We all know that kids can be awfully demanding. Babies need your TLC 24/7. Toddlers crave your attention. Grade schoolers need help with their schoolwork. High schoolers don’t like your constant hovering, but well, you just can’t help yourself. A growing business can be just as consuming. Deadlines must to be met, clients satisfied, documents filed, and employees cared for.
How then can a mompreneur with only two hands and 24 hours in a day take care of her two progenies: her children and her business?
It is important to draw up a plan of attack. Devote some time to preparing a comprehensive business plan. Gather relevant information about your target market as well as market trends and industry reports. Get schooled about the process of making business plans from books and online resources. If you can enroll in a professional course or get insights from a fellow entrepreneur, then that would be awesome. A business plan is not only your blueprint to success, it’s also your road map to a balanced work-home lifestyle. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by the many tasks that needs to be done, revisit your business plan to see which ones are truly important.
Finding a balance between your babies and your business requires the support of one very important person: your husband. Before you take the entrepreneurship route, you need to sit down with your husband and talk about the consequences of your venture. Ask him about any concerns that he might have. Advise him that he may need to hold the fort at times. Agree on some ground rules. Keeping Sundays sacred is a good idea, for example. Most importantly, share with him your passion. Explain to him your gnawing need to go on this grand adventure. Once he sees your passion and commitment, he will be more than happy to share in your enthusiasm.
Make sure your children are in good hands all the time. When you’re in the throes of growing a business, it may easily take a toll on family time. That being said, it is important that you have an efficient and reliable support system at home. You can count on your husband, that’s a given. However, since your husband is more likely working too, you need the help of your yayas and helpers to take care of your kids. Train them on how you want things done at home. Compensate them appropriately and guide them accordingly. Having members of your extended family at home also helps to give you peace of mind. When you know that your kids are warm and safe at home, you can fully focus on the job at hand.
Ask for help. Most entrepreneurs try to do everything on their own. They make the goods, pack them up, and have them delivered. They process payrolls, deposit cheques, and work on tax papers. This is all well and good, especially since it gives them precious insight on operations. However, there maybe some tasks better left to the professionals. There are some jobs which need the proper skills and training in order to be done properly and efficiently. A mompreneur can attempt to do such tasks herself, but she may perform poorly, wasting precious time and resources in the process. It is at these times when seeking the help of a professional maybe in order.
Mompreneurs should also be able to determine when it’s time to seek additional financing for their business. Most mompreneurs use their own money to start their business ventures. This seems like a prudent move, but it can also be a nerve-wracking one. When you put all of your life savings in one venture, the pressure is high to succeed. Fortunately for today’s mompreneurs, a lot of financing institutions are more than willing to help them out. BPI Family, for example, has made financing more accessible to mompreneurs through their Ka-Negosyo Business Loans. By making funds available to mompreneurs at very friendly terms, BPI Family hopes to help more and more moms realize their entrepreneurial dreams!
BPI Family Ka-Negosyo has partnered with Mompreneur Manila to come up with a series of informative articles with the objective of educating and empowering mompreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs.
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