Two new books on being an entrepreneurial mom give women a roadmap for success.

Back when Kathryn Bechthold was the publisher of Mompreneur magazine, her baby daughter came down with a terrible case of the flu on the day of Bechthold’s first media appearance.

Instead of cancelling, the Calgary mom found care for her sick child and forged ahead with the television spot, thus giving herself a severe case of mom guilt.

The magazine became a success and Bechthold has since sold it and started Alchemy Communications, a traditional and social media relations company, but the entrepreneurial mom still feels it when her two worlds — career and caregiver — collide.

“I have tons of mom guilt,” says Bechthold, 33, mother to a five-year-old daughter and one-year-old son.

“I don’t think I’ve got the balance thing worked out. I think I’m better at it than ever before. But that being said, I totally think that on a day-to-day basis I have to look at every decision against my priorities.”

The popular notion of mompreneurship as an idyllic lifestyle choice for mothers seeking work-life balance is just one myth Bechthold debunks in her new book, The Entrepreneurial Mom’s Guide to Running Your Own Business (Self-Counsel Press, $23.95).

She also lays out some stark truths, among them: your company is not your baby, so don’t get attached to it; and, if you’re not making money, you should cut and run.

It’s the second such how-to guide to come out this year. Mom Inc.: How to raise your family and your business without losing your mind or your shirt (HarperCollins Canada, $24.99), by Toronto mom entrepreneurs Amy Ballon and Danielle Botterell, published in February.

Judging by the number of moms in Ottawa who have started online businesses selling everything from children’s clothing and food to natural skincare products being a mom entrepreneur is hot.

“There’s so many women out there who have built their careers and built their networks, and then they have children,” says Bechtold.

“It’s really hard to be involved as the primary caregiver to your kids and have a full-time career ... so it’s a really good alternative to start your own business.”

In fact, Industry Canada reports a 200 per cent increase in the number of women-owned businesses in the past 20 years. And many of these female entrepreneurs have children — a 2004 survey by CIBC, Women Entrepreneurs: Leading the Charge, found that nearly one-third of the women who ran businesses had children under the age of 12.

And more than 60 per cent of the self-employed women surveyed by CIBC were described as “lifestylers” as they had chosen entrepreneurship as a way to balance family life with work demands.

Still, as Bechthold points out, it’s not all cookie baking between corporate bids.

“It may look easy and it may look like a great alternative ... but there’s risk involved, and you certainly don’t work less. You have to put in a lot of hours and a lot of money, usually.”

Bechthold’s take-away advice to moms considering starting a business with young children underfoot is to do their research and have at least three plans in place: a business, relationship and childcare.

The first is crucial for the business to have a fighting chance (Bechthold says 50 per cent of new businesses fail in their first year), the second is critical for the marriage to survive and the third is necessary so moms can actually get work done.

The book covers all aspects of starting a business, from building a team of experts and securing financing, to implementing a marketing and sales plan.

Similarly, Mom Inc. aims to give would-be mompreneurs the lowdown and how-to on working from home, with kids.

“It gives the skinny on what it’s like to juggle both,” says Ballon who, along with Botterell, co-founded Admiral Road Designs, which sells personalized baby blankets.

The women, aged 39 and 40 respectively, interviewed more than 50 mompreneurs in Canada and the U.S., to paint an accurate portrait of what it’s like.

“It’s not perfect,” says Botterell.

But the women taking the plunge love what they do and wouldn’t give up the flexibility for anything — even a huge paycheque. What’s most interesting, perhaps, is that mompreneurs have different definitions of what it means to be “successful.”

Bechthold’s first business venture (a charity) failed, but it didn’t stop her from trying again and succeeding, within limits.

“I’m proud that my kids come first, and I’m proud that my business has always been wrapped around my family’s priorities,” she says.

“I want to be a successful entrepreneur, but maybe I don’t want to be that successful, financially.

“Maybe I want to be more successful as a mom.”