Moms find money-making ideas don’t have to be all business

For Scottsdale’s Brandi Slaybaugh, business was a matter of getting out.

“It’s amazing to be a mom, but I wasn’t really good at staying home,” the former escrow officer says. “A lot of new moms aren’t prepared for that. I would go on errands with my boys, and my 2-year-old would be curious about what they do at the bank or at the cleaners.”

Some women enjoy the challenges of modern motherhood. Others simply endure them. But a resourceful few find ways to spin them into business opportunities.

REACHING OUT

Her son’s curiosity led Slaybaugh, 30, to form Busy Bees Adventures. “It’s a series of one-hour adventures that mothers and their children can go on,” she explains. Parents sign up for a six-week series of kid-friendly, behind-the-scenes tours.

“We do a variety of places like firehouses, pizza parlors and hardware stores,” she says. The proprietors answer questions, and often throw extras into the mix. “Last session, we went to a smoothie place and got to make smoothies. We do fun things you wouldn’t normally be able to do.”

Busy Bees Adventures aims for shared experiences beyond the park or playground. “That’s one of the reasons I did it, so (mothers and children) would have something to do together beyond going to the gym — which is fun, but you can’t just do it over and over.”

The toddler day trips resonated with moms, too.

“It’s a very worthwhile program,” says Kristen Will, who attended last year’s outings with her 4- and 3-year-old daughters. “You learn a little something, kids get to meet other kids. Young moms get to meet other young moms. Everybody wins.”

Slaybaugh says the idea actually came from her sister, who saw a similar operation in Georgia. “I said, 'That’s a great idea,’ and looked for something like it around here.” Finding nothing, she proceeded with maternal practicality.

“I wanted to do something with my son. So I started talking to the businesses myself, started a Web site and just really jumped into it. Before you know it, I was handing out fliers.”

COMING TOGETHER

For Skye Dugger, business was a matter of coming together.

“I throw parties and have tons and tons of fun,” she says. As a Gilbert distributor for Simply Fun, the 33-year-old mother of three sells board games the way Tupperware was sold a generation ago. “It’s tons and tons of fun,” she says.

Dugger, like Slaybaugh, works through a Web site, scheduling board game parties at the homes of prospective customers. “We play each game for a few minutes, and present as many games as we can fit in.”

Rebecca Barlow, a customer and game aficionado, likes the format. “It’s a light, low-pressure atmosphere, and you get hands-on experience with the game,” she says. “It’s better than buying it at a store, and opening it up with your kids to find it’s a fancy box without much stuff.”

If a game is fun, Dugger says, it pretty much sells itself: “It’s a lot better than direct sales, which I have also done. We laugh and have a great time.”

Simply Fun’s mom-friendly structure appealed to her, as well. “I can do my job and still see my kids. I map out the days I want to work, and those are the days I offer for parties.”

But motherhood brings perspective, too. And Dugger says what she’s selling matters as much as how she does: “One of the biggest things that sold me on the company is their mission: to bring families together through fun.”

Board games, she believes, are one way to do that. “You can learn more from a person in an hour of play than in a lifetime of conversation. If we can get a family to play a game together once a week, we’re helping them.”

It’s a dynamic Dugger says she has seen in her own family. “You have fun together. You spend more time together, you grow up together. That’s getting more important to people as the world gets crazier.”

More online

busybeesadventures.com

www.reach4theskye.simplyfun.com