I had the pleasure of having Scott Stratten of UnMarketing present to my Mom Entrepreneurs` Network on Tuesday. One of the topics he discussed was how WAHM (Work At Home Moms) may be risking their image by working at home while their kids are home at the same time.
This really made me reflect on my own life. For the last year I have been struggling to manage raising kids and starting my own company with limited daycare.
First I started with no daycare at all – I mean how hard could it be? After staying up all night and burning the midnight oil for a month I decide that this was just plain stupid.
Then I hired a mother`s helper to come over after school a few days a week. That helped a bit but I felt I needed at least a full day to work without the kids so then I begged my mom to help me out with a full day`s worth of babysitting which she agreed to. THANK GOD.
Now I find even that is not enough. I need another full day a week to work on my business. So I am in the process of hiring someone for another full day. That leaves me with three days with the kids and two working. It still won`t be easy.Running your own business is a lot of freaking work.
Do you work from home with your children around? Tell me how it is going? What do you think about Scott`s view on this?
Scott Stratten on Why Being a WAHM is Bad for Business from Jessica Knows on Vimeo.
I agree with Scott too – but is that a new idea? It just seems like common sense to me. I had a business I ran from home for several years that I closed after my second child came, because I did find it was impossible to manage everything – it was a retail business – and no one would care if my kid was sick or didn’t nap that afternoon… get ‘er done, or shut ‘er down. Since my husband’s job was the one that really paid, it wasn’t a tough decision to make (though it was very tough on me) but in the few other professional “contracts” I’ve had since then, I don’t mention the children unless someone asks – if I can’t manage the client’s needs, then I don’t take the job.
And indeed, working from home while children are afoot IS nearly impossible, as Leigh said. I don’t like to make ANY phone calls (business or personal) while the children are running around behind me – I’ll talk to you properly when I find the right time (which sometimes never comes…) but that’s just the way it goes. They’re not small forever.
I also don’t work much. Poo.
I agree with what scott has to say wholeheartedly. While my business has been running my art school (mainly form my home) which caters to children and their mothers- they like to know I have children as it defines in part who I am. But they also need to know what they are getting – and that is me and my class while their child is with me. I do get to be flexible with them because I get what it is to be a mom. And that is a thrill for me.
Thanks for sharing Scott and Leigh
Sarah, Danielle, Amanda and Naomi I find what you have to say really interesting….
I came from a work environment (the government) where there was a lot of talk from management about being supportive to work life balance and creating a work environment that is flexible with stuff like children being sick etc. However when it came down to it I found that those who did not have kids became annoyed with moms who complained about trying to balance it all. I had a friend recently tell me what she will not talk about her kids at work because she finds it “unprofessional”. I just could not do it but I do remember a co-worker making me feel like crap when I recently returned from mat leave and had forgotten my work shoes (it was winter) – she said to me “When did you start preparing to return to work?”. I was so mad (she also said other things prior) – I said “I hope when you have kids people will treat you with more kindness then you have treated me”.
One of the reason’s I was drawn to working with mompreneurs is because they “get” all the stuff we have to deal with. However, I do think that working with children around is almost impossible.
I also think that you are right – especially being self employed – that talking about not getting something done because of kids just doesn’t fly unless the client is like you and is empathetic but even then…… it may be okay once or twice but not likely ongoing. A daycare strategy is kind of crucial as well as a supportive spouse who is willing to be helpful and treat your business seriously.
Lastly, I think you have to be careful not to take on more work then you can handle if you have young kids – I am scaling back to a more reasonable amount of work because I can’t work full time right now.
You make some great points Scott. I find that I have to agree, although I am not working from home I am going to school part-time while working. My profs. sure do not have any empathy when it comes to deadlines & projects. They don’t want to hear that I didn’t do the work because I didn’t have any time because my kids were sick. I can definitely see how it could be a detriment to an employer.
I completely agree with this.
I started my business 7 or 8 years before I had children. As you know, the majority of my business is photographing weddings. My business really took off the year before I got pregnant. I exhibited at a bridal show when I was pregnant (but not yet showing) and got more consultations than I expected (or ever had in such a short period in the past). However, my booking ratio was significantly lower than usual as well and I think one of the main reasons for that is that I was really showing by then.
Sometimes potential clients ask me how many weddings I have that year. I went from photographing in the 20s to photographing 8-10 a year (in part because the year I was pregnant, my booking ratio went way down, but also because I stopped marketing for awhile because I realized I only want 8-10 a year).
I learned that instead of saying, “I don’t take on too many weddings each year because I have a child and I want to spend time with her,” (I know, how stupid was that?!?!), I should say, “I take on a very limited number of weddings each year because I want to make sure each couple gets 100% from me.” I don’t mention that I have a child to most of my couples if I don’t have to. I think this has helped my booking ratio.
That being said, I do feel it is beneficial for portrait clients to know that I have a child, since it shows that I can relate to them.
I don’t, however, let them know that my daughter is home with me most days.
Currently, it works out to about 2 days of me working per week and five days with her at home with me (of 7 days)-except ‘wedding season’ when I am often working on Saturdays as well as the other 2 days per week.
When I need to get lots of work done she will got to the babysitter’s more often so I can stay on top of things, because I have realized that I really can’t get ANY work done on days where she is at home with me. I often plan to work during her nap time, but of course, when I make plans like that those days are usually the ones where she decides to skip her nap!
I never thought balancing children with running my business would be so difficult and I can’t believe how much time I had BEFORE I had a child. I also didn’t realize that I would find it emotionally difficult to halve the amount of work I had, because I realized that my self-esteem is linked to my business (which again, is ridiculous, since I have been putting more focus on my child so of course I have less work than before I had her!). It’s a tough, tough balance.
Right now I’m a study-at-home-mom as I plow my way through my real estate licensing course while three children (my youngest is 3 months) bellow in the background. It’s tough, and I always feel as though my reading and assignments are hanging over my head, but thankfully my MIL watches the two older kids on day per week and that makes the load bearable. The laundry hasn’t been folded in a week, though. Something’s gotta give….
Scott is right on!
I am a freelance writer and marketing consultant, and I work from home. I also happen to have three small children.
I changed my career focus to work from home when I had kids. But having children doesn’t define my business.
Unfortunately, many work at home moms do let their kids scream in the background of business calls or give their children’s illnesses as the reason the project as late. So they can give the rest of us a bad name. So it’s not a surprise that many people, including moms, see women working from home as putting their kids first, business second. I don’t want to be painted with that brush, because that’s not how I run my business.
I’ve never pointed it out to a client that I’m specifically working at home with my kids. Plus, being busier now, I rarely am. To work effectively I do get childcare two – three days a week. When I try to work and parent at the same time, I rarely do either well.