A support community— helping you do it all

This article originally appeared in the online version of Bubble Life

We are not designed to be able to do it all – alone. Being a present mum, domestic goddess, super business women – none of it. Super-mum is a myth and kept alive by others highlight reels on social media. When you believe you need to do it all alone, you will only end up adding stress and pressure to your life.

The answer. Ask for help. Accept help. Give help. No expectations. Create a support community.

Where do you need help in your life to ease the pressure? What tasks could someone else do for you, freeing you up to do more of the things you enjoy?

Are there tasks in your business you can automate or outsource? What tasks take you away from income generating – for me it is bookkeeping and social media! Maybe you are doing tasks which you are just not qualified or experienced to do – someone else could do it quicker and with less stress. Do you need help organising yourself or helping to think bigger picture, stay accountable or someone to simply talk with and brainstorm.

What about on the home front – could childcare help you, or reciprocal playdates. What about holiday programs or extra-curricular activities. I have always found these a great way for energy to be diverted and an outlet other than home or school. Could a cleaner help free up your time or maybe you need help in the kitchen – could a timesaving appliance help, meal swapping with friends or even buying fresh pre-prepared meals? Maybe you could invest in having someone help to organise and put systems in place in your home s it operates better. Do you need to organise your family schedules better? What isn’t working, or could work better in your home to ease your stress and free up your time?

Self-care is often what we are missing in our life. As mums we are always giving to others and rarely filling up our own energy cup. Putting ourselves last – all the time. This leads to us burning out and no longer able to give. Stop doing that. What things do you enjoy doing? What fills you up? What makes you happy? Write a list and then every week allow yourself ‘me time’ and do something on that list. Is it meditating, yoga, walking, going to the gym, reading, having a massage, getting your nails done, going to the hairdresser….what excites you, and re-energises you.  Could you ask a friend to do these things with you – making sure you both do them. Even better swap babysitting with a friend so you can both have ‘me time’.

If you think about each of these areas of your life, defining what balance means to you in each. 

Identifying the actions, you need to take to make the changes you need to. Seeing where you need help, defining the type of person you need to help you make the changes. These people are your support community, you may have to pay some or ‘ barter’ with others. You will have your people who you can ask for help when you need it.

The lifecylce of a mum in business

This article originally appeared in Inside Small Business

One of the many questions I pondered when writing When Business Meets Baby was when is the ideal time to start a business – before or after you have a baby?

I considered the motivations people have for starting a business and the lifecycle of a business. I also considered why people have babies and the growth stages of a baby. I concluded there was no ideal time to be mum in business, all you have is today.

Being flexible
When you look at the life cycle of a baby, every month, week, day and hour bring more developments. At each stage their needs and wants change, and it is different for every child. While the journey may not be an easy one, and you will make sacrifices, it is possible to balance raising healthy, happy children and growing a business.

Maintenance vs growth
When you have a baby, you’ll need to make the decision about whether you put your business into either maintenance mode or growth mode. Your decision will depend on so many different factors – the stage your business is in, the staffing or resourcing you have available, finances and more.

Maintenance mode – This mode will only really work if your business is already developed. Think of it as pressing the “pause” button. It is not viable to keep the business in this mode for too long – business basics say that we need to continually develop, market, and give effort to the business.

Here are some tasks that will help you maintain your business:

• Before baby is born, create marketing content and schedule their release.
• After baby is born, answer emails, Facebook messages and other forms of communication.
• Send a couple of newsletters.
• Update your social media a couple of times (just automate it!).
• Refresh your website and all your social media.
• Look at your accounts – assess each service or product, examining what is making money and what is not.
• Complete any legacy work from before baby was born.
• Revisit your business plan and consider what is your core business.

Growth mode – Employment of this strategy will depend on whether you have a start-up business or an established business. It will also depend on the funds you have available to invest. Here are my three top tips for implementing growth mode after the baby’s birth:

• Work out how much time you will have available for the business and then commit to using that time well.
• Surround yourself with the right people, in terms of business support. You need people who are both clever at their area of expertise and who also understand your business.
• Develop the business. Always think big picture. If this strategy is going to work for you then you need to make sure that your limited time is spent working on – and not in – the business.

Remember, too, that it’s OK to grow slowly – at the end of the day, you can only do what you have time to do. While focusing on growth in your business, it’s also important to ensure that you are engaged and present with your children when you are with them.

Rachel Allan, marketing consultant and author of “When Business Meets Baby”

Plan for a successful 2018

New Years Eve resolutions are a funny thing - often made up on the spot - and not robust enough to last the year. I don't make them anymore preferring instead to set goals for myself and then break them down into actions that I can achieve on a daily basis.

Are you already working on your 2018 goals?

Possibly, your end of 2017 was so full on you missed the chance to stop and think about it - take our planning challenge to help you

Maybe you have started the year and already being sidetracked into other people's priorities and losing focus on your own goals. Do you need some accountability in the mix of support?

Are you still lucky enough to be on holidays. Spending time with your children, hopefully resting. Are you excited about jumping back into your business and reaching your goals. Seeing the opportunities that come to you this year, how you will grow and how your business will grow.

Whatever state you are in at the moment, here are my tips to making sure you stay focused all year long:

1. Be connected to your goals - they need to excite you and inspire you
2. Have conversations with trusted people to always improve your goals
3. Ask for help when things get too much - automate or outsource
4. Be accountable - find a group or person who will keep you accountable to what you say you are going to do
5. Use a planner. Break the goals down into quarterly, monthly and weekly actions and goals
6. Put them somewhere you will always see. Be reminded of them. Don't be led astray

If, like me you are waiting for school to go back do not stress - not long now! Enjoy your 2018.

