Whilst you’ve been enjoying motherhood, you may not have realised the skills you’ve picked up along the way. Skills which would make you a great business owner!
Many of you who are mums have been quietly slipping into the role so naturally and easily, you’ve not even realised how awesome you are in your new role. Whether the joy of motherhood is recent, or decades-long, you really should take a moment to reflect on just how much you’ve achieved, rather than beating yourself up! Look at them – so peaceful, healthy and well-behaved, when they are asleep!
Did you know there are similarities between raising your child/ren and running a business? No? We didn’t think so. Which is why we want to shout about the skills you have gained, and how it would correlate with running your own business.
How raising a family is like running a business:
1. You’re managing a team! Whether you have one child, or nine, you are managing an eclectic mix of personalities, desires, demands and expectations. Not so dissimilar to managing a workforce. The main difference however, when you start running a business, is having the freedom to choose the people who work for you. This gives you the flexibility to build the right staff team who will support your business goals.
2. You’re acing time management! Look, even if you are the one running for the finish line with your kids in tow, right on the school bell – you made sure they arrived there to start school, fully dressed, with the right equipment, and food to last the day. And, you are not in your pyjamas! Learning how to complete projects for clients to a deadline will be much easier, in comparison!
3. You’re excelling with project management! You’ve balanced the art of planning summer holidays, within your budget, meeting (to an extent) your kids’ expectations, and made the most of the sunny days allotted to you. Within most businesses, the art of managing a project – whether its around delivering classes, providing a service, or completing a sale – will be a key part of your working week.
4. Crisis management has become easier to handle! The first time your little angel had a hissy fit in public, always feels bad. But, you soon learned to identify the signs, to avert the problem. Probably with some level of grace and decorum. Running your own business involves thinking outside the box in a crisis, to bring it under control. Learning from these, helps you identify and avert problems in the future.
5. You’re now an influencer! Have your children reached the age yet where you realise how much they’ve learned from you? You’re literally influencing them every day, and didn’t even notice – until a word, attitude or action they did popped out! Marketing your business is – at its most basic – the ability to influence potential customers and clients to use you and your services.
6. Balancing the books wasn’t as hard as you thought! You had a budget, and found a way to make it work for you and your family. You managed to feed and clothe your children, yourself and your partner, PLUS buy them the Christmas they’ve always Every year! Growing a business means understanding your numbers, instead of hiding from them, and using the knowledge to build your business’ profits.
7. You’re an expert communicator, even if you’re not always heard! As a mum, you’re a manager, a mentor, an advisor, a sounding-board, HR, head of comms and leader. Being able to speak to your child at each stage of their development, in a way they’ve understood, is a unique gift. Being able to speak to customers will be different to how you’d speak to staff, but making sure they understand you, is essential.
These are only a handful of skills you’ve been developing throughout your motherhood career. Each of these can be put to work for you, rather than for someone else, if you choose to take control of your future, by becoming the boss of your own business. We know, because within EWiF, we see hundreds of mothers running a successful business they love, balanced around their families.
The additional benefit of starting a franchise, rather than starting from scratch, is the network of support you’ll instantly gain to help you live your best life. Why not arrange a 30 minute session with one of our EWiF Mentors? See what you can be inspired to achieve for yourself.