3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: May 11

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?

1. Moms making millions. CNNMoney highlights five "mom-preneurs" who have figured out the secret to running a successful company.

The list includes a former General Mills(GIS) marketing employee who creates personalized baby books; a fashion designer who creates decorative storage products; former eBay(EBAY) employees who created an online subscription service for teaching kids about other countries; an entrepreneur who launched a line of three-wheeled cruisers for kids and adults; and a former teacher who created a product that erases those annoying black marks from using markers.

2. Etsy becomes certified as a B Corporation. Etsy, the online marketplace for small independent businesses to sell their goods, announced Wednesday that it has joined with a handful of New York-based companies that have already certified themselves as so-called B Corporations, or B Corp.'s.

B-Corp.'s have been getting increased attention. In February, New York became the seventh state to recognize the legal structure for businesses in the state. Under this structure, for-profit companies can engage in socially and environmentally-minded initiatives. Certified companies are rated on rigorous standards of transparency, accountability and performance, Etsy says.

More than 500 companies have structured themselves as B Corps. Etsy will be among the biggest, along with Patagonia and Seventh Generation, the company says.

"We believe becoming a certified B Corporation is one of the most important things Etsy has ever done," says CEO Chad Dickerson. "It helps us keep an eye on the mindful, transparent, and humane values we aspire to. The B Corp assessment gives us a framework for measuring our success against rigorous values and responsible practices as we scale as a company."