Moms Who Make the Switch to Freelancing
I have a lot of mom friends who have decided to leave the typical workforce after having children.
With daycare being as expensive as it is these days, many of these moms didn’t make enough money in their jobs (a couple of them were teachers) to make daycare worth it. Working just to put your child (or children) in daycare can be frustrating—but many moms don’t want to quit their careers to stay home with their kids. I hear that!
But sometimes the numbers don’t add up, and many 9-5 working mothers are left feeling as if they are spinning their wheels. Starting a freelance career suddenly sounds like the best way to keep a healthy work-life balance. And sometimes having kids is just the thing a mom needs in order to make the leap.
There was a recent blog post on The New York Times that asked “Is There a ‘Right’ Time for a Mom to Start a Business?” The author interviewed a mother, Laura Kelly, in Pennsylvania who had opened a shop that offered sewing and knitting classes for children. Kelly always knew she wanted to run her own business, and wanting to provide crafts for her kids gave her the edge she needed to start her own company.
Here are a couple of questions from the blog that I particularly liked:
Q. Do you think that women business owners face different challenges than men?
A. I think women feel like they need to take care of everything in the family; the kids, husband, groceries, cooking, cleaning, birthday gifts, paying bills, etc. I’m not sure that men with families feel the same way.
Q. Does it bother you that women tend to get asked about work-life balance more than men do?
A. No, it doesn’t bother me, but I have a husband that does laundry and dishes — and so much more — so I have nothing to be bitter about. I just feel fortunate.
When asked if there was a “right” time for a mom to start a business, Kelly replied that what worked for her might not work for other moms. She started slowly, when the kids were small, and her business grew as they did.
This interview got me thinking about what sorts of things moms need to consider before starting their own freelancing business. Here’s what I came up with:
Time
How many hours a week are you going to work from home? You need to be realistic about this, since there are only so many hours in a day.
Scheduling
It would be a good idea to create a schedule for yourself. You may find that finding alternative day care for your child or children is the best way for you to get anything done—especially when they are too young to be in school. Part-time daycare or preschool will give you a chunk of uninterrupted time where you can plan on getting down to business.
Support
Have a talk with your spouse or partner about what it’s going to take you to start your freelance career from home. What will they need to do for the family to support you?
Money
What does starting a freelance career mean for your budget? If you are leaving a full-time job with benefits, how will you compensate? Are there things you can do without to save some money?
Workspace
It’s easy, when you work from home, to get distracted by those dirty dishes in the sink, the laundry, the cat box, and toys on the floor—how are you going to stay focused? Working from home is easy for some people, for others, it’s harder. You miss the camaraderie of your coworkers and you’re surrounded by your own…stuff.
Finding your own space away from the kids and your partner is key. It would be great if you could have a home office where you could actually shut the door, keeping productivity in and family distractions out.
Growth
What you can do when your children are very small is different from what you can do when they are older and more independent. Putting together a 5-year plan for your freelance business is a great idea. Where do you want your business to go? What do you want to do? What is it going to take on your part to get there? Make your goals realistic and attainable, and figure out what success means to you.
Maybe you start your freelance career out very part time while your baby or toddler needs you the most and your business grows with their independence. There’s nothing wrong with starting out slow! Take on a few clients and wow them with your skills, expertise, and customer service. And don’t be afraid to say no. You chose to work from home for a reason, and if your happiness suffers because you took on too much work, you’re going backwards.
Do you have any tips for moms who are thinking about starting a freelance career? We’d love to hear them!
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The only son of a good friend had severe asthma while he was a child. Meaning that my friend had to spend a lot of time in emergency rooms.
Since she probably would have been an unreliable employee, what with all her son’s health crises, she became a freelance PR consultant to high-tech industries. When the economy was doing well, so did she. These days? Ehhh, not so much.
But the good news is the influence that Mom’s business had on the son. He grew up with an entrepreneurial turn of mind. Last I heard, he was managing a big apartment complex and thanks to his business skills, he had the occupancy rate up above 90%.
I’ve done this for years and years- part time from my son’s babyhood and full time from his toddlerhood (and my daughter’s grade school years). I always say DON’T expect to get it all done without someone else to watch your children (even if that’s hubby).
And don’t forget that, as your kids get older, they can certainly pitch in around the house. I’m reminded of a former coworker’s son, who started helping in the kitchen. He became such a good cook that the family encouraged him to pursue a career as a chef.
Great post.
From my experience, it definitely helps to start out VERY slow (especially if you’re totally new to freelancing). I wasn’t new to freelancing when I had my baby last fall, but I started with just a couple small regular gigs, then gradually started adding more one project at a time because I wasn’t sure how much I could realistically manage.
The key for me is to take on less than I think I can handle so I can under promise and over deliver, give myself enough time to execute and do a good job, and spend time with my daughter.
growing your business as the kids grow is a great mindset to have. go hard too soon and you risk burnout and guilt. i’ve seen it happen and have learnt from other’s mistakes and of course my own. happy mum equals happy kids. i’m in a good work situation now where i freelance 9 til 3 in an off-site studio which is close to my kid’s primary school. i worked from home for 2 years while they were in preschool but needed to say bye bye to my home environment to be more productive. i put my mum hat on at 3pm and ignore all client contact until 9am the next the day. it takes a while but you can train your clients the same way you train your kids – hehe! you just have to be super organised and motivated and true to yourself for life to be harmonious. and don’t forget to pay attention to the biggest kid of all who needs your attention – your hubby. your business can be very consuming at first but things will balance out in the long run if you stay true to your goals and don’t grow too quickly!
I am one of those moms who began when my kids were younger. I also homeschool, and though we use a virtual program, my kids are at home with me. I bought a book called Get Published by Kerrie McLoughlin, and it is helping me tremendously. By starting out with smaller publications and sending out a lot of queries, moms can be successful in this business. We just need direction on how to go abut it.
Finding help with the kids may be viable for some, but I am the homeschooling mom of 5 with a husband who travels. I have never had a schedule. That being said, this just shows that if I can make it work with all of my challenges, anyone can! If I can find success and money freelancing from home, anyone can! I’ve started offering some coaching services and realize that I really could have used that myself in the beginning; someone to send me an email saying, “Hey, write that piece about XYZ and send it to all the regional pubs by the weekend and check back with me.” Also, my husband isn’t really supportive of my writing, so again I have to bypass that and make it work anyway.
Kerrie, I think you’d make an excellent coach. You’re the no-excuses type that a lot of people need. Go get ‘em!
P.S. My home office is the kitchen table or on the laptop at the park
Not trying to naysay your article; just saying that I don’t want any Mommy Excuses out of anyone!
Sometimes I find us to be crazy to freelance and homeschool our two children, Kerrie … 5! You are my idol! Bravo!
Excellent and informative post. I love the idea of putting a 5 year plan together. That’s exactly what I did when I started my freelance firm 6 years ago.