Fantastic Ways for Mothers to Succeed in Business

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Fantastic Ways for Mothers to Succeed in Business

When I attended the 2015 MumpreneurUK Conference and Awards, I won the MumpreneurUK Voice Award. I really enjoyed the conference as it was educational and inspirational and I met a whole lot of wonderful business women.

The one thing many of us had in common was that we are all Mothers and we are all trying to balance family life and parenting with earning money and contributing to the family income.

Being a Mother in today’s world is a challenge on it’s own. Heck I had to have fertility treatment and even looked into donor egg options before becoming a mother.

Now I am a mum, I am super busy caring for a child. Never mind if you need to work, run a business or in my case write a professional blog. Life is always busy for any mother.

One particular speech I listened to whilst at the MumpreneurUK conference really stood out to me and today I thought it would be great to share the tips I learnt to help you succeed in business. 

I hope you find them beneficial.

One: Set Some Rules That You Never Break

Managing work life with parenting is not easy. Set some rules, for example, not taking phone calls or emails before 9am or having a specific time each evening when you stop working and take a break.

Have a holiday booked or planned where you will not work and spend quality time with the family uninterrupted.

For bloggers this may be difficult. However I try to dedicate the hour before my daughter goes to school to helping Sylvia get ready when I’m well and I also take time out from 4-8.

Whilst I may check the odd tweet or message, this is quality time for the family again when I am well enough) and I go back to work once Sylvia is in bed.

Two: Always Have a Backup Plan

It is a good idea when you have a business to have a plan A, B and C. There will be a time when something happens and you will need to drop what your doing.

A child may become ill, yet you may have an important meeting with a client, an investor or a supplier.

Plan A might be to reschedule at the last minute, plan b to have a emergency babysitter, helper, or plan C, (which always costs money) pay somebody to step in and help when needed.

As a blogger if I need to take time away from work which in my case is often due to my own illness, I simply take time off.

However there has been times when I couldn’t stop as I had a post due to go out and needed it would not be a good idea to reschedule.

On such occasions, I have a backup which is my husband. He will step in and alter my editorial calendar to reduce the posts going out.

He will finish off my photographs or feature picture, schedule my posts on social media and help me out the best he can.

I do however have a plan in the future when I am earning a good living to employ a virtual assistant to help out when necessary.

Three: Involve the Kids

When times are busy and tough you can involve the children.

Ask them to do special jobs such as stapling or sorting paperwork. Having the kids help can help them to understand that what you’re doing is meaningful and important.

As a blogger, have the children do fun activities such as making movies or taking photos together. This can be fun for the kids and getting work done at the same time.

Four: Network 

The people you network with can become very important and helpful. Joining your local department of commerce and signing up to the institute of directors can be very helpful.

Having friends and contacts int he right places can save hours and months of work. Joining Linkedin can be a useful tool to help find people with certain skill sets.

I find as a blogger building my own network of blogging friends had been both productive and meaningful not only in helping me grow my blog but I have gained some true friends which is something I had never imagined.

Five: Mentors Can Help Your Business Succeed

Find a mentor with good relevant background whom you can trust. This can add value to your business/blog and help you dealing with the emotional difficulties of running a daily business.

You will have up and down days, times when you feel like just packing it all in and times when you feel challenged and adversity.

Having a mentor to listen and tell you that you can do it can be very helpful. A mentor can bring out the best in you and be a positive voice amongst the difficulties.

Once you have peaked or reached your full potential don’t be afraid to thank your mentor and move on to someone with more experience and ability.

Six: Get the Best Lawyer You Can

Having a business can involve contracts and employment law. Having a good lawyer from day one will help ensure you set up in the correct way. As you grow you want to ensure you are legally tight.

As a business or Blogger there may be products or content you wish to patent or copyright. An NYC patent lawyer can help to protect your ideas.

Seven: Hire Well to Succeed in Business

Don’t hire your best friend. Look for someone who has drive and is smarter than yourself. If you hire someone with few skills they will slow you down and make you lose pace.

Always look for talent with diverse personalities. This can be beneficial and help look at tasks from different perspectives.

If you do hire a friend have a tight contract. Often friendships can be destroyed when you go into business together. Find someone who can be an ally and a team member

Eight: Think Big in Business

Women are often more likely to undersell themselves than men. Sometimes you need to fake it till you make it. If you don’t know how to do something, find out.

Fake it till you make it. Fake it till you feel it!  Be passionate, dream big and be committed.

If your asked to do a job be confident that you can learn and pick up skills your unsure of and give it a go.

Nine: Information Technology

Use Technology. Technology becomes the heart of any business. Even if you start out small, documents, contracts, notes, expenses will grow.

Everything will need to be recorded on a computer. As you grow the business will grow. If you cant afford the best laptop don’t go out and buy it, find one which will fit your budget and work for you.

Seek advice and talk to a solutions expert to ensure your data is secure and customer, client, follower information is safe. Look for a system which works for you and get advice if you need it.

Ten: Enrol in a Program

There is always room for growth and learning. Look for a program to help you with your business. Sign up to a free Entrepeneur program and get on board.

Find free advice, mentors, support and sound business ideas. Sign up to a course to improve in an area you need help with and remember you are a Mumpreneur.

I hope all these tips will help you to succeed in business as a mother! Enjoy!