Why you should think about starting a business around the time you potty train your toddler
Starting a business while you juggle the demands of your toddler may not seem like good timing, but consider this ...
You have a toddler running around, let's say their age is somewhere around the 2.5 year mark. Its probably time to potty train, you can't avoid it for much longer. And if you are crazy like me you will also have a 1 year old crawling around adding to the chaos.
Given that childcare costs for 2 kids easily adds up to £100 per day, you and your partner will most likely have made the decision that there is no point in one of you working. The thought process being that after taking into account childcare costs the lowest earning parent in the household contributes very little to the overall household income, so they may as well stay at home and look after the kids.
Or perhaps, like me, regardless of the financial gain (or lack there of) you made the decision to return to work for your own mental stimulation. If this is the case - resign now...
Now is the time to start a business!
Why? Well, because you are out of the baby haze... If you haven't returned to work yet you are dreading when you kids are at school and childcare costs no longer prevent you returning to work... If you have returned to work you've have had time to settle back into your job and during your lunch breaks you day dream about being your own boss and executing some of the fantastic business ideas that you have floating around in your head.
Why not now?
Why wait until your kids are older! Your life is already pretty crazy managing the demands of your brood - you are a champion multi-tasker and your family is essentially surviving without your income anyway since childcare costs are so astronomical.
Take the leap before your kids start school, when there won't be crazy childcare costs to justify not earning money while you start up your business.
Your alternative is you wait... your kids start school and you continue or return to full time employment. If you are lucky enough you find a job for 2 or 3 days a week. But it just doesn't offer the kind of flexibility you need to pick the kids up at 3pm every day or go watch their sports day. And then, because you have waited, you are trapped - you are contributing significantly to your household income and you can't really justify months and months of no income while you develop your business.
Take advantage of the time you have now!
You have some mad new skills such as multi-tasking, tolerance, resourcefulness and surviving without sleep.**
Your salary would be eaten up by childcare costs anyway so don't waste your energy and new skills on employment.
Take advantage of this window of time, stay at home and soak up the magic of watching your kids grow, and when they are asleep get out that laptop and start building your dream. An hour during their nap each day and 2 hours after their bedtime a few nights a week. Ask your partner to give you 3 or 4 hours over the weekend. Answer emails while your kids watch peppa pig. Multi-task, be resourceful. Maybe hire a nanny for £10 per hour for a few hours each week.
The magic is that you get to build your working week around your kids. And your business will grow with them. So when it comes time for them to start school you will have an established business, you won't need to return to employment and you will be able to mould your working hours as you please.
**https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/seven-parenting-skills-transfer-business-...
A bit about the MissioningMum
I took the leap and resigned from my employment earlier this year to pursue a little dream that had been begging to come out in the real world. I am a few months into this new adventure and it is more challenging than expected but also so much more rewarding than I could ever have hoped for.
My passion is accounting & finance. I am a qualified Chartered Accountant and have my Masters in Finance - which you would think looks like the perfect profile for a Financial Manager in a big corporate environment. But I have always really thrived on teaching others. During my years at university, before I started my Chartered Accounting training and after I qualified I built up a number of years tutoring and lecturing experience. My business is a culmination of these passions. I have a 2.5 year old, a 1 year old and my third baby is my business; Root2Growth.
I have developed a Finance for Non-Finance Managers workshop. I have taken accounting away from the boring textbook approach and created a fun, visual board game style approach. My aim is to help people improve their financial literacy and get a better understanding of how their actions affect the financial results of the company they own or work for.
There have been massive highs, and massive lows along the way – the lows suck! But with some amazing support from those around me I am slowly building something. I am learning that the trick is to learn as much as you can from the lows (more on that in future blogs) and to celebrate the small victories along the way. So on that note, my new website is live! This is a very exciting step for me. Take a look at https://www.root2growth.co.uk/single-post/2017/08/08/The-beginning-of-a-...
www.Root2Growth.co.uk
+44(0) 777 034 680
