Mom Entrepreneur: Janene Jaroscak
Business: www.StopDropandRelax.com
Website: StopDropandRelax.com
StopDropandRelax offers quality products for the entire family, which are perfect for pampering time at home or away.
What inspired you to start your business?
Owning a successful customer service and order fulfillment company, and being the mother to one very busy child, didn’t leave me with much time to kick back and relax. My plans to stop everything and drop into some ‘me’ time at the end of a long day usually fell short. When my family inquired on what I wanted for my birthday, Christmas, etc., I always tried to think of products that I could use for “pampering time” to help me relax and rejuvenate after a long day. That’s when I thought it would be helpful to have a website that offered that type of product for the entire family. That is how www.StopDropandRelax.com was born.
How long have you been in business?
www.StopDropandRelax.com is a new division of our parent company Trending Solutions, LLC. Trending Solutions has been in business for three years.
What did you do in your past work life?
For the past 26 years, my career has focused on directing and developing customer service departments for both small and Fortune 500 Companies. I had leadership positions in call centers for multi-million dollar companies, managing and formulating new department models to handle call center growth and effective management within each business.
Describe your ideal workday.
An ideal workday is one that is NOT typical. For me, that is the best part of working for myself. I can work on a different project everyday if I decide to.
What have been some of your major challenges?
The hardest part of owning your own business is the fact that you have to wear many hats. Working with a tight budget meant that I could not outsource many of the things that had to be done to get the company up and running. Therefore, my biggest challenge was getting up to speed on some of the areas where I was definitely lacking – such as the technical side of the business. Saying I am technically challenged would be a HUGE understatement.
On those impossible days, what motivates you to keep going?
When I get frustrated with a slow period in my business, I find it helpful to look at a chart I have created. It keeps track of the volume and income all the way back to the inception of my business. It helps to remind me that there are peaks and valleys in the business. I can refer to the chart and see that when I have had slow times there were always peaks to follow. I am not a patient person and this has helped me to keep my business growth in perspective.
Do you have a motivational quote?
It isn’t necessarily a motivational quote, but I do look at it frequently to help push me to move forward with ideas that I scribble on paper.
“99% of the time, in my experience, the hard part about creativity isn’t coming up with something no one has ever thought of before. The hard part is actually executing the thing you’ve thought of.
The devil doesn’t need an advocate. The brave need supporters, not critics.” Seth Godin
What is your balancing secret in managing a business and family?
The key to finding a balance between my business and family is creating an office schedule. During my office time, my family knows that this is my time to focus on the business. It prevents interruptions and I am able to accomplish a lot during this time. Then, when the office time is over, I am completed focused on family time.
If there was one piece of advice you could give your children about running a successful business, what would it be?
Don’t go into business with the only goal being to make money. If you treat people fairly and ethically and make it a point of helping at least one person each day, you will be successful.
Do you have a favorite business tool and/or resource?
Taking advantage of social media outlets on-line have been such an important part of my business. I attribute 80% of my business for Trending Solutions, LLC coming from either forums, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
What is next for your business?
Right now, my focus is getting www.StopDropandRelax.com off the ground and make it as successful as Trending Solutions, LLC.
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Great interview! I definitely agree with the tip about creating an office schedule in attempts to address both your work and family lives. It can be a bit of a cake walk, but there are definitely strategies that work in that regard.
.-= Execumama´s last blog ..GIRL POWER! What does your world-changer have in store for us? =-.
Great tips Janene! And if anyone is great at many hats, it is you. Congrats on the new business- I am sure it will be very successful in the very near future!
.-= Tori {Thoughtfully Simple}´s last blog ..Frugal and Fabulous: A Clothing Swap Party =-.
Thank you, Tori. I appreciate your support.