Running a business requires a lot of time and commitment, and it comes with a host of challenges too. But so does being a mother. This complex task of balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship usually gets the best of even the toughest mommas out there.
To keep us from losing our heads, especially in the uncertain times we’re living in now, I rounded up some of the best tips that every hustling mom should keep in mind to keep the entrepreneurial fire burning bright!
1. Our circumstances don’t define us
J.K. Rowling has one of the most inspiring rags-to-riches stories I’ve ever heard. She was a single mother and struggling to make ends meet when she was working on her first Harry Potter book. And to top it off, her novel was rejected 12 times before one publisher finally picked it up. We all know what happened next.
Our passion project may not be a novel about witches and wizards. It might be knitting, making handmade jewelry, or baking cakes. Any business idea will be challenged before it finally bears fruit, and it doesn’t matter where we are now and the situations we’ve had to face before. We need to focus on the possibilities of tomorrow and not on our present condition.
2. Remain unfazed
Being unfazed is all about standing tall and, more importantly, being unshakeable. It also means being comfortable in our own skin and embracing the qualities that make us unique as female entrepreneurs.
Not everyone’s going to agree with our life choices. But we’re not on this earth to please everyone. That wouldn’t be living! In fact, a lot of successful people do say that the best of us are the ones who swim against the current, ignoring the haters and naysayers.
I say chart your own path. As the last line goes from Robert Frost’s iconic poem, “two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and it has made all the difference.”
3. We need a support network
Confidence and faith in one’s self are essential for our mental well-being. But these qualities also attract others to us, especially other moms who can relate to our story.
Some call it a “power circle”, a group of trustworthy online or offline like-minded individuals who can help us get through the dark times. Sure, they can give advice on business and time management. But we need them the most when problems happen in our personal lives.
We can learn a lot from the experiences of seasoned mompreneurs. You get to encourage, lift, and strengthen one another, or give each other some difficult-to-face truths about what it means to be a woman in business.
4. Success takes time
We all love to hear success stories about businesses that explode into the scene from nowhere. Their success looks so effortless. But just as a seed needs time to mature and bear fruit, we need to be patient and acknowledge that the seed of our business has already been planted. We just need to give it time to grow.
5. Mistakes and failures are valuable
The best lessons in life are often cloaked in hardship. They’re not fun, but they teach us to be savvier, wiser, and more resilient. Successful women aren’t the ones who caved in when things got tough. They’re the ones that experienced very difficult setbacks but walked away from them with priceless lessons learned. Let’s use the knowledge of our mistakes to chart a better course for our success.
6. Find your center, especially in a storm
We’re moms, so it’s safe to say that we constantly find ourselves in a storm, whether it’s during our kids’ tantrums, a bad day at work, or things just going haywire with our business. But we can’t let external situations get the best of us.
Finding our center means returning to a grounded, self-aware state. Things might be chaotic outside of ourselves, but we are in control of what happens within us.
Grounding ritual you can try:
- Whenever you feel overwhelmed, stop what you are currently doing and count to ten, taking deep yet slow breaths at the same time.
- Envision all the weight of the worries and responsibilities on your shoulders, and feel them falling off of you, releasing you from all the weight and tension.
- Choose a personal, empowering mantra to repeat to yourself. Example: “I am alive and well. I am in control. I will get things done.”
Believe in yourself, momma!
Perhaps one of the most powerful things that can get us closer to our business goals is self-belief. Coupled with patience and perseverance, the sky is the limit. Just a quick reminder though that success doesn’t happen overnight. If we embrace the journey, not only do we get to reach our goals but we also transform into better versions of ourselves along the way.
Do you have your own favorite tips on how to deal with challenges as a mompreneur? Share them with us below. I’d love to hear them!