Moms of children with special needs already juggle more roles than they ever imagined. Parent. Caregiver. Nurse. Therapist. Teacher. Advocate. Many are adding a new title to their calling card: mompreneur. It means “mom entrepreneur,” and it’s a phrase that Pat Cobe and I coined, popularized and trademarked over a decade ago, after writing our first book, Mompreneurs®: A Mother’s Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Work-at-Home Success. As we interviewed hundreds of work-from-home moms for their strategies, we made an interesting discovery. We found that many mom entrepreneurs are parents of children with special needs.

With all they already have on their plates, why would special needs moms choose to start businesses too? For starters, it provides an opportunity to generate household income, without having to leave home. It helps moms feel like they can have control over something, when the rest of their lives are filled with unpredictability. It allows them to carve out a career that can be managed around the doctor’s appointments and therapy visits. And, for many, it’s a chance to create a service or product that solves a problem they’ve encountered parenting a child with special needs.

AbilityPath.org has created a series of articles and tools on what it takes to be a mompreneur. Each mompreneur profile includes the following to help guide new entrepreneurs:

Business Profile – Brief description and link to the business and its founder.
Aha Moment – The moment the mom entrepreneur realized she needed to create a business.
Homework Time – Researching and developing the product or service.
Launch Pad – Steps taken to create the business.
Growth Chart – Growing the business once it has been launched.
Balancing Act – Balancing the demands of home and work.
Greatest Rewards – Reflective thoughts from the mompreneur on if it was all worth it.

Let us introduce you to some awesome mom entrepreneurs who are running their own companies, and changing the world for the special needs community. 

Susan Kleiman – Adaptive Apparel for Special Kids
Pierrette d’Entremont  - Chewable Jewelry for Anxious Kids
Rae Hoffman-Dolan – Mom Turned Website Publisher

More Mompreneur Strategies and Tips