Running your own business is a challenge at the best of times, and when you throw motherhood into the mix, you’ve got a whole new ball game. It’s a fine art of balancing life, work and being a mum, and that’s why we spoke to the experts for their priceless advice- mumpreneurs.
If you’re a mum toying with the idea of starting your own business, read on to get honest opinions and inspiration from these mumpreneurs who are slaying it!
What not to do
Sophie Doyle, CEO and Owner of Alf the Label
For mum of two, Sophie, the inspiration to create a luxury line of nappy bags, started when she was pregnant with her first child. Over the years, her brand Alf the Label has become a great success, teaching her many lessons along the way.
“My advice for other mumpreneurs on what not to do would be to try and retain control over parts of the business you can outsource to an expert or team member.”
The initial start-up phases of a business can be tiring. The process often involves wearing many different hats from marketing to accounting, HR and everything else in between!
“Starting a business from the ground up often means you are a jack of all trades, to begin with. Learn to let go and let others help you when you’re in a growth phase so you can concentrate on working on the biz, not in the biz.”
Jenn Donovan, Owner of Social Media & Marketing Australia
When it comes to the work-life balance of juggling motherhood with a career, Social media and marketing guru Jenn has a spoiler alert.
“Don’t look for work/life balance. It simply doesn’t exist.”
Jenn addresses a common situation that many mumpreneurs find themselves when trying to run their own business.
“If you are continually thinking about work when you’re supposed to be spending time with the family and thinking about your family when you are supposed to be working – you are just setting yourself up to feel failure in every avenue.”
Fortunately, Jenn has a simple solution that helps provide joy and balance.
“Forget the work/life balance and love what you do, love who you do it for and embrace the messiness of family and business life.
Allow yourself to just do what needs to be done, one day at a time.”
Three pieces of advice to mumpreneurs wanting to start a business
Julia Christie, Owner of Nail Snail
Faced with the lack of safe nail clippers for babies on the market, Julia used her ingenuity and innovation to create her own product solution and business, the Nail Snail.
Her 3 pieces of advice are:
- Get a GREAT accountant – they will help you save money and set your business up properly from the get-go.
- Be Little, Act BIG – Be the face and connect with your customers, but act like a big company – make decisions that help you scale up right from the beginning
- Be Sensible and SMART with your money – everything is more expensive than you think – do what you can to save as much money as possible. Keep track of all your spending. Get grants!
Veronica Kennedy, Owner of A Hand to Help
Veronica knows a thing or two about keeping a business in line and running smoothly, working as a professional organiser for many years.
Veronica’s top three words of wisdom to other mumpreneurs:
1. Be realistic about how much time you have for business and how much time you have for family.
To help me be realistic, I coloured in a week to show me where in the week I had time for business.
Colour 1 for must dos- They might be school drop off and pickup, meals and the all important sleep.
Colour 2 for I’d like to do but not necessary,
Colour 3 was business time.
This coloured timetable changed over the years as the needs of children changed. But it was invaluable to help me be realistic with what I could achieve.
2. Don’t sacrifice sleep
It’s foundational to good health, allows the brain to function at its best.
3. Ask for help
Outsource a home task to another member of the family or outside help
Make time to unwind
Kim Calera, Owner of Honest Miracle Family Organics
Health-loving mumpreneur Kim shares her tips on creating the right balance and learning to unwind.
“Balance to me is going with the flow, some weeks, you’ll be on top of the world doing everything so easily, and other weeks you’ll find everything a chore.”
“Self-care for me, is drinking delicious herbal teas, trampolining, meditation, and treating myself to a luxurious skin-care regime. I’m the founder of a social impact business, and so we are invested in changing the world, and my favourite saying is, “We can’t change the world if we burn out ourselves, if we start by saving ourselves, the world will learn by our example. I feel like that’s quite applicable here, too.”
Kayla Mossuto, Owner of Crema Joe
While running a successful eco coffee-pod business and taking care of her tribe may take up most of her time, Kayla Mossuto stresses the importance of setting aside me-time.
“Being a business owner is demanding at the best of times, especially as a mother.”
I like to have mini-moments to myself throughout the day to ground myself, and rebalance. Since I’ve started working from home due to Covid, this may be as simple as spending 10 minutes in the garden to do a quick harvest, scheduling a coffee lunchbreak with a friend, or even just taking a short stroll around the block. These can all be the perfect refreshers to get me through the afternoon.”
If you are a mumpreneur and would love to be involved with our series, please drop us a line!
