Building a business while also raising kids is probably one of the biggest challenges you’ll face, yet it’s also the most rewarding.
Your family becomes your greatest motivation and inspiration to make your dreams come true — at least this has been true for me.
When I first started building my Forever business my kids were quite young and I had to learn via trial and error where certain shortfalls may occur, in either my biz or my family life.
The more awareness we can bring to both our personal and professional lives the easier we can make things on ourselves.
In this article, I will share with you the top tips that have helped me enormously as a mompreneur.
Read ’29 Tips On How To Build Confidence In Kids’ here.
17 Tips To Help Make Building A Business And Raising Kids Easier
1. Strike a Work/Life Balance
Striking a work life balance means planning how much time you are spending on your business versus how much time you are dedicating to your marriage, your children, and your extended family, friends, and other responsibilities.
It’s important to create a schedule so you can prioritize your life.
Make sure you put this schedule somewhere visible where you can see it often—like on a calendar.
This will help you see exactly where you are spending your time and how you can best prioritize what is most important for the week ahead.
There will be times when your business will need more of your time and attention, and your family and “me time” may need to take a back seat—especially when you’re in the initial stages of building your business.
Oftentimes sacrifices need to be made but it’s important to see how best you can make up for the time that had to be spent grafting.
As an example, when there are school holidays you could do something extra special during that time to make it up.
2. Seek Reliable Childcare If Needed
With Forever, I’ve been fortunate enough to build a flexible business from home that I can run while caring for my children, but this certainly isn’t the case for everyone.
If you are raising children while working in a job that you can’t do around your children, work from home and/or your partner is unable to take on the responsibility of childrearing, it’s vital that you seek out reliable childcare.
First choice would be to try and choose someone who your kids are comfortable with such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or older cousin.
This would help the transition as it would be family that they get to spend time with, but unfortunately, this isn’t always possible.
The other option is to look at alternatives for childcare.
Initially, there will be that overwhelming feeling of guilt, so you have to remind yourself of the bigger picture and why doing this is important for you and your family.
Having adequate childcare ensures that someone will always be there to pick up your kids from school and make them dinner until you or your partner get home and can take over.
I suggest having at least four different childcare options ready for in case (partner, grandparents, babysitter, friends, etc), this will allow you to juggle the demands of both the business and your family.
Read ‘How To Find Quality Home Childcare For Your Children’ here.
3. Be Prepared to Work Whenever You Can
Being a mompreneur (entrepreneur who is a mom) means you have the flexibility to put your family first in your life.
You have the freedom to push back work for the day so that you can attend your child’s sporting event or parent/teacher meeting.
However, this does mean that you will need to be prepared to catch up on that work whenever it is possible to do so.
Be prepared to work when possible so you can make your dreams a reality while making your family your priority—sometimes this may mean working between 6 pm and midnight.
I would still not give up having this flexibility for anything!
4. Have a Realistic Timetable
Make sure you are being realistic with your time! Building your business is not going to happen overnight so you’ve got to get good at prioritizing your time.
Having a timetable will help you set goals and it will motivate and inspire you to work towards them before your due date for that specific goal arrives—that dream holiday isn’t going to come out of anywhere.
Also, having your timetable visible to your entire family will not only help you remain accountable, but it also shows your family when you will be busy and creates an organized environment in the home.
Read ‘Being a Role Model For Your Kids: 7 Things Network Marketing Taught Me’ here.
5. Quality Parenting Time
Your kids need your time and attention in order to feel loved, plain and simple. It’s vital that they know you will be there for them when they need you.
In order for kids to thrive and have their physical, mental and emotional needs met you have to create a structured and safe environment—this is absolutely essential.
This means being there for them at mealtimes, asking them about their day, discussing any problems or concerns they may have, as well as making time for leisure.
We like to have one day a week where we do something fun together, this could be a movie or games night.
It’s important to put the phones down and just focus on spending quality time together as a family.
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6. Don’t Try Hide Your Kids
When it comes to building a business, it’s only natural for you to want your clients and employees to see you in a professional manner.
But, that doesn’t mean you should ever feel like you need to hide your kids in the background.
People want to deal with real people, not people who pretend that they have everything under control all the time.
The more open you are with your clients/ associates about your family and how you balance the two, the more understanding they will be when, for example, a call is interrupted with your little one in the background excitedly shouting “mummy, mummy, I’ve made a poo.”
