How Working Mums Are Building Businesses Without Sacrificing Family Time

Working life isn't for everyone. The traditional path is not necessary for everyone, especially working mothers who want to contribute financially but also need family balance. Many working mum's even creating authentic business ventures which truly support family life, rather than compete with it.

It's not a pipedream or a side hustle that offers false promises. It's a savvy, calculated, determined, and respectful approach where these mothers carve niches in life, deliberately finding the right type of business in which to engage and establishing it properly so it works for their lives filled with school pick-ups, sick days and family dinners.

The Benefits of Service Business

What service based businesses have to offer that product based businesses don't, is a greater opportunity for flexibility. A product based business relies on inventory, shipping, manufacturing, and all things that mandate in/out based management.

A mother operating a telehealth business needs to set a certain time frame for consultations—but in between, she has the freedom of flexibility that comes with never needing to carry inventory, hire factory workers, or adhere to shipping deadlines. If she has an appointment at 1 pm, she does not have a shipping pick-up at that same time.

There's often less of an initial investment for set-up as well. A mother needing $50,000 to start an at-home bakery business to establish herself will constantly need to invest in her project over time. Yet the telehealth mom may only need her degree, an adept level of communication and a few supportive at-home resources to test the waters and expand her project down the line.

Where many mothers fail, however, is trying to do it all on their own. That's where the most successful, sustainable business mothers thrive because they understand that to get true help in the routine aspects of management and performing so they can focus on what actually makes revenue.

Getting Help from the Start

People who are successful doing it all, as working mothers, don't wait until they're sinking to get help. Instead, they build such assistance into their business model from the start.

A telehealth mom may need remote dental assistance on the other end of the video appointment to help answer questions and guide patients. She may need virtual administrative assistants to help maintain her work hours, working with clients who understand she's unavailable until her children come off the bus after school.

Instead, a virtual assistant can help send appointment confirmations, emailing details once children are present again. Essentially, the right kind of virtual support means women can make great money during the hours in which they can work—as opposed to scrambling if help is needed once children leave the house.

For example, as long as the wheels are turning in the right direction, the systems in place can let life take precedence—without crumbling under the pressure.

Making Boundaries Work

One of the biggest problems for home-based businesses is trying to contain the work aspect from the rest of family time. Successful working moms understand the power of boundaries—and they're ruthless about it—however smart.

They're not trying to work when it's family time. Instead, they're trying to get the most work done in the time that's designated—with virtual support taking any immediate needs that arise away from performance.

Cloud-based systems enable them to access what they need from wherever and whenever is necessary without burning bridges on their end. It's about maintaining their reputation and professionalism while also ensuring their kids know it's family time at home.

Managing the Money Piece

Ultimately, service based businesses foster predicted cash flow established in the beginning. A personal trainer with contract sessions will offer stability; a business consultant with monthly clients will provide revenue generating potential.

However, the beginning requires managing expectations. The working mom may not have the finances to sustain herself in the beginning or forgoing payment. Therefore, she has to start small, invest slowly through reinvesting profits and using virtual support to manage growth without dramatic overhead expense.

Smart women avoid pricing wars; they're not looking for the cheapest option because they're looking for value. If a mom can show up to a telehealth appointment successfully and access an hour's worth of consultation, her reliability is worth the professional price.

The Systems Component

Women who thrive in their efforts immediately consider systems from the get-go. They don't want a home-based job; they want a work-from-home business that sustains potential for growth with decreased hands-on time over time.

Thus, systems are documented processes for success; they're established routines documented to hand off and replicate; they bring in technological assistance to manage menial tasks that only decrease time.

They cultivate relationships with reliable support vendors who can manage potential volume should the business grow. The goal is to get to a point where if they're forced to drop everything for a week for family responsibility, none of the wheels will fall off the wagon.

This separates the successfully-minded business women from those who just run self-proprietorships.

Sustaining The Momentum

Finally, mothers who know what's sustainable have sustainable working businesses long-term. They know that right from the start, working from home, they won't be able to do it all. They can't sustain 60-hour work weeks and manage a family under one roof.

Instead, they need to create a working business that brings in good income while ensuring quality output in a limited, productive amount of time. This means selectively declining potential paying offers and being discerning about contracts. It means taking extra time to reinvest to protect their reputations.

But it works. It pays off. It gives these women lives worth living when they can be there for their families while still creating something meaningful for themselves that returns financial gain.

It's been established that when women know they don't have to do it all themselves, but instead, create systems that value what's important, they can have both worlds.