“Momtrepreneurs” Find a Fit with Direct Selling
I read an interesting article from the Ft. Myers News-Press recently on the exploding “Momtrepreneurs” movement. The article describes this as when “women exit the corporate world or take creative steps to add extra cash to the family budget.”
As you can imagine, one of the ways the women in the story are earning extra money is through direct selling – whether it’s via a DSA member company, or by selling a product they’ve developed themselves.
One of them, Carrie Wilson, became an independent seller for a DSA company. She told the News-Press:
“I thought it would help me get out of the house and make a little extra money. It’s worked out great. In addition to meeting lots of new people and getting better in the kitchen, I’ve been able to pay off a couple of credit cards.”
This is such a great story because it underscores the fact that most people are not involved in direct selling to make a lot of money. It’s disheartening when people claim direct selling is not a viable way to buy and sell products and services because everyone isn’t making a full-time income. There are millions of people out there earning a couple hundred dollars a month through direct selling – and that meets or exceeds their goals!
The problem comes in when someone doesn’t enter direct selling with reasonable expectations – and that could be because they were told by someone else it would be easy money, or because they themselves underestimated the time and effort it will take to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, those are the stories that taint what is otherwise a great chance to do something fun and interesting.
Anyone who says something’s wrong with direct selling because everyone isn’t making millions absolutely doesn’t understand what constitutes success for the average direct seller. True – you do find a relative few super earners – but there’s a reason for that which doesn’t involve flaws in the business model.
Many also fail to take into account the fact that money is not the only reason people try direct selling. The women profiled in the News-Press story discuss how direct selling has enabled them to earn some extra income, but also outline a number of additional aspects they find attractive about direct selling and other home-based businesses.
The writer summed up Momtrepreneurship this way:
“Although we set out to discover how Southwest Florida moms are making money by embracing entrepreneurism, we learned that, in many cases, money isn’t the driving factor.
“The moms we spoke with pursue their businesses for a variety of reasons, including getting out of the house, meeting other women, socializing with friends and pursuing a passion. The money is certainly nice and even necessary to an extent, but these modern moms are filling more voids than one with their businesses.”
Tags: momtrepreneur, SAHM, supplemental income
June 4th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Thanks for the great write up. I entered direct sales to have more control over my time, have a little fun money, and contribute to a couple bills. Everything beyond that is just icing on the cake.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:35 am
This is a great article. Many of the “momtrepreneurs” on my team have previous or present business careers and they enjoy representing a prestige skincare company for all the reasons you stated in your article. You can read more about our experiences at victoriaskincare.blogspot.com.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Nice Article Amy. I got into direct sales to get out of the rat race and enjoy time with my family. My kids love the fact that I never miss any of their events. Thats the most important thing to me.
December 29th, 2009 at 1:50 am
This is a great article. This is such a great story because it underscores the fact that most people are not involved in direct selling to make a lot of money.