Mumpreneur - dare I call myself that?
It's a term that I find being applied to me more lately. It's flattering, yet I think there's a long way to go before I'm fully ready and worthy of that title. Right now I'm just a mum trying my best to carve out something that will also allow me the flexibility to spend more time with my kids in the long run. And it's a bonus that I really like what I'm doing!
A few months along since the start of this journey, I've found that one of the biggest challenges in being an aspiring Mumpreneur is juggling the kids and spending adequate time on the business. Because it really is so exciting to be building a business, and there really are a lot of nitty gritty things to do to keep it running, I sometimes find my mind wandering to my to-do list and new ideas, when really, I ought to be devoting my attention to the children. Being in the here and now.
Unfortunately I suffer from a classic case of Mum's Guiltilitis. If I'm here with the kids, I think about my business and how I should be spending more time on it. If I'm doing some work growing the business, I feel guilty I'm not spending time with the kids. I spoke with several other mothers who started their own businesses and found that this is a challenge most of us share.
I knew then that I had to go back to first principles! Why am I doing this? For the family. For the children. In light of that, I decided that if I had to pick between the two - business and family - I'd choose family. And in doing so, I told myself not to feel guilty that I'm not spending as much time on the business as I would like to. The time will come when the kids are older that I can throw myself more fully into growing the business. I decided to pace it. To do things in a sustainable way for my situation now. It may not lead to astronomical growth now, but I'm moving, always moving. A bit at a time, but still moving.
I'm reminded of Dory, from Finding Nemo (yes, when you become a parent you find yourself making references to cartoons...), that unwittingly wise but forgetful fish. Her advice to us all? "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"
Little by little, I will get there.
Like many other things in life, it's a marathon, not a sprint. If you start of with a burst, you may be up ahead at first. But very quickly you lose your breath, or your leg cramps up (I know, I used to be a runner...lactic! Ah!), and the other runners whoosh past you.
So I'll just keep moving at my own pace. I'm just as committed to making this business succeed, if not more, than the next sprinter, because I'm in it for the long haul, and I've entered a marathon race with the aim to finish!