7. Learn How To Say No
The most empowering thing you can do for yourself is learning to say no! As a parent and an entrepreneur, you are often going to feel pulled in every direction.
As your business starts to grow, the number of people that want to talk with you (“grab coffee sometime “) will also grow exponentially.
To keep your life manageable, getting good at saying that two-letter word is important – both within your professional and personal life.
8. Be Focused And Disciplined
As a business owner and parent, you have far more going on than the average person.
To be able to manage it all, you will need to be very focused and disciplined with yourself.
So this means getting up when the 5 am alarm goes off in order to work out or get XYZ done.
When you prioritize a task, you need to stick to it and hold yourself accountable.
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9. Invest In Automation And Efficiency
It’s about working smarter, not harder!
The more systems and methods you can put in place that can be automated for efficiency will mean the more time you will have to spend on the more valuable work-based tasks and have quality time with the family.
10. Outsource As Much As Possible
We all know the feeling of that never-ending to-do list, the one that we can never seem to get on top of.
Now when you’re building a business and parenting this list is even more overwhelming and it can be easy to feel guilty if you take any moment to steal a bit of “me time” for yourself.
That’s why it’s so crucial to outsource and delegate as many of your low-value tasks or things that don’t require your strengths.
The last thing you want to experience is burnout because you think you have to “do it all”, believe me when I say it’s not worth it—your health is the number one priority, both mental and physical.
11. Don’t Compare Yourself
It can be easy to compare your day one with someone else’s day two-hundred.
Where you are is exactly where you need to be and you need to grow your business at a pace that is going to work well for you and your family.
12. Remember Why You Started Your Business In The First Place
It’s so important to have a clear vision of your dreams and goals you are working towards so that when times get tough you know why it’s all going to be worth it.
Every day I remind myself how blessed I am to be able to have the flexibility to build my business around my family commitments.
There is nothing sweeter than being able to be there for my kids. They are the very reason I am where I am today.
13. Be Realistic With What You Can Achieve
You have to be realistic with what is humanly possible to achieve in a day—remember that sleep is vital, so don’t skimp on hours.
Your business will grow at the pace that you can personally push it. Remember that you are in control and have all the power to adjust the speed.
Don’t fall into the trap of setting yourself unrealistic objectives or expectations.
14. Prioritize Well-Being
One of the greatest things you can do for your well-being is adopt a mindfulness/ relaxation practice.
It’s nothing new that life will feel like this perpetual demand on your time, and usually, the first thing to go is the priority of yourself.
We all know the phrase “oooh there’s just too much to do, I don’t have the time,” all too well.
Literally scheduling just 10-15 minutes a day for personal relaxation will benefit all areas of your life—your work, your kids, and your ability to get more done.
15. Create Clear Boundaries And Honor Your Word
Create clear boundaries in both your personal and professional life. Especially when it comes to your time.
Define when you’re available and when you’re not, and hold fast to those boundaries. Your kids need to learn this and it’s an important one for them to understand.
They have to learn that when you’re not available, you aren’t (unless the house is on fire or flooding).
But then, when it’s your kid’s time with you, you have to be fully present for them, not distracted and on your mobile.
Read ‘Good Parenting Tips For Improving Your Parenting Skills’ here.
16. Sensibly Involve Your Children
Kids love to get involved, especially when they know it’s something that’s going to help mum or dad.
Thoughtfully include your kids in your business ventures, this will make them feel as though they are an important part of your team.
And this way you also get to share in something together.
Consider their schedule and limit their time so that their participation carries the delight and not the burden of your business.
17. Stop Before You Step In The Door
Whether or not you are working from home, it’s imperative that you take the time to recentre yourself before you “step in the door” to parent.
It’s one thing to put your phone and laptop away and it’s something completely different to intentionally prepare your mindset so that there is a clear change of role from entrepreneur to parent.
You want to make sure you are being fully present from dinner to bedtime, so do what you need to process or put away the work stuff.
Be The Best Mompreneur While Building Your Business!
Being a mompreneur has been one of the greatest gifts in my life. I honestly would not change a single thing.
That’s not to say that there haven’t been days where it’s been vastly challenging, but for me, having a flexible time schedule means more time with my kids and that is priceless!
I hope this article has provided you with some helpful insights into how you can build your business and raise kids.
If you’re not currently a mompreneur, but interested in learning about how you could become one, then you’re in the right place—contact me here and let’s chat!
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With love,
Nat
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