There’s a new sheriff in the business world – mom.

More and more mothers are starting companies, because they can set their own terms. The boss can take the afternoon off to go on a class field trip without having to explain her actions to anyone. Nice gig, huh?

Lots of professional women think so. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, firms that are 50 percent or more female-owned account for a whopping 46 percent of all privately held U.S. firms.

Let’s bring it down to the micro level and look at a case study.

Jennifer Noonan, a former public relations executive, hated the maternity clothes available during her pregnancy. She didn’t like polyester blends. She didn’t like the plastic hangers, fluorescent lighting and industrial carpet that decorated most maternity stores.

"Do they think pregnant women have lost their joy of shopping?" she asked.

It was her husband who pushed her to do something with her idea. They drove by a new mall that was opening soon in their neighborhood and he suggested she open a maternity store done in her image. He dared her and she accepted. She signed a ten-year lease and spent more than $100,000 renovating the store, buying inventory, and designing her own clothes. She dipped into her family savings to fund the first year of operations.

The first month went by and there was only a small trickle of people flowing into the store. Jennifer tried to attract attention with a risqué window display. She made a deer-skin, floor-length maternity halter dress. Its price tag was $3,000.

"I didn’t expect anyone to buy it. It was meant to start people talking," Jennifer says.

Two days went by and no one went into the store. Jennifer was standing in line at a nearby baby clothes store and the two women in front of her were talking about what stores in the mall would close. They said in unison the maternity clothes store – they had never seen anything so tacky. Jennifer felt like she was punched in the gut. The comments physically made her ill.

"Even though I was upset I never doubted my concept. I thought, ‘I have to move to closer to the city, where they’ll get this.’" she says.

Jennifer did move the store closer to Los Angeles but before she did she sold the $3,000 dress to a fashion stylist who worked for Jada Pinkett Smith. Mrs. Smith wore the dress in a Vogue photo shoot. It just goes to show you should trust your instincts," Jennifer says.

Jennifer’s store, Naissance on Melrose, is light and airy with blond wood floors and gold velvet curtains. There are no sailor dresses. Jennifer designs many of the clothes, which are form fitting and echo her regular outfits – jean skirts, halter tops, funky t-shirts and cargo pants. California cool. She even offers her designs wholesale to other maternity stores across the country. She says she generates about three million a year in revenue.

Trust your instincts, then make use of good research and the right funding, and you could realize the success that Jennifer has. And always utilize every tool available to you, like w2wlink.com and Women Presidents' Organization.