Creating a business plan when you have kids.
Let me tell you, creating a business plan when you have kids is not the same planning as you did without them – so don’t even try! You’ll be doing yourself and your children a disservice. I honestly think that we are taught in the business world that you should be able to parent like you have no business and run a business like you don’t have kids. Honestly, I don’t sign up to that BS at all, I’m not here for it. I want to be as fully present in both roles and that means giving yourself permission to parent and to work too. Being a mum is always my first priority, I have a business so that it can work around that role, but how do you make both work, without feeling like you’re not giving each your best?
The best advice I was given and have definitely learnt myself is to give yourself buffer days. In fact Im going to strip that back even more and go with buffer hours. I’m in the season of life where I don’t get a day to work on the business unless I am away working on a shoot. Ive made peace with that because thats how life is at the moment.
At the end of the last school term I was near burnout, I was exhausted on a few different levels. Ironically it wasn’t work that was burning me out but the way I was structuring my days. I literally had something on every day of the week – all day. It wasn’t uncommon for me to be home mid afternoon from leaving that morning on the school run, returning just before pick up most days and then the days I was ‘off’ aka only having Nella I was trying to do some sort of work. What I’ve now noted to myself is that I still have a young baby with me every day and going to work is not a day off.
What I was failing to recognise was that I was making decisions off the old version of myself that had the luxury of non dependant time, even when I was pregnant I had 2 days just for me, which I spilt between work and whatever I needed to do. Now Im on 247. Which is also fine, its the season that I’m in and thats the part I need to respect and lean into. I do not want to rush through everything.In fact I am forcing myself to enjoy it all even more because this really is my last time with a babu in the house.
After having a few weeks off that spinning wheel so to speak I feel so much better. My nervous system is calmer and Ive been able to see where I was going wrong.
Where I’m at right now Is learning how to navigate a business with a young baby in the house again – without burnout and I see it going a few ways. Either taking on less work, or creating courses and products or raising prices. Maybe all of it might happen. But I do know that I will be doing it all based on how it makes me feel. Because If I feel out of kilter with no peace its the wrong choice for me, I know that much about myself these days. I don’t want to feel frustrated in my work, I want to feel in alignment. That doesn’t always mean that days will be easy with no obstacles, but it will be led with intuition and feel right.
So what does creating a business plan with kids look like? It looks like (in my opinion)
- Doing what feels right for you.
- Letting your intuition lead.
- Creating space in your diary – not running yourself into the ground.
- Planning your to list into chunks. These days I break down a task that might have been able to get done quick sharp before into a few steps because my time is not as readily available as it was before.
- Say yes to commitments that only feels right.
- Knowing that if you need to get your head down for a while, grab a routine and focus on what you can. But know that you cant sustain the rat wheel race feeling for a long time.
- Look for ways to create sustainability with ease inside your business.
- Find people that are creating model you want to follow. A model that aligns with you.
This is my third time round as a mum and everyone thinks you know what you are doing, In most respects you do, but in my business this time I really feel that I am relearning a new. Maybe its just that this time in life I’m ready to leave the struggle bus, create ease in my business at the same time creating a secure income flow.
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