Jess, Bella and me holding a very new Lucy.
Having a business is hard. Having a business and a baby??
You built your business from nothing. It started as an idea. Time, sweat and tears grew it. It helped you build a life you wanted with flexibility you craved. And now you have an amazing little baby.
Bliss right? I hope so! But not always.
You have this precious little miracle, less sleep, and if you are like most business owners, no maternity leave pay. That is difficult without things going wrong.. for Jess and I, they went very wrong. In short - 5/6 week old Bella, Jess brakes her foot in the middle of event season. Can’t walk for 4 months and in agony. Two years later and I can remember the stress and anxiety vividly.
As you know we still needed to look after our clients and provide an event that would make them great memories. ‘Ah sorry we can’t do your anniversary or proposal tomorrow’ wasn’t an option. So for four to five months we put our heads down, got exhausted, looked after our customers, tried to figure out the parent thing, leaned on Grandma and loved each other. And we learned a lot.
I chat with a lot of women business owners, and wanted to encourage you that there are things you can do to minimise stress and make it work for you. Ideally before you have the little one, but during early motherhood as well.
Below are a couple of tips. It is not exhaustive, but we would be happy to chat about how to plan for this time in your life or how to manage that fourth trimester and beyond. You, your family and business are important. We would love to support you or encourage you if possible.
Cashflow - manage it, have a doc that allows you to model income and expenses during your time off.
*This allows you to understand how many jobs you will need to take and how long your Mat leave will be.
Consider and plan for leave and reduced earnings.
Create a ‘Baby Bucket or Mat Leave’ account. Transfer a monthly amount and see it as a set expense. It may be uncomfortable now, but you will be thankful for it. Promise!
Communicate - existing clients, new clients and team.
Build systems now that will support you when you have less time.
Plan your ideal scenario. From finances to leave and everything in between.
Get support. Great coaching shouldn’t just be about growing your business. It should include how your business will grow with you.
If you have a little one and are in the midst of it…
Be gracious and kind to yourself. Add your wife or husband to this list.
It isn’t too late to get help or to chat about how to make this work for you.
Don’t give up.
Get support - for your business yes. But also you. Mums groups, FB groups (Jess found her Mum's Grapevine Facebook group super helpful), if you have extended family reach out.
See if there are admin tasks that can be done by your partner or a VA. This takes some of the pressure off to get back to clients.
You are doing one of the most precious important things anyone can do. And like most amazing things it is not easy. But there are people who can perhaps lighten the load.
We work with business men and women who are doing business and a baby. It is a crucial time in your and your families life. Don't leave it to chance. Happy to chat or discuss how we can help plan or take the load off for you.
Comentários