At first glance, it looks like mompreneurs have it all. They get to earn a living doing something they love, skip the daily commute, and spend loads of time with their kids. But running a business as a stay-at-home mom isn’t all sunshine and rainbows — it’s a lot of hard work! In many ways, nursing a new business to life is a lot like caring for a baby, which says something about the difficulty involved in juggling entrepreneurship with actual childcare.
 
Countless moms have found ways to make it work, and you can too! If you’re looking for tips on launching your own home-based business, keep reading!
 
Don’t Try to Do it All
 
Between caring for kids and keeping the house in order, you probably don’t have a lot of room in your schedule. Taking on too many extra responsibilities will only lead to burnout. In order to achieve that elusive work-life balance, look for ways to automate and outsource your new business tasks. As Keap explains, you can incorporate automation into every aspect of your business, from capturing leads to handling paperwork! Even the time-draining task of replying to emails can be automated with the right software.
 
Another job you can outsource is registering your business. Many successful home-business entrepreneurs choose to set themselves up as an LLC for the tax advantages and easier paperwork. Instead of taking care of the legal paperwork yourself, you can hire an LLC formation services for this task.
 
Of course, apps, services, and software won’t always cut it. Sometimes you need a real human to tackle those business projects. For example, if you want to announce your new business to the public with an attention-grabbing press release, you will need to find someone to write it for you. Thankfully, online job platforms make it easy to discover public relations professionals available for hire on a project-to-project basis.
 
Streamline Your Life
 
Besides finding ways to outsource repetitive business tasks, you can also look for ways to free up time in your regular schedule. Create a meal plan system so you can reduce time spent grocery shopping and cooking. Teach your kids how to play independently, it’s a wonderful life-skill for them to learn too. Get your other family members to help out with household chores. Learn how to say “no” to non-essential obligations when your plate is full. Streamlining your life is all about saving time and minimizing energy-draining decisions. This will free up some brainpower for your budding business!
 
Let Go of Guilt
 
You should also be prepared to confront working mom guilt before launching your business. Guilt, while common among working moms, can derail your productivity. Mompreneurs have to deal with the constant pressure to satisfy everyone — clients, team members, kids, spouses, and extended family included. Even when you’re burning the candle at both ends, you may feel like you’re letting everyone down. Before diving into your business, identify ways to cope with mom guilt, like being more flexible with the standards you place on yourself.
 
Choose a Compatible Business Idea
 
Often, one of the hardest parts about launching a business is committing to a business idea. You likely have a long list of potential ways to make money from home. How do you choose the perfect idea to run with? Start with what you know. Whether you’re great at writing or you enjoy crafting home-made decor, you should be able to find a way to turn your passion into a business. It’s important that your business idea aligns with your interests and your skills so you will be able to maintain your motivation to stick with it through tough times.
 
Make sure your business idea is also compatible with your financial situation. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on your startup, you may want to stick with business ideas that require a very small initial investment. For example, Crazy Egg suggests inexpensive business models like freelance writing, selling homemade crafts, tutoring, graphic design, or working as a virtual assistant. With the right attention to budgeting, you should be able to start any of these businesses for under $100. Sticking to your startup budget is easy if you skip unnecessary expenses like renting an office space, purchasing fancy tools, or hiring full-time employees!
 
Pay Attention to Your Legal Responsibilities
 
Launching a home business can be complicated. Part of the reason for this is the vast legal responsibilities that come with business ownership. Neglecting these legal obligations can cause some serious problems down the line! To avoid lawsuits, fines, and penalties, take the time to cover all of your legal bases before moving forward with your business idea. It’s easy to overlook these requirements when you’re starting a business from home.
 
Grow Your Business Slowly
 
After establishing the foundation for a scalable business, you can start thinking about growth. Just be careful not to grow too quickly. It’s common for home-based entrepreneurs to get carried away by the lure of fast cash, but it takes time to build a business that generates sustainable income! Grow your business too fast and your expenses may increase faster than your revenue, ultimately shrinking your bottom line.
 
