That’s why using a planner effectively is essential for any Mompreneur.

Benefits of using a planner as a Mompreneur

A planner can help you keep track of your to-do lists, appointments, deadlines, and more. It can also help you stay on top of your finances and manage your time effectively. 

When you have a lot on your plate, a planner can be a lifesaver. Staying organized and achieving your goals is vital to being a successful mompreneur!

Use your planner effectively with these few tips

Here are five tips on how to use a planner to stay on track and use your planner effectively as a mom.

1. Make sure your planner is easily accessible so you can refer to it often.

2. Use different colors to code different types of appointments or tasks.

3. Write down everything you need to do in one place so you don’t forget anything important.

4. Be specific when you write down your goals so you know exactly what you’re working towards.

5. Review your progress regularly and adjust your plan accordingly.

There are many different types of planners out there, so find one that works best for you and your lifestyle. And don’t forget to use it! 

A little bit of planning can go a long way in helping you achieve success as a Mompreneur. Looking for an ideal planner to use? Check out the WOM Journals.

Read next:

• Five things you need to do to take your business serious

The third Biennial Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit (GWES2022) has been opened with the launch of the revolutionary Women Entrepreneurs Rise (WERise) Network to help and have a good time achievements of the Women Entrepreneurs in Ghana.

WERise will additionally unite the efforts of girls within the Ghanaian MSME sector to deal with shared challenges and supply an appropriate setting for constructive peer interactions and knowledge-sharing.

In a speech learn on his behalf at GWES2022 by the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, President Nana Akufo-Addo mentioned selling the financial welfare of girls enhances the integrity and dignity of all humanity.

“In most parts of the world, the understanding has emerged that genuine and determined efforts to make women equal participants in economic and political life is ongoing…and the government of Ghana, of which I am its Chief Servant, is committed to the full realization of this goal through the implementation of deliberate policies that empower women – particularly women entrepreneurs,” the president acknowledged.

Arguing that the empowerment of women-owned companies has ceased to be a tutorial debate, the president mentioned girls entrepreneurs, through the years, have been “the cornerstone of our great nation’s development, and are strategic partners in our quest to deliver socio-economic development to the good people of Ghana”.

Touching on the summit’s theme, ‘Breaking Barriers, Accelerating Women-Owned Businesses’, the president mentioned it displays the trending subjects of gender equality and getting extra girls into management roles, in addition to the strategic roles girls entrepreneurs play to make sure the nation’s financial restoration from debilitating results of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Citing knowledge from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the president mentioned girls companies account for 44.6 % of all registered companies – making Ghana number-one for women-led companies in Africa.

In 2020, the Ghana Enterprises Agency supervised the disbursement of GH¢302,001 to MSMEs below the government-initiated Coronavirus Alleviation Programme and Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS), as a part of the broader measures to fight results of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, the company disbursed a complete of GH¢78million in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme for MSMEs – 65 % was disbursed to women-owned or women-led MSMEs.

Building on successes of the previous

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GEA, Mrs. Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, mentioned the WERise programme is predicted to construct on all successes of the previous and supply a car to sustainably help girls entrepreneurs past the discussions to actions – for the ladies by the ladies.

“As a result, there is increased feminisation of poverty, pervasive gender disparities in wealth and income from work – which includes both paid employment and self-employment, and women entrepreneurship. Major areas of gender inequalities in the economy include women’s predominance in the informal economy. Some 70 percent of women workers are employed or self-employed in informal jobs; which are insecure, unprotected and poorly paid. It is time to act.  It is time we RISE,” she mentioned.

She mentioned the theme of the summit, ‘Breaking the Barrier, Accelerating the Growth of Women-Owned Businesses’, resonates nicely as a result of girls all around the world, together with Ghana, face quite a few challenges; however coming collectively will enable them to debate revolutionary methods, and speed up their development by forging relationships and networks to interrupt these boundaries.

