How do I balance entrepreneurship with very young kids?

Dear Aunty B, 

I have the same question as Thursday – except I don’t think you could say my children are anywhere near “cooked” (they’re two and three).

What’s your advice on balancing the parenting/entrepreneurship juggle at this young age?

I get what you’re saying about outsourcing, but at this stage I’m not pulling much out of the business as it’s not terribly profitable and I’m pumping almost everything back in for growth (our business is one that needs critical mass).

I do have some childcare and a flexible husband but that doesn’t stop the guilt. How do I answer the question: “Why are you going to work AGAIN mummy?” And how do I give them focused attention when my mind’s thinking about all the things I should be doing and troubleshooting all the problems that need to be solved?

Thanks!
F

Dear F,

Understand and accept that for the first 10 to 12 years of your child’s life, they are your major focus and the business needs to fit in around that. But also understand that you have a lot of time to carry out your business if you are clever, pragmatic and ferocious. You can fit it all in… though you can’t be a perfectionist and you get used to shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Well that will have to do.”

Do you need to be with your kids the majority of the time? No! But you have to be with them a lot of the time and be “present” when you are with them.

And that is when the outsourcing comes in. I know you feel money is short but you have to think about it a different way.

An extra two hour cleaning shift a week costs $50 a fortnight. That costs you $1,300 a year.
A gardener every quarter for three hours costs you $100 a quarter.

Cleaning windows $100 a year.

Ironing costs you $20 a fortnight.

I have just saved you 200 hours a year and the cost of that is $3,500. Instead of spending it on crappy stuff that takes you away from your family and your business, you are going to spend half that time on selling and making more money and half that time on being with your children.

The other trick is to make your husband pay all the house costs and you pay the mortgage or health care bills. That way you don’t – and neither does your husband – associate childcare bills and household bills with the women’s income. You are building a business. It is risky but will have a lot more upside than hubby’s wage slave job if you pull it off. So make him pay all “outsourcing bills” and you contribute to the essential bills like electricity. That way the outsourcing bills just become normal household bills and you stop feeling guilty about those.

Lastly, take a life view. Unless you enter a stage of ill health, you can work for the next 40 years. Women hit their stride in their 40s and they then have 25 years of full-time working life left. That is a lot of time to build your business. But get the balance right and everything will work out okay.

Oh, and finally, as prominent entrepreneur Gillian Franklin likes to tell me, don’t ever feel guilt. Feel regret maybe but never guilt.

Be smart,
Your Aunty B

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