Habits Every Mother in Business Needs

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance has always been very hard for working women, especially entrepreneurs with children. The toll of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought light to this issue which requires more awareness. In fact, women’s desire to nurture their children and, at the same time, provide for their families and become self-dependent has prompted many women to launch their own businesses by leveraging their skills from the corporate world into marketable opportunities. 

Women entrepreneurs have a dream and vision to fill a niche with a product or service that not only helps them to enrich the lives of other women but also contributes to their communities. However, most mothers in business today are not necessarily the most innovative, wealthy, or time-flexible, which are vital to growing a business. Hence, striking the right balance between work and life is uniquely challenging for enterprising mothers. Here are some ways to make both a success. 

Create a priority-based routine 

For women who are growing their small businesses and raising small children, every task seems to be urgent. However, when you prioritize your daily duties, it can facilitate breaking down larger tasks into more manageable bites. For instance, spend five minutes every morning deciding on the tasks you need to accomplish. When you create a routine where you complete the “urgent” tasks first, it starts a habit that ensures the greatest needs of both work and home are fulfilled. For women who are balancing busy entrepreneurship with motherhoodod, having some room to wiggle in the “work part” of their day can be a lifesaver, especially when there’s a parent-teacher conference, doctor’s appointment, or a field trip. It is necessary that your routine includes setting aside devoted time for work as well as focused time for your family. 

Set daily goals allowing flexibility 

Irrespective of whether you are a woman in business or a working mother, it is important to set daily goals that allow flexibility of the schedule. For convenience, you may categorize all your work tasks into four groups – things you don’t want to do and also don’t need to do; things you don’t want to do but need to do; things you want to do and must do; and things that you want to do, but actually, there is no need to do them. In addition, your daily routine may also include the time that you need to set aside for your work and the time you want to spend with your family. While making your daily routine, ensure that your work time is free from any interruptions. The time you set aside for your family – for instance, homework revision for your children, mealtimes, and playgroups with small children.    

Ensure your expectations are realistic  

Being a businesswoman, you need to realize that your venture is unlikely to reach seven figures in the first year. Enterprising mothers should identify exactly where in their market they fit, and carefully examine how they can expect success to look. You also need to understand that starting a new business requires a long “ramp up” to become profitable. This is something that most entrepreneurs seldom realize. One must always have realistic expectations. Moreover, it is important to ensure that you are doing something you are truly passionate about. When you do so, it will motivate you to jump out of bed every morning to work on your skill and continue homing it. Therefore, it is important to lay out a roadmap that outlines the milestones you plan to achieve with specifics on how you will measure success along the way, as well as the timeframe you plan to achieve these goals. 

Develop a good network 

Starting your own business means you have to make a lot of connections and do networking to reach out to a market. Whether you’re a small bakery finding new clients or a custom clothing designer, putting your product on the market while raising children keeps you busy. There are networking mixers in many communities, as well as small-business-oriented seminars, lunches, or outings. Attending these events can help you reach out to other enterprising mothers, allowing you to gain exposure to your market and also develop valuable business connections. It is also important to build a team with those who have skills that complement yours. Ideally, as a team of entrepreneurial mothers, both business development and child-rearing can correspond. Remember, reaching out to others not only helps new mothers feel that they aren’t alone, but it can also help a new business grow faster. 

Know your limits 

Even the most flexible, mindful, scheduled enterprising mother has her limitations. Realizing where one needs to stop and when to take some of the pressure of a new business is of utmost importance for your business and your family life. Many business owners understand the value of persistence and the fact that hard work will beat talent, but the key point is you also need time to enjoy the process as well as the journey. Limiting when you are “at work” and when you’ve devoted time to your family can help avoid feeling overwhelmed. Hence, it is advisable that you place your own limits to avoid burnout, a common problem for those who work from home.