Source: Ghana News Update

Have you started a business and having a hard time generating leads for the business? These online platforms are the perfect start for you to start finding clients online. Guess what? Some of them are virtually free to use.
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Facebook / WhatsApp group

Facebook and WhatsApp groups have similar functions. Identify which groups your dream customers participate in and join some of these groups. Who knows, you might find some ideal customers there. After starting my Journal business, I started searching on Facebook for Journaling groups I could join and learn from. I got the opportunity to share my work in there and through that I made some sales and even got to teach others.

Facebook Influencer Pages

Do you have any Facebook influencers who align with the products or services you sell. Once in a while engage on their posts to get some visibility on business. Especially when they discuss topics related to what you sell or do.

Online Forums

These are online discussion sites where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. Through these forums you are able to learn about the problems people are facing, some of their needs and different trends that can help you position your business well. Contributing valuable content on such Forums creates an opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise. This way you are able to find and relate to people who like your product with them eventually becoming clients of yours.

Leedfeeder

Leadfeeder is an online platform that shows you the companies visiting your website, how they found you and what they’re interested in. This platform is perfect for businesses with websites who use tools Google Analytics to take strategic marketing decisions for their business.

Which of these platforms have you used so far ? Which of them have been effective?
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Please share with us in the comment section.

Motherhood is a wonderful and challenging experience—but so is entrepreneurship. Combine the two, and you’ve got yourself a truly unique (and sometimes exhausting!) endeavor.

There are tons of resources out there to help moms balance their lives as working parents, but what about mompreneurs?

The following five working tools can help you as a mother take the pressure off in 2022 so that you can focus on growing your business.

1. Ecommerce Platforms

The world keeps getting global as a result of technology and this has brought about the introduction of different working tools to aid work operations. You’ve heard of them, and you’re probably using them already, but there’s a reason they’re worth mentioning again: they’re the perfect solution to help you manage your business while keeping your kids at bay. With platforms like Jumia or Plendify, you can set up shop in just a few minutes—and grow it even faster once your store is up and running.

2. Marketing / Advertising Platforms

Tools that help you get your message out there. You can use platforms to get your message out there to your audience, build a community around it and grow it organically. There are many platforms that can help you or you could even create one yourself. Some of the best ones include:

• Facebook Groups
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Youtube (videos)

If you’re not sure what platform is best for you, I suggest trying multiple ones until one works for you!

3. Software and Mobile Apps

Gone are the days when we used only pen and paper to run our businesses! Today’s entrepreneurs need more advanced working tools than ever before if they want to succeed as a mompreneur (or any kind of entrepreneur).

From invoicing software like Oze or all the way down to simpler apps like Trello or Asana—these tools will make managing everything from inventory management to creating project plans easier than ever before.

4. Automation Tools

Tools for automating repetitive tasks so that Mompreneurs have time for family too! Your time is precious—but it doesn’t mean anything if your business isn’t growing fast enough because you haven’t found ways yet how it could work without having someone else do all those boring things over again instead every single day!

That’s why we’ve created this list specifically aimed towards helping Moms figure out exactly where they should start first by looking at some common areas such as customer service automation solutions , data entry process automation solutions , email marketing technology such as MailChimp—and more!

There are many different tools out there that can help you reach your goals and grow your business. No matter how big or small they might seem, each one has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

When choosing which ones to use, always keep in mind what works best for you as an individual. Don’t let anyone else tell you which is the “right” answer!

Just remember, it doesn’t matter if these tools make everything easier; what matters most is that they help put a smile on your face every time you look at them. Check out this article on how to start up your dream business as a mompreneur.

As part of its commitment to support and amplify the voice and agency of women in the business sector, and further build the capacity for women entrepreneurs in the green economy, Ashesi University’s Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) has organized a special session for ‘Mompreneurs’ – female business leaders in its business incubator who are combining motherhood and parenting with business leadership.

The session, which was organized on 28^th April as part of GCIC’s Women Entrepreneurs Transformation Program (WETP), brought together female business owners, a clinical psychologist, and a parenting coach under the theme of Self Balance: Work + Life.

Recognizing that raising children is a full-time job and being a working mother with your own business is essentially equal to having two full-time jobs, the session sought to equip Mompreneurs in the GCIC business incubator with the knowledge, tools, and skills to effectively care for, respond to, and manage their needs of their children.

Speaking at the session, Ruka Sanusi, the Executive Director of GCIC, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to designing and implementing gender-sensitive business advisory and support services to contribute to the success of both male and female-led climate-smart SMEs within the business incubator. 

She said: “At GCIC, we recognize the importance of creating a supportive ecosystem for women in leadership positions to help them overcome the multiplicity of challenges they face in running their businesses as well as their personal lives.

 A session such as this supports our Mompreneurs by providing them with tools and skills to improve the wellbeing and positive development of their children and their families. “

One of the two resource persons, Dr Adzika Agbemenya Vincent, a Medical Psychologist at Neptune Medical Centre, Tema, led the session on the psychology of parenthood and skillful parenting where he shared the importance of knowing your child’s personality to promote his/her natural potential for optimal outcomes.

“As a parent, you must be intentional about raising your child. Set aside time to talk and listen to each other. Turn off phones, computers, and televisions when you and your child are communicating and talk about everyday things as you go through your day.

As a parent, you should be open to talking about all kinds of feelings, including anger, joy, frustration, fear and anxiety with your child”, he advised.

The facilitating Special Education and Parenting expert shared in the struggles of working mothers and revealed practical skills that she employed herself while raising her own three children who now occupy prominent positions in society.

“There is a popular saying that goes this way ‘we expect women to work like they don’t have children and expect them to raise children like they don’t work’.

It can be very daunting to think about society’s expectations of working mothers, but no matter what, it is your responsibility as a mother to prioritize your child.

Don’t outsource your child’s well-being to anyone, take full responsibility for it and you will reap the benefits when they become adults”, she encouraged.

Source : Climate Innovation Centre Ghana

If you’re a determined mother entrepreneur with a start up or a company idea that has the potential to grow into a full-fledged enterprise, you could use these tips to turn what often seems like a  dream into a reality:

1. Clarify your time and financial commitments

To turn your start up dream into reality, it’s critical to first figure out what your priorities are. Begin by asking yourself, “How much time and money am I willing to commit in this project?”
Examine your personal finances and compare them to your projected launch costs. Determine where you can cut expenditures if necessary, and be realistic about how much money you can spend on this project. Make a definite decision on how much revenue the company needs to generate and develop a plan to get there. You can read more at Entrepreneur

2. Identify networking potential all around you to help push your Start up dream

Every mother needs a support group in her entrepreneurship and motherhood journey.   You may not have enough time in your schedule to attend a networking event, but you could schedule and link up with other mothers or professionals through virtual seminars and zoom sessions  from the comfort of your own home. Capitalize on the connections that already exists and also reach out to specialists or other mom entrepreneurs who can help you fill in the gaps in areas of company where you are less experienced (think accounting, IT, etc.).

3. Research to see if there’s a niche for your Startup dream

You may have thought of a great idea but you need to find out if really there is a need for that product or service. Before you take a decision on whether or not to go with an idea, do some research to find out if people will be interested in using that product or service and talk  to people in your network to see if it’s something they would want to buy. This can help you narrow down your ideal customer and target market. If your study generates enough potential interest in your business idea to keep it alive, you might find it’s one worth pursuing.

4. Try out small markets before trying to expand

To turn your start up dream into reality you need to start small by building  a small and manageable foundation . This will allow you to fine-tune and improve your craft, monitor your business strategy, and create brand awareness with clients. Once you’re established  in your local market and among your peers in the industry you can better position yourself to progressively expand into a larger market or go glocal.

5. Do not wait for the “perfect time” to launch your Start up dream

The “right” time to start a business will never come if you expect all of your life’s moving components to organize and align themselves precisely.
Juggling motherhood and business can be chaotic and confusing and you may sometimes want to postpone most of your dreams which is fine if you are not able to pursue it there and then. But once you have the opportunity don’t wait to be perfect.
You should learn from our mistakes, and don’t see yourself as a failure. Perfectionism can stifle your ability to grow, extend, and flourish as a business. Allow yourself to be under qualified, and don’t be scared to take the initial step. After all, your concept could lead to a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Which of these things did you do before you launched your business? Share with us in the comment section.

You may also ; 5 business ideas for today’s mompreneur.