Finding More Time for Your Family

Have you been thinking about starting your own business because you long for more time to spend with your family? We all have a different motivation for starting businesses, but for me, spending more time with my family was a big one. At the time I founded this company, I had a toddler. My son was under two, and I felt like I had already missed out on way too much. When I was laid off from the corporate world and looking for a new job, there were things I didn’t want to give up. The thought of trading my morning hugs and smiles from that little guy for a commute again sounded horrible to me. The stress of having to find someone to watch him when he was sick or hoping my boss would be understanding and let me work from home was not something I enjoyed. But I wasn’t ready to give up my career entirely either. I wanted to find a way to have both time with my family and a career that I loved.

When you work for yourself and have control of your schedule, you can do things on your own time. You don’t have to check with the boss to see if you can attend the kids’ midday assembly (why, why do they do this to working parents? Who’s available at 10 am?) If the kids have a half-day, you can schedule yourself off and go to the zoo with them instead of sending them to aftercare. If you need to get work done, you can send them to aftercare, and they’ll be OK. It’s all about finding the balance that works for your family.

My son is still in preschool, so I tend to take a vacation on the days his school closes. I’m hoping that as he gets a bit older, he’ll be able to entertain himself while I work from home. Is this a dream? You tell me because I’m not sure. Right now, he goes to school, and I work while he’s there. When he’s home, I’m home and off work with him. Sure, there are the sick days where I’m juggling both worlds, but for the most part, it works well for us, and I have a lot more time with my family because of working for myself.

If you’re thinking about starting a business, even if you’re not sure what you’d do or how you’d translate your skills and experience to a business, you can figure it out. I did, and I promise you, I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. Yes, it’s scary. Oh, it’s scary. But it’s also amazing and the most empowering thing I’ve ever done. When you’re paying yourself, and it’s money you earned from helping clients or serving customers or whatever it is that you’re doing, it feels great. In the new year, I’m going to be talking a lot more about making a move from the corporate world to owning your own business because, honestly, it’s been the scariest best thing I’ve ever done for myself, my career, and my family. I’d love to help you make a move, too, if it’s something you’re thinking about. Stay tuned because there’s a lot in the works right now that I can’t wait to share with you.