How To Balance Owning A Business + Being A Mom

Being a mom is hard as is, but when you add in owning or managing a business? It is definitely more than a challenge! The great thing is that owning your own business is so rewarding. When you get past all of the hard work, you can take a sigh of relief knowing that your future is in your own hands and a lot of the time, you have the flexibility to be able to spend more time with your family. Yes, owning your own business is hard, but it is possible to balance work and home life with a few easy tricks and tips. Here are a few things that I focus on to make it just a bit easier:

Plan Out Your Schedule

I don’t think I would be able to get through a month without a planned schedule – I would forget about due dates, play dates, and probably even routine activities that I do all the time. Planning out my schedule is a must, in order to run a (somewhat) efficient business from home. It is very hard managing my time between work, home duties, and mom life, but my schedule definitely makes it a bit easier for me. As I once heard, you have two main tools when it comes to scheduling your days and your tasks: a to do list and a calendar. You calendar, or your schedule is the place where you figure out when you are going to do something and how much time is needed for that task (or meeting). This keeps you accountable because there are only so many house in a day and you know that you need to get item A, B, and C done by 12 and then you have a meeting at 2pm, after lunch.

Make a Daily or Weekly List

A daily list is important because you can write down all of the tasks that you need to get done that are not already scheduled on your calendar. This is a great way to make sure that you are still doing things you need to do. Fast Company says, “Keeping a list of tasks you need to perform is like taking notes when you’re reading a book or listening to a lecture. When you take notes, you need to filter external information, summarize it in your head, and then write it down. Many studies have shown that note taking helps us distill the information we hear and remember it better than we would if we’d just heard or read it. Your brain decides which pieces of information to hang onto for later, partly as a result of how much work you do to them up front.

Writing a to-do list is a similar mental experience. Even if you first spend some time thinking about the tasks you have to do, the act of drawing up a list and prioritizing the items on it forces you to do a little extra work. This matters. Your brain decides which pieces of information to hang onto for later, partly as a result of how much work you do to them up front–so the more you mentally manipulate a piece of information, the better you’ll remember it. That’s why it’s sometimes surprisingly easy to remember what’s on your to-do list even when you aren’t looking at it.”

Have a Good Right Hand Man

Having an assistant (or two) to help you out is essential when it comes to your business and to your life, in general. You should ultimately be able to drop everything to attend to a sick child, a family emergency, or even a family vacation, and your business should not suffer from it. To do this, you definitely need someone helping you out. Delegating tasks is so very important to the success of your business and also for your sanity and home life. Even if you could do it all on your own, you should not even attempt it. Sure, you are getting paid a bit less when you hire someone, but you will benefit from it in so many ways.

Use Necessary Professional Services

Owning a business in itself is stressful and time consuming, but when you add in being a parent, a significant other, and even taking care of a home, it can be hard to manage, which is why you need people on your side (in addition to your right hand man). A few services that you could outsource and benefit from are marketing services, tax services, and engineering services. If you combine tax with engineering, you get Engineered Tax Services, which is a nationally-based engineering firm that focuses on tax, energy, insurance, and investment related strategies since 2001. One way they distinguish themselves from others is by paying attention to small details. This results in the highest return on investment and builds long lasting relationships with their clients. They work with many large businesses such as Hilton, Dollar Tree, Marriott, Toyota, but also have a strong focus on small businesses. In fact, the CEO of Engineered Tax Services, Mr. Gonzalez, worked in Washington D.C. with our country’s Senate, Congress, Administration, and Treasury to play an instrumental role in passing tax reform with a focus on small business growth. Mr. Gonzalez along with his staff of engineering, architecture, and accounting professionals come together in order to provide a wide spectrum of engineered accounting solutions to include cost segregation studies, repair and maintenance studies, Research & Development Tax Credits, energy tax credits, Green Building and LEEDS Building engineering and certification.

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