Irene Krasnoff
Founder and CEO, Sapir Management Group
The internet is a beautiful thing that allows anyone with ambition and drive to create an online business. This is especially crucial during COVID, which caused our economy to come to a screeching halt. The end result: several business closures and layoffs that resulted in more than 11 million Americans filing for unemployment.
During normal times, each month an average of 543,000 new businesses are started. The internet has lowered the barriers to entry. This means anyone with ambition and drive can start an online business with as little as a $50 investment. Aspiring mothers do not have to sacrifice their career for the sake of being with their baby. Before the advent of the internet, women had only two options:
- Sacrifice your time with your baby and go back to work after three months of maternity leave.
- Give up your career for the sake of being with your baby every single day.
Now women have a third option: create an online business, stay at home with your new baby, and get the best out of both worlds — motherhood and career.
Making lemonade
For those 11+ million Americans who lost their jobs, the ones who are resilient and resourceful are exploring the possibilities of starting a business. As a SCORE mentor, I have seen this trend nationally. At least 10 percent of the clients I mentor lost their job during COVID.
My current involvement in SCORE (a 501(c)(3) organization with the mission of fostering vibrant small business communities through mentoring and education) goes way back to a critical decision I made back in 2012 to work from home in order to be with my baby and maintain my career. While working part-time from home and taking care of my baby, I invested the time to learn how to leverage social media to build a service-based business. Over the years, I learned that product-based businesses can also extend their customer bases through social media.
It is this experience that I bring as a SCORE mentor. I mentor an average of 10 clients per month. Every single client, from technology companies to graphic designers to consulting firms to creative writing workshops, want to know how to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest to get in front of a new client base, build awareness, and sell via social media.
Branching out
In 2016, I founded the business Aspiring Mompreneur to help moms start home-based businesses. I helped more than 100 moms with free resources while contracting out my sales and marketing services. Moms learned how to create simple business plans, do market research, develop brand awareness using social media, and sell via video.
After my child started school, I decided to transition my business to start offering digital marketing services to small and mid-sized businesses. I specialize in social media, email marketing, website optimization, and social selling. My business consists mostly of group workshops, e-courses, and 1-1 strategy sessions. Recently, I incorporated as Sapir Management Group, LLC.