More than 13 million businesses in the US are owned by women, accounting for 42 percent of all privately held businesses, according to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report by American Express. Gone are the days when women used to be left at home taking care of children while the men went to work. However, many women who own businesses admit that it’s far from easy, particularly those who have children. Running a successful business and taking care of children feels like having two full-time jobs, and it can be overwhelming even for women who have always been known to be great at multitasking. But, with the right approach and a few changes, mompreneurs can find the perfect work-life balance that allows them to perform their duties as business owners and mothers effortlessly.
Make sure your kids are well taken care of when you’re not available
If you want to focus on your business when you’re at work with no worries at all, you must ensure that your child is in good hands. The best-case scenario would be if your partner is at home when you are working, but this is seldom the case. If your partner is not an option, the next consideration would be a family member who you trust fully to take care of your child. If you have nobodu in mind, you can find a reliable daycare where you’ll be dropping your child off or hire a nanny to be taking care of your child at home when you’re working. A quality daycare should have up to date licenses, a low teacher-to-child ratio, a clean and spacious environment, and flexible work hours. A good should have great references from people you know and extensive experience.
Secure your business
In the same way that you don’t want to worry about your child when you’re working, you don’t want to worry about your business when you’re at home. As such, it’s important to take steps to secure your business against all possible threats it might face especially when you are not there. Start by enhancing physical security by installing security cameras that you can monitor remotely, hiring a guard if necessary, and installing intruder alarms. You must also build a strong cybersecurity system to secure your business against Cyberattacks that seem to be happening almost every day. To be on the safe side, make sure you have adequate insurance coverage against all the threats you face including fire, theft, or damage from natural disasters. If you have employees, workers’ compensation insurance is absolutely necessary, insurance experts at Cerity assert, to protect your assets in the event that your staff faces a job-related injury or illness.
Delegate tasks both at home and at your business
Sometimes you’ll find that you have too many tasks to handle on your own either at home or work, or you may find that tasks are overlapping. Maybe your child has an important school play that you don’t want to miss during work hours. Or maybe you have a deadline at work forcing you to stay at work for a few more hours past closing time. Whichever the case, you must be ready to delegate some tasks both at home and at work. At work, you need to have a reliable employee who can take care of your business competently when you need a break. At home, you can talk to your spouse and older kids about how to divide the load for child-caring and household needs so that you have less to do when you get home from a long day of work. You can also outsource some tasks like house or laundry cleaning if you feel the need to.
Being a successful business owner and a great mom is a daunting task, but very much possible. Even though you may be forced to make a few changes to find balance, you can come up with a schedule that suits your duties both as a mother and as a business owner if you play your cards right.