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Back to school - Business mum style

This article originally appeared on the Business Business Business blog - see it here

The juggle of being a business owner and parent is real. We all feel it and we all have our own way of managing it. Some seem to do it with grace and ease – others simply struggle. And then school holidays happen.

While school holidays have their advantages (no uniforms, lunches, excursions, fundraising, assemblies, 9am start times) they can also hamper your productivity. Especially over the looong break in January (we have 7 weeks) – I am counting down the days until routine can set back in. When I know the hours, I can work in my business on a weekly basis. I can cross things of my to-do list and action my goals.

This year I have started to plan on getting nothing done for my business during the school holidays – or I may set myself one or two ‘projects’ I would like to complete. Anything else is a bonus. This has been hard to achieve, it has mean’t re-thinking my business and the model I operate with. Focusing on core, money making tasks only.

To be able to ‘let go’ during the holidays you need to dedicate some time to planning and preparing your business. Essentially putting it on auto-pilot for a while – especially regarding marketing and promoting it.  You can leave some fulfillment, administration, and business development until after the holidays – simply add tasks to your to-do list. Once I am back in the business, then a couple of admin days later and I am off and running again.

Changing speed in your life, I find, is hard. Switching between parenting and work. Juggling business and school. In school holidays the balance shifts towards your children, opposed to your business. When school starts you need to shift that balance back, and slip back into routines which work for you and your family on a daily basis. Here are my 5 tips to making that easier:

Set your school routines up – uniforms, lunches, communication with the school. Use a new term to freshen up routines which were not effective previously

1. Pre-cook snacks and dinners in the holidays – have them on stand by for those out of control days
2. Don’t set deadlines or events for the school holidays, don’t add pressure to yourself
3. Know your goals for the next term, and the main project you will be working on when you step into your business – start with your feet firmly on the ground
4. Continue your auto-pilot a couple of weeks after you are due back, give her head the time and space to get up to speed again
5. Use holiday time as a time to rest and refresh. It is amazing what might bubble up for you when you are giving yourself the thinking space. Enjoy this time with your children.

There are so many school holidays in a year (12 weeks), plus pupil free days and public holidays, sometimes it feels like you are taking one step forward and two back. And then there is illnesses – bugs and other things collected from schools – sometimes by the time a cold has gone through the house three weeks have disappeared.

I have tried to continue working through the holidays and illness – this resulted in me going around in circles. What has worked for me is forward thinking and planning. Understanding a couple of weeks before holidays will be full on and a couple of weeks after will also be full on – however in between you will get time to be with your children and enjoy their company. This time will not last forever.

Finally, if you do need time to be in your business during school holidays – lets face it seven weeks is a long time. There is always playdates or holiday care to fall back on. Use your support network of mum friends – ease the pressure for both you and your children.

Growing a business with baby

This article originally appeared on the Inside Small Business website www.insidesmallbusiness.com.au

How to be both a successful business owner and a present mother.

Having a baby is simple. All they do is eat, sleep and poop. They won’t get in the way of your business! However the overwhelm of having a new baby can affect you as a business person. Managing conflicting priorities and turbulent emotions. When everything seems so exciting, fulfilling and frightening at the same time. Now, when your baby needs you so much, is it possible to slow your business down or even rethink how you are operating it. Is it possible to balance the needs of your business with the needs of your baby?

The following is an excerpt from my book on this topic, When Business Meets Baby.

Maintenance mode

Think of it as pressing the “pause” button. It is not viable to keep the business in this mode for too long – business basics say that we need to continually develop, market and give effort to the business. You will most likely not want to turn yourself away from your business totally, and that is OK – although your baby will need a lot of your attention in this early stage of its life.

Here are some tasks that will help you maintain your business:

• Before the baby is born, create marketing content (such as blog posts and graphics) to tide you over for a few months, and schedule their release
• After the baby is born, answer emails, Facebook messages and other forms of communication
• Send a couple of newsletters
• Update your social media a couple of times (just automate it!)
• Refresh your website and all of your social media
• Look at your accounts – assess each service or product, examining what is making money and what is not
• Complete any legacy work from before baby was born – perhaps you have outstanding orders or client work still to complete?
• Revisit your business plan and consider what is your core business
Growth mode
Employment of this strategy will depend on whether you have a start-up business or an established business. It will also depend on the funds you have available to invest. Here are my three top tips for implementing growth mode after the birth of your baby:
1. Work out how much time you will have available for the business and then commit to using that time well. Outsource tasks that you know you will not be able to complete.
2. Surround yourself with the right people, in terms of business support. You need people who are both clever at their area of expertise and who 
3. also understand your business. They need to understand how you will measure their success, and you need to give them enough space to do their job. You don’t need to employ people directly; you may consider bringing in a consultant or a VA to help you.
4. Develop the business. Always think big picture. If this strategy is going to work for you then you need to make sure that your limited time is spent working on – and not in – the business.
If you can’t afford to invest in people to help you, then you need to be in maintenance mode for a little while. Remember, too, that it’s OK to grow slowly – at the end of the day, you can only do what you have time to do.
Your business growth is dependent on the time that you can give it. If after your baby is born you want to be present in your babies life, then you will 
need to consider how you grow your business. It is possible to find balance between business and your baby. It is possible to be both a successful business owner and a present mother.