How to Find Balance When Managing Your Start-Up Business As a Parent
Whether you stopped working when you became a parent and want to start earning an income again, or you just want a change of pace, there’s no wrong time to start a small business. The difficulty when you’re a parent is that your child should always take priority over pretty much everything else, especially when they’re dependent on you.
But while starting and running a business does take a lot of energy and effort, you can afford to be more flexible with it. This allows you to create a schedule that works with your family, so you get to have a bit of work/life balance. You can have time for your business, your kids, and even yourself.
Your Work Hours
Let’s start with your schedule. Depending on your startup, you might be more flexible than most jobs when it comes to your work hours. If you’re selling from a shop or talking to professionals on the phone, you will need to stick to sociable hours.
But you can do all of your admin work and, depending on how you create and deliver your products or services, you can do the bulk of your work at different times of the day. This means that you can arrange your work schedule around your family, rather than the other way around.
Work while your kids are out of the house, sleeping, or spending time with their other parent. You can even work out a schedule where you get some time to yourself, and you get time together as a whole family.
Take Advantage of Daycare
Parenting immediately makes your life much busier than normal, and running a business can feel like another child. But one way to give yourself more time in the day to get work and chores done is to use daycare services.
While grandparents are great for babysitting, you can’t always ask them to look after your kids. Daycare provides a safe environment for your kids to stay and play with others their own age. It can be great socially, educationally, and can even help your kid’s immune system by exposing them to every childhood germ known to man.
It does pay to be picky when choosing a daycare place. If you notice daycare violations and safety concerns, remove your child from the daycare immediately and report it. This keeps your child and other children safe.
Involving Your Kids in Your Business
As your kids get a little bit older, you can use your business as a teaching opportunity. While you don’t necessarily want to use your children as little workers, you can get them involved in your business and teach them how it works.
Some kids have an entrepreneurial streak as well, so they might be interested in setting up their own little business or helping out with yours. This is also a good time to introduce an allowance and teach your children how to save and budget their money.