Starting your own business as a working mum can be a great idea. It will likely give you the capacity to do your own thing while being flexible and juggling everything around having a family- but you'll want to make sure that you're getting off on the right foot from the beginning. Here are seven considerations to keep in mind before you get started.
1. Knowing What You Want to Do
First of all, it's important to kick things off by understanding what it is that you want to do. Sometimes you know that you'd like to work for yourself and have the time and freedom that comes along with it, but you're not really sure what it is that you want to do. So sit down and brainstorm some ideas based on things you enjoy, things you're interested in, and what your strengths are. Then, when you find a business idea that suits you, you can get things underway.
2. Creating a Working Schedule
One of the biggest parts of running your own business is staying organised. This is where the power of having a schedule comes into play. When you're trying to juggle family life and your business, you need to make sure that you're even more organised than usual. This is going to help you to be more efficient when you're working in the business and make sure that you still have time for your family responsibilities. It will help you to film much less overwhelmed, too.
3. Understanding How to Operate
It's also really important that you understand how to operate. Running a business can be quite involved. There are a lot of moving parts that go into it. You need to make sure that the business is set up correctly and that you're able to make sales and generate revenue. If you're considering working in a sensitive field, you also need to find specialist service providers to support you. A great example of this is specific firearms payment processing or merchant processing in key fields. Alongside that, you also need to make sure that you have all of your paperwork filed and that you have a business bank account in place.
4. Building Your Brand
Next, there's also the idea of building up your brand. Whenever you launch a company, you need to have an outward-facing image that showcases what you’re all about and lets the world know what you do. Choosing the right business name can help here, but so can coming up with your brand logo, brand colours, and the kind of imagery that you want to use on your website and on your social media.
5. Finding a Good Balance
Alongside the specifics that you need to put in place for the company, you also need to make sure that you have the right mindset and approach to building the company. We hear about this a lot, but it is very relevant when you are a working mum and you're building your own business. Finding a good balance with what works for you and what feels right is important. It doesn't mean that you're trying to be super mum and have a 50/50 split, but you need to find what works best for you.
6. Focusing on Growth
Then we have the idea of focusing on growing the business. This can be a lot of fun. If you're an ambitious person with big dreams and a lot of ideas, this may be the part that you're looking forward to the most. If not, once you're up and running, make sure that you’re focusing on long-term thinking and where you want to take things in the future. This is the best way to achieve your goals.
7. Creating a Lifestyle That Works for You
Ultimately, you need to make sure that you are creating a lifestyle that works for you. This is something that will be very unique to you. There will be no template for this. Everybody has their own different goals, wants, and needs in life. So here, it's important for you to focus on the kind of lifestyle that you want to live and how you want your life to feel. That way, you can make sure that you slot the business in around it and build it in a way that will facilitate the right lifestyle for you. After all, it's important to grow your business in the way that you want to, rather than have your business take over your life.
