—
Many people who run a small business while also raising a family soon find they are having to choose between one or the other. Either they neglect their business or they neglect their family. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With a few adjustments and modifications to your business structure, it’s possible to spend more time with your family without compromising the success of your enterprise.
Trim the fat
Finding ways to reduce your workload is the simplest method of spending more time with family without it negatively impacting your business. For instance, someone who manages his notes at the end of the workday could free up an hour or each evening by dictating into a voice recorder and forwarding the audio file to the best transcription service he finds. They can quickly and accurately transfer his thoughts and findings into a word document while he takes his kids to the park before the sun sets.
Hire staff
Many small business owners stubbornly resist the idea of hiring more workers. This is understandable, given the expense of paying someone a living wage, but it might be necessary if you’re burdening yourself with too much responsibility. Doing double the amount of work a person is expected to do per week is going to negatively impact your ability to spend time with family, there’s no way around it. Thanks to the rise of the remote workforce and other trends, hiring staff to take on various responsibilities has never been easier. So why not give someone a job and spend more time with family at the same time?
Set goals
One of the best ways for small business owners to avoid falling behind on family time is to set family-focused goals. Similar to setting sales objectives for your business, setting specific goals for the family will keep you focused on the completion of the task. This helps to ensure you find time to go camping over the summer, practice throwing the ball back and forth in the backyard, and so forth.
Family business
If there is work they can do, why not bring your kids in on the family business? Whether it’s answering the phone or filing paperwork, there are a number of basic business tasks which can be undertaken by responsible youngsters. This gives parents and kids the chance to bond while the parent simultaneously manages their business. While this arrangement isn’t always feasible due to school scheduling and the nature of some ventures, it’s an idea to strongly consider for those who have the opportunity to put it into action.
Resist obsession
Becoming hyper-focused on your business is a sure way to neglect the wellbeing of your loved ones. It’s important for business owners to know when to take a step back and turn off their devices for a while. The same can be said for being too obsessed with your children; allowing kids to grow and develop on their own is part of being a good parent. If you’re worried sick about your child’s safety when not in your sight, chances are your business will struggle in some way as a result. Stay grounded in your healthy pursuit of business and family success, otherwise, you’ll end up blowing a fuse.
Running a small business while raising a family is never going to be easy. However, there are ways for parents in this position to avoid choosing one over the other. It’s possible to manage a company and a household without neglecting one in favor of the other, so long as parents are willing to make the choices necessary to make it happen.
—
This content is sponsored by Anne Davis.
Photo: Shutterstock