Mumprenuer, a label to be proud of!
This may not be news to a lot of people, but it only came onto my radar when I threw myself into the world of self-employment and put my business out there on social media. I started to see that the “Stay at Home Mum” role seems to have evolved massively for a lot of people into the new era of Mumprenuer.
Personally, I think it’s a great shift in the female world. Before I go any further, I would like to state that this is just my experience and not a criticism of any person’s personal choices.
I think its fair to say there has always been a lot of theories on what a mum “should” do. In this modern society and with the #bekind campaign in mind I can see a shift occurring in the social acceptance that everyone has the right to make personal choices.
In my own mothers’ generation, the expectation was that once you became a mother, you gave up work to stay at home and look after the family. Now whilst there is nothing wrong with doing that if it’s what a person chooses; it should be just that, a choice!
Mothers that chose or needed to work often felt or were subjected to social judgement of not being a good mother or being selfish for being away from the kids.
Staying at home with little people can be lonely and again it has been well documented the impact of this on mental health. Sometimes getting out in a social setting with other mums isn’t helpful or appealing whereas having a business that needs your interactions with people can be an easier conversation starter. Building a business need you to interact with people be it in person or online. Having any kind of communication that’s not to do with messy play or Cbeebies can be a sanity saver!
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
These days we all want to teach our kids they can be anything they want to be and what better way than to lead by example. Don’t get me wrong you won’t avoid all guilt. I talked previously about Mum guilt but this is a normal human response, at least its an internal conversation you have the choice to tune it out, this is much more acceptable to deal with than guilt forced on you by outsiders.
A lot of us ladies were used to being busy, having careers of our own before the shift into motherhood. This new role in life has not stopped us from having ambitions and a need to earn some money for the household too. We all know us mums are great at multitasking, so now many of us take it to a new level. We want the best of both worlds, time to devote to our families and a career. For many going back to an employed role was not a logistical option so carving out our own unique business model gave us the flexibility that family life requires.
Photo credit to Laurapower photography at laurapower.co.uk
There are many great benefits to being in the mumprenuer community. The first being it’s just that a community, whilst we may all do different things, we understand the challenges that being a business owner and a mum present.
Secondly, I really feel its good for mental health to still have source of adult thinking time and a sense of achievement separate to your child’s milestones and parenting wins. Happier mum equals happier child after all.
Thirdly I believe that working hard and letting our children see our efforts and (hopefully) the rewards this brings, helps teach our little people the idea of how hard work pays off.
Now that I have been networking for a while, I have met many mumprenuers’. Some who are much further down their journey and I thank them for all the tips, advice and moral support they have offered me. To those who are at the beginning of their journey possibly still feeling daunted and unsure how to proceed, in fact this doesn’t have to be a newbie. If your reading this as a mumprenuer having a wobble, let me share some of my observations with you in the hope they can help just a little.
We are all following our own unique path on this journey and that’s ok and perfectly normal. When you are juggling raising a family as well as building and running a business there are many factors that influence us. The amount of time each person has available to work on their business is different, each one of us grows our business at the speed that suits our own circumstances. There is no right or wrong, whatever works for you is the important part of your journey. Being in awe of other mums in business is great and learning from others is fantastic but don’t compare your level of success to theirs!
Success looks different to everyone mum or not. Knowing “your why”, the reason your running your business is the important bit. It helps your motivation and it will influence what you want to achieve. Measuring success against your own goals rather than comparing to others is a far more relevant and constructive comparison to make. Ask yourself where am I now compared to 3 months, 6 months, a year ago, is far more likely to be useful than “why is she doing better than me.” Remember even if you have the same goals as another your unlikely to be working on them with the exact same methods.
Although it can be massively rewarding being a mumprenuer is not easy or for the faint hearted. It takes self-motivation and good time management skills. Building a business on limited time takes a lot of discipline. Therefore, I emphasise again don’t compare yourself to others, take your journey at your own pace.
The pressure of money can also play a big role in the early stages of building a self-employed role let alone if a mum who has been out of work or surviving on maternity pay can mean money is tight. Don’t be put off, there are many free resources that can help you make a start in networking, producing marketing materials or even just research and training for your industry.
One final consideration that can prove quite a powerful thought is to acknowledge that you are a mum and a businesswoman. I have heard some women say that when they are in work mode say at networking, they try not to mention the family for fear people won’t see them as professional. As I have mentioned already, I think these days have gone, and actually sharing part of your life away from work (obviously within your personal boundaries not everything needs to go on social media.) can really be an asset to your business. Customers choose to buy or work with people they know, like and trust. Being relatable and showing them, you have the same values helps build on this. Showing that you have commitments outside of your work can also help with managing client expectations. This can prove especially useful when your faced with school holidays or unexpected sick days. If your customer base has always known the family element behind your business, they are far more likely to be understanding of the occasional delay.
Go on be proud of sharing your Mumprenuer badge, being a mum and a business owner is an achievement.