I’m being interviewed right now for Momprenuer Magazine and was asked to put together a list of 5 tips that I would offer other Mompreneurs. So of course I need to share them here. 🙂
Tip #1: Get a like-minded business community in place for yourself… a place where you can bounce ideas for your business, get support when you are unmotivated, ask questions and just plain ole whine and complain when need be. 🙂 This could be a business coach, business partner or other working moms who understand the joys and pitfalls of business. (The Mompreneur network!)
Tip #2: Draw a solid line around work and home/family time (especially if you work from home). It is super easy to fall into the trap of ‘working all day long’ if you aren’t careful, so pick the times when you work and the times when you don’t… and try to stick to them as much as possible (always exceptions of course). ie: Make a commitment to not work weekends, or if you need to work on the weekends while you have the support of hubby to babysit, say you will work ‘Saturday morning from 8-12’.
Tip#3: Hire help for the administrative stuff. Your time is at a premium, so keep yourself focused on the money-making tasks that *only you can do* and hire help for the rest. Most new business owners think that they need to do it all – especially in the beginning – when really your business needs your focus where it should be (marketing, delivery of products/services) and not on administrative stuff. Ask yourself throughout the day “Is this something that someone else could do for me?” and make a list… then hire someone to take care of those things. Budget can be a concern in the early days, however consider that hiring someone can actually make you money in that it frees you up for money making activities.
Tip#4: Stay in touch with the joy and passion for your business. Especially important for us moms, as it can be super easy to just let business slide in light of other priorities if we aren’t enjoying ourselves… why are you doing what you do? And if you aren’t enjoying yourself, what can you change to make it more enjoyable?
Tip#5: Kiss and hug your kids everyday! After all, they are why we do what we do.