Let’s face it, running a business from home and building a sustainable income up from scratch is tough.
Trying to do this with kids around your ankles, drawing on the walls, screaming, moaning and whining……. Now that’s another level.
As a single mum running my own business from home as a digital marketing consultant and strategist, I have picked up several pieces of Armour I can share with you to take to the battlefield that is the life of a work from home mum.
I only wish I hadn’t of been so stubborn when I first started out in business and had taken the advice of others myself.
- Outsource
There is no shame in asking for help and getting support so you can concentrate on your business.
I know we like to think we are super women and we can do every single thing by ourselves but in reality we end up burning ourselves out trying to juggle it all.
So what don’t you enjoy? Outsource it. The food prep? the food shopping even? cleaning?
Think about it, if you can earn £50 plus per hour working your business yet you can hire a cleaner for £10 per hour, doesn’t it make financial sense to hire a cleaner?
If you’re anything like me you will keep putting the cleaning off because it just sucks and then you end up low because your house is a mess.
What can you outsource in your business? Can you hire a VA (virtual assistant) to help you with simple online tasks and admin? What about your marketing or your web design?
The moment you start to relinquish control and you start focusing 100% on your passions and what you love the money will start flowing.
2. Plan
Plan EVERYTHING! The more you can plan, the more time you can save and the the less overwhelming everything will be.
Take the time to plan your business goals for the month and the tasks you want to achieve for that week. Then when you sit down to start your work you know exactly what is it you need to get done that day and waste less time procrastinating.
Even plan everything non business related. What will you wear tomorrow? Get your outfit out the night before, get your kids clothes ready and lay them out.
What are you going to cook for the week? Pre-plan your meals and prep as much as possible. Every little bit of planning helps.
3. Time block
When you are planning out your schedule for the week plan everything in blocks of time with each block of time for specific tasks.
First block out everything family related and social events, time for exercise and yourself and then the time you have available to work on your business each week.
Then structure your time blocks so only specific activities are completed within that block. So for example have all your calls and appoints on one specific day, block out power hours for prospecting and networking, have blocks of time dedicated just to professional development.
That way you can focus 100% of the task at the time without any distractions.
4. Get out of the house
I know you work from home but it’s equally as important to get out of the home also.
When we work from home it’s so easy to sit around in comfortable clothes, or even still in your pj’s, work from your sofa or work from your bed. Let’s face it though it isn’t very motivating is it?
How often do you procrastinate or struggle to concentrate, getting distracted by the laundry or the dishes?
So getting out to a coffee shop for the day or hiring a desk in a co-working space can greatly increase your productivity. It instantly puts you into a working mindset.
Can someone look after your kids for the day? Are they in school or nursery? Get dressed as if you’re going out to work for the day and spend a day a week working out of the home for a period of time and just see how much you can accomplish.
5. Automate
There is some incredible technology out there which many of you aren’t using. If there is a tool out there you can use that will do the job in half of the time use it! Stop working yourself into the ground.
Take a look at your sales process and what aspects you can automate of it. Get a marketing funnel built that will take your prospects on their marketing journey on autopilot.
Take a look at your internal business processes, your client on-boarding and invoicing and look into ways to automate this. Zapier is an incredible online tool which will help to automate your process between pretty much any online app or tool you use for your business.