The balancing act of family time and business growth is real for many small business owners. Often, your family is growing just as fast as your business, which can cause the struggle to maintain the balance between work and family life.
The Struggles of Starting a Business
If you are starting a business, you know that it is hard. A few hours after you make the decision, your alarm clock goes off and you have to tell yourself, “I love my job and I am ready to start a business.” If you are like most entrepreneurs, you are thinking about your family and children a lot during the first year of the business.
Working an 8-hour day at your full-time job is a lot different than working for yourself. The ability to take your family to the pool for a few hours or even work for a few hours on the weekend at home is hard to give up.
If you are having a hard time finding time to make business and family a priority, you need to be honest with yourself. You have to decide which is more important to you. I know the choice can be tough.
Balancing Family and Work
There are some ways you can keep your balance during the startup and growing process.
First, you have to learn to define your work and personal goals and priorities. Identify the things you enjoy doing, and determine what is most important to you. Take care of the needs of your family before you focus your attention on your business.
In fact, according to Small Business Trends, “80 percent of owners report that it’s sometimes or often difficult to maintain a work-life balance.”
You may need to put in some more work to get your family time in the right place, as well. Planning is key to avoiding stress and disappointment when things don’t go according to plan.
Why You Should Start Now
We asked professionals to share the best ways for balancing your family and business with some practical tips.
How to Focus on Family
There is no such thing as being too successful. That’s why many business owners spend more time with their families than they would prefer. According to a survey from Forbes Insights, most small business owners view family as a more important priority than their business. More than half of the survey participants said their family comes before their businesses, while 42% stated the opposite.
What You Need to Do
It can be challenging to make time for both family and business, but if you want to grow your business, then it’s critical to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Here are three suggestions for helping to balance the two.
How to Balance Your Home Life with Your Business
It may be true that business should come first in your family, but that doesn’t mean that you have to take your family’s happiness for granted.
How to Maintain Your Family Energetic Journey
As your business grows, it can take a toll on your body and spirit. There are a few ways that you can manage this, so you can stay healthy and energized for your family.
How to Find Balance in the Work-Life and Family Life
Finding a balance between work and family life can be challenging for many small business owners. But you can make the necessary adjustments to be a thriving business owner and a wonderful family man or woman.
How to Manage Stress as a Small Business Owner
Stress can be an overwhelming factor for many small business owners.
How to Balance Your Work Life with Your Home Life
Before you run away, keep in mind that sometimes you may have to put your work aside to accommodate your personal life. If you think you’re struggling, try focusing on your own time management skills, and don’t forget to treat yourself to some quality R&R.
How to Make Money From a Second-Hand Laptop
If you have a used laptop sitting around, maybe you can turn it into a little extra income. If you’re up to the challenge, check out these tips on how to turn your old laptop into an extra source of income.
How to Ditch Your Corporate Job
Instead of simply quitting your job to start your own business, perhaps you can make money from your existing job. Here’s how.
Is It Possible To Be A Full-Time Entrepreneur?
This is where the difficulty lies. In order to balance both, the rewards have to be significant for you. Yes, the business will provide a career and compensation, but family will bring love and happiness to your life as well.
What must you do in order to achieve this?
Educate Yourself About Time Management
One of the most important factors in successfully balancing both family and business is having time management. You will find it easier to work in spurts. This method will allow you to stay focused when you need to and allow you to multitask when it’s required.
To get the best out of this strategy, educate yourself about time management so you are aware of how long projects will take and what you can afford to lose if you spend too much time on them.
Do You Need An Employee?
Even if you’re working from home, you still have to pay the bills. And employees are necessary to provide an income. However, like you, they need time away from the daily grind as well.
While an employee won’t cut into family time, you might need to grant a few days off. You also need to pay the cost of them, which could mean a raise.
Your Employees Need Tasks
Your employees also need the opportunity to get their work done. Whether you’re an employee or you’re the owner, this is something you need to consider.
Can You Deduct Your Non-Sales Tasks?
