Mary Goulet's Page

What is your name?

Mary Goulet

Are you currently heading a woman-owned business?

Yes

If you are in business, what is the name of your business?

MomsTown

Where did you get your idea for your business or the business you'd like to start?

I host an Internet talk radio show for entrepreneurs and met my business partner who started a site for moms. We met online and combined our businesses. We're now in our 5th year.
Our site is a place where women can connect virtually and meet locally through our town sites.

Where is (will) your business located? (City and State)

Cardiff-by-the Sea, CA

If you already have a website, what is the address for your business?

http://www.MomsTown.com

How long have you been in business? (Or when do you plan to open?)

Starting our 5th year.

How many employees do you have, if any?

1-5

What is your annual revenue?

$100K-$250K

Describe your product or service, or the product you plan to introduce to the market.

We write books for women and host a radio show. Our radio show is The Mary & Heather Show on HayHouseRadio.com. We also have our second book out October 9, 2007, "It's All About You, Live the Life You Crave" (Free Press).
Two very popular programs on our site are The Big Break where we give women a break in business by helping them start and grow their business with a manual, forum, profiles on our site, and shameless plugs on our radio show. And Team Manifest where women call in and post on our forum the dreams they want to manifest.

How did you (or plan to) fund your business startup?

personal savings

What was (is) the biggest hurdle in getting your business off the ground?

We had a rapid fire start since we were contacted by a publisher 2 months after we joined forces. Our main challenge was focus. We had too many things to do and lots of opportunities and we constantly have to refine our focus. We also needed a support staff to help handle the site and zillion emails we get everyday.

What would you advise other women interested in starting a similar business?

Know your vision then back up and outline the steps necessary to carry it out. If you have no grand, crazy vision then you don't have room to grow. For instance, if you say you want one store you'll most likely have one store. If you say you want 10 stores you're apt to have ten stores.

What has been your biggest mistake?

We recorded a whole podcast on the mistakes we've made so picking the number one, hmmm. Okay, probably listening and trusting others over what we knew to be the best thing for our business. We women have pretty good instincts and when we turn on them they come back to haunt us.

What has been your smartest move?

Brainstorming all possibilities and writing them down. Everything goal-wise we brainstormed in the first several months came into play immediately. We have a dozen flip charts that have all our crazy ideas from our spontaneous brainstorming sessions. We had to start calling them "Future File" ideas because we would go off on a tangent and lose focus. Second, anything is possible so take risks.

Are you willing to answer questions from other women business owners about your business?

Yes

What is your email address?

mary@momstown.com