Summer survival guide for mumpreneurs

Holidays are meant for relaxing, right? Not if you’re a mumpreneur and your home is your office. Keeping your business going can seem almost impossible during the holidays when you’re house is overrun by little people determined to have fun!

Fiona Clark, founder of Inspired Mums, who is passionate about helping mums find flexible work that fits around their families, offers some tips for keeping your business going and staying sane this summer.

mumpreneurathomesmall• Keep a lid on your guilt. Don’t compare yourself to full-time mums and start feeling sorry for yourself that you have to work over the summer. Feeling guilty won’t help anyone either. Feel proud about being a working mum and save your energy to really make the most of the time you do have with your children.

• Get organised: Plan your days so that when you do have time off, you can really relax and enjoy yourself with the kids – going on a fun day trip, sharing a cuppa with your friends, while the children have fun with theirs or doing something you wouldn’t normally do like pond dipping or camping in the garden.

• Sort childcare: If your business is steaming ahead, don’t assume you can manage without any childcare for 6 weeks. Limit the stress of trying to take calls from clients with noisy children in the background. Better to book some childfree days rather than to run yourself into the ground entertaining the kids during the day and then trying to cram a day’s work into a few hours at night. If it’s a struggle to pay for childcare, now’s the time to call in favours from friends or get a swapping rota going with another mum.

• Switch off: Easier said than done when you are a business owner, but summer is a great time to recharge the batteries. Spend at least a few days without your i-Phone or i-Pad and if at all possible draft in support to cover for you when you’re away so you can actually switch off.

• Keep your cool: If you dread incessant sibling squabbles, resist descending into parent tantrums and joining in the shouting. Pre-plan some boredom busting activities.

• Try something new: If you get frustrated by the ‘ground hog’ day feeling of the holidays, challenge yourself to do some activities that are totally different. Go somewhere new, sign up for an evening class or rediscover an old hobby that you have neglected since becoming a parent.

Download Fiona’s FREE e-book – “For mums stuck in a career rut – 8 steps to finding work you love” TODAY. It’s packed with tips, exercises and inspiring case studies to get you out of your rut and on the way to your new career.

Fiona Clark is a qualified confidence and career coach who founded Inspired Mums to inspire women to reach their full potential at work. She is passionate about helping women find fulfilling, family friendly roles.
Like her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/inspiredmumscoaching
Follow her on Twitter: @Inspired_Mums