Oh, the freedom of being your own boss. So many working mothers see it as the answer to their work-life balance woes, but once they embark on entrepreneurship many get a harsh dose of reality – it can be harder than working for THE MAN.
Take Renee Wood, a mother of four who launched The Comfort Company, an online condolence gift business based in Geneva, Illinois, in 2002. This former hospital social worker saw business ownership as the road to more flexibility for her family.
She saw her business as a way to do something for herself outside of being a wife and mother, while contributing to the family’s income. She figured she could work when the kids were sleeping or at play dates, but quickly realized that running your own business and watching young kids meant no more personal time for Mommy.
“I would put the kids to bed around 10 p.m. and then work until 3 a.m., and then get up 7-ish,” she explains. “I gave up all my time to build a business. No more time to read a book, lounge in the bathtub or see a movie with friends. I worked like a dog and eventually I was kind of in a crisis situation.”
It hit a critical point in 2006 when she was having her hair cut and the hairdresser asked if she was stressed out. “She said, ‘Your hair is falling out in handfuls.’ I realized it was now physically affecting me,” Wood recalls. “I said to myself, ‘I need help.'”
She hired her first employee and asked her husband to help out more. “I didn’t ask him for the first few years. I thought this was my role. I am the mom. The kids, the house were my responsibilities. But when I started earning more than he did, I said, ‘Something is wrong with this picture.'”
Many women entrepreneurs who are also trying to be hands-on moms come to a tipping point.
Have you reached your own personal tipping point? If so, now might be the perfect time for you to consider bringing in a freelancer or an employee to help you with your business. In return it will help you free up some time for something a little more important, you.
Photo by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com