Aim to secure consistent and reliable cash flow before setting your sights on new growth opportunities. Slow and steady growth will also give you time to solve operational issues, avoid overworking your employees, and keep your customers front and center as you add more responsibilities to your daily to-do list.
 
Running a business is a fantastic work opportunity for stay-at-home moms. While it can take a while to settle into your new schedule, you will get the hang of things eventually. Set yourself up for success by choosing a business idea that aligns with your lifestyle, tackling your legal obligations, and planning ahead to combat anticipated challenges so you can achieve some sense of work-life balance through it all.

Author bio: 
A busy mom herself, Leslie Campos has dedicated her site Wellparents.com to all the moms and dads searching for ideas on being physically and emotionally well. When not working or running her children to various after-school activities, Leslie loves to practice yoga, CrossFit, and watching The Great British Baking Show.

Are you looking for personal coaching support on your mompreneur journey? MindCraft Leadership can help you along the way!
 

Why right now is the perfect time for positive personal and professional change and growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic is nearly six months old. You might be "adjusting" to the new normal life of social distancing, schooling, remote (or not) working, not going to the pub etc. Whatever the personal impact has been to you, one thing is for sure, life has changed. And change is stressful for us as humans, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on your personality. So why in amongst all this would personal development be important?

The pandemic has been referred to as a "crisis". Now I think that is a way overused word in our day to day life, but most people would agree that this event would be considered a "crisis". It is commonly stated by motivational speakers and the like that the word in Chinese for crisis consists of the characters for "danger" and "opportunity". This is not a strictly accurate translation, but the characters do represent "danger" and "a point where things happen, change".

And if you think about your M.O., it is likely you can go through your normal (pre-COVID) routine without much thought at all. How many times have you filled out that monthly/weekly report starting with a copy-paste? Or driven to work on auto-pilot? If we are comfortable and capable at whatever we are doing, we usually fall into a pattern of doing it without too much thought. In other words, you are in your comfort zone. Consistently staying in your comfort zone leads to boredom, complacency and stagnation.

So what does this have to do with the current situation? Eloquently put by American writer Peter McWilliams "Comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort". And most people who seek out personal growth & development actively look to make themselves uncomfortable and challenge themselves by doing something new and different. So when the universe presents us with an opportunity to push us outside of our comfort zone, we have two choices; dwell on the negative aspects or embrace the change to see what we can get out of it. Being out of your comfort zone can involve changing perspectives, obtaining new skills, meeting new people, having more (or less) down-time or learning to use Zoom as your main communication method!

Now I want to acknowledge here that for many people this crisis represents some pretty awful outcomes, ranging from isolation from our loved ones to loss of life. I don't mean to belittle anything that anyone is going through. But if you do have the opportunity, this discomfort you are feeling right now, can lead to meaningful personal development & growth.

I work with professionals in my executive coaching practice who have had major breakthroughs in recent times. The key defining element for them is this feeling of the current crisis bringing their priorities into clearer focus. When we are clearer on our priorities and purpose, our life plans come into sharp focus. For my clients this might be a new job, a new leadership style or a clearer view on their company's vision/mission. Other examples of positive change actions might include:

1. Researching your dream of that start up you have always wanted to create
2. Updating your resume ready to get your dream role
3. Doing some study or educating yourself in something you are passionate about
4. Putting some focus on the actions in your development plan
5. Doing some self-reflection about what is truly important to you
6. Working out how to articulate your purpose in life/work
7. Checking in on your values and how you are living them
8. Seeking feedback from your peers/manager/team members and taking some action as a result

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So if life has handed you some lemons right now, firstly make some delicious lemonade (yum), and then have a think about what positive change you can make in your life as a result. Feel free to leave any ideas in the comment section for positive change actions that might be helpful to others.

Head to my website for more details on how Executive Coaching with MindCraft Leadership can help you make the professional changes you seek. Each 60 minute introductory session via Zoom is completely free of charge and with no obligation.