How To Start A Business When You Have A Young Family

Sometimes running a business while raising a family means multi-tasking :-)

Raising a family and running a business have certainly got something in common; they are both hard work, but that hard work is worth it when you see what you have created. You may feel that if you do one of these things, you can’t successfully do the other, but that’s not accurate. It is entirely possible to both run a business and raise a young family if you are organized and practical. Here are some ideas on how to do it.

Know When To Say No

People will always be asking something of you, and it’s essential that you can say no to the things that you won’t find joy in, that won’t boost your business, or that will take you away from precious time with your family. You need to be able to balance all of your commitments carefully, and if too many people are asking too much of you in one direction, then the balance will be off, and everything can topple down. The easiest way to say no (or yes) is to take your time. When you are asked something, think about it first and weigh up the pros and cons before responding. Don’t feel bad if you can’t help out because your family and your business definitely need to come first.

It may be that you need to outsource some of your work to give yourself more free time, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed. Data recovery and network security could be outsourced to Secure Data Recovery Services, for example, and marketing and accounting are also great parts of your business to outsource to professionals.

Find Great Childcare

When running a business, there will be times when you need to attend meetings, workshops, networking events, or meet up with customers. It means you need to find great and reliable childcare. Although it is ideal if you can schedule these events to be few and far between, and ideally use technology such as email or video calling instead of needing to be in a different place physically, it can’t always be so. You will need to compromise, and the childcare that you find will make all the difference. You can run your business without having to worry about the welfare of your kids too.

The childcare might be paid for such as a nanny or babysitter, or it could be a family member or friend. If you can work in ‘shifts,’ it might even be your spouse or partner. It may take a little while to find someone you’re completely comfortable with, so start your search early and always have a backup, just in case.

Work At Night

If you have young children and they need you during the day, you should be prepared to run your business during the evenings when they are asleep. It will mean you get less downtime (so it’s even more important to learn to say no in this case), but if this is the only way to build your business, then it will be worth it. If you can work extremely hard during the first few months or years, it will pay dividends in the end, and you may even be able to step away from the business after a while and leave your employees to deal with things. Working hard at unsociable times at the start can make all the difference.