As moms, we wear a lot of hats. Many of the stay-at-home moms that I know also work from home (outside of the work that being a SAHM requires already) owning their own business. As a stay-at-home mommy/business owner myself, I have been trying to get motivated to further my business.
I have been reading several books on business development, hoping it could apply my mommy-lifestyle. One of the most important ground-breaking ideas I read was from the E-Myth Revisited describing three personalities in ourselves while we create new businesses:
–The Manager: the one who keeps order in the environment- usually fights to keep things the way they are, wants things to make sense, needs a certain amount of predictability.
–The Entrepreneur: the one with all the ideas- great ideas and ideas that are far out on a tangent.
–The Technician: the one who knows how to do the job itself (therapist, cake baker, monogram artist) and is passionate about it. This identity just wants to do their job and love it.
I definitely have all of these parts within me, some louder than others. As I continued reading E-Myth, I was bouncing back and forth to Business Boutique by Christy Wright. Her book is geared specifically towards women, which I love. I have also been browsing Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod for the extra motivation. Below are some pieces of advice I received from both books. They may reflect my back-and-forth style of reading.
- Find your passion and develop your business plan around it. First, what do you love to do? What are you passionate about? Find that and create your business plan around it. Customize this business plan towards your ideal customer. (Tip: Use SBA.org as a free resource to help you create your own business plan.)
- Get over your self-indulgence. Hold on. What? Self-indulge? Do you realize I am a mother? If anything I deny myself! Being a researcher, I wanted to at least give this guy (Michal E. Gerber) the benefit of the doubt. So I read on… Sounds harsh but perhaps it was what I needed to hear. I want my business to grow, but I am frozen in the infancy stage and terrified of speaking up to market. Basically as a new business owner, I am having to claim that I am good enough to help others with what they need. Am I competent? YES. I am educated and able to help others! I am just scared. I would rather sit here where it is safe and I am not exposed. I like my comfort zone. It won’t get me far though, so it is time to break out of it.
- Develop yourself so that you can develop your business. Your business will not develop until you put time into it. Your business is going to grow, or it is going to shrink. It will not stay stagnant. It is constantly moving. Wait a minute. How can I find the time to develop myself? Put it in your calendar as if you are scheduling your child’s doctor’s appointment. Also, read below.
- Wake up early. I am not a morning person. I have never been a morning person. I found myself waking up at 5am and testing the Miracle Morning concept out. What could it hurt? At first, I was actually excited to wake up and have time for myself. I was working out twice a week. I actually had energy when the kids woke up! I was reading my scriptures in the morning too and starting off my day how it should start off. Adding that extra hour and a half to my day would jump start the rest of my day. It works! Get his book from your local library to fight that belief of “I am not a morning person.”
Good luck with developing your own businesses. We would love to hear about your home businesses! Comment below with some details. Let us know if any of these tips work for you!
