I had a wonderful conversation with a mom-preneur recently whose business had just hit its stride. Her business has finally started generating enough revenue to replace her full time income. Can you just imagine her excitement! We hear so much about how difficult it is to start a small business and how a great number of them fail that it is refreshing to hear about a one-woman business meeting with success. There are a few reasons why this woman likely did so well and a lot of it had to do with that amazing ability we have as women to "juggle priorities" - I think we're hot wired for that particular human trait.

From the moment we enter school, girls seem to be managing a few things on the go - from keeping track of all our important friendships, to managing our school work (apparently studies show girls do better in elementary grades then boys) to dealing with tempermental bodies that demand our attention (and others)--yes I'd say we've been juggling a lot from a tender age.

So when we hit adulthood and decide to build a family with someone, many of us take those exceptional juggling skills and translate them into half-way decent mothering skills that we juggle with the other priorities in our lives. It is only natural that after years of unsuccessfuly trying to have it all that so many of us decided to chuck the job and try a business on our own, on our own terms and in many cases at home.

I think that experience we have as jugglers makes many women uniquely adept at making a work at home business succeed. The woman I spoke to recently knew she had to replace her career income before launching her business full time because her family's budget depended on it.

So she developed a strategy for boosting her income and it was a strategy focused on expanding her promotional efforts from being solely web based to a more tangible marketplace - her local community. She joined the chamber of commerce, she participated in local trade shows and she continued to join a number of online communities.

So many local promotional opportunities are free or require a nominal fee for your participation. Really all you need is your business cards and promotional materials. For online promotional opportunities it goes without saying that you need to have your website up and presentable. Whether you're involved in local promotions or online activities you need to communicate the unique selling points and benefits of your service or product.

My friend did an exceptional job promoting her business locally. Her announcement that she was giving notice was such an exciting moment not just for her but for others in her networking group. Her decision to leave her job meant that her marketing and promotional work had paid off--she was finally earning enough to replace her full time job.

Now when I speak to her I hear the voice of someone who is in the zone - that place where you know your business is paying your bills. It won't be all blue skies ahead as she'll face the challenges that most businesses face - her work is cut out for her - but at least she'll be carving out a future based on her terms. She's got the means to earn a living and she's finally got the flexibility in her day to allow her to care for her children in the way she'd always envisioned.

How are your work at home plans coming along? There are too many women making the transition successfully for you not to seriously make your move, if that is your goal. Do your market research, assess your skills and interests and determine if this is the year you work from home. If you're already working from home - congratulations! I have some upcoming articles that you'll enjoy - they focus on growing and strengthenign your home based business.

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