Look, at time of writing, the sun is shining and summer is in full swing. And what are you doing? We don’t know – we aren’t stalkers – but if you run your own business, you are probably sat in the office, or wherever else you place your butt while at work. And that’s kind of okay; you do need to make money, after all. But all work and no play makes Jack (or Jill) a dull boy (or girl), so it may be time you took a break.
Listen, these are the signs that you really do need to stop for a while.
If you work online, you know how important the surroundings you’ve sat yourself down in ot work are when it comes to your productivity. Maybe you’re running your own retail website and you need to make sure the customer details section is storing everything securely; you’re going to need all the right contact numbers and templates around you. And if you have a blog, which started off as a hobby and then turned into a good way to make yourself money month in and out, you’re going to want to write out a new post every single day without getting distracted. So with all that in mind, it’s clear you’re going to need to make yourself the perfect online business space.
I’d always had the urge to start my own business.
When I was on maternity leave, that urge became so strong, I made the leap. I left my well paid, full time job, and jumped into the unknown.
Whilst it’s been one of the best decisions I have ever made, it hasn’t been plain sailing. So I wanted to use this blog post to give you some honest thoughts about what it’s like to run a business when you’re on maternity leave (or simply when you have a young family), and how to go about starting your own part time business.
Here’s a sad fact, taken from Forbes. Women own 40% of businesses in the US but only make up 10% of venture-backed businesses.
Do you feel like being female might put you at a disadvantage in the world of entrepreneurship? Of course, it shouldn’t. But it’s easy to fill yourself with doubts, isn’t it?
So here’s the good news. The truth is, us women actually have a number of strengths that put us at an advantage, and I’ll reveal four fascinating examples.
Everyone knows the obvious entrepreneurial skills, don’t they: drive, ambition, hard work. I could go on. But sometimes, life throws challenges your way that mean that those normal set of skills just aren’t enough on their own.
For example, ff you are a mom, do you ever feel like you are at a disadvantage in starting up a business because you are trying to balance your work with family life? Many times I’ve had that same feeling. Sometimes I’ve wondered if it might have been easier to start a business when I was in my 20s and had all that time to myself. But now I’ve been running my business for a while, I’ve realised that I actually launched at the perfect time. More importantly, I’ve realised that my dual role as business owner and a mother gives me a unique competitive advantage that many startups just don’t have. Here’s why:
Spoiler alert: running an online business and being a full time mom isn’t easy, and there is no easy answer in this blog post.
However, I know I have a lot of readers on this blog who are women thinking of starting a business but who are also raising a young family. If you’ve read my About section you’ll know that I have a young daughter (later edit: now I have three children!), and that I launched the business when she was just a baby.
What I will try and do is keep this short and sweet (I get it: you’re busy!). I want to give you a few practical tips that have helped me over the years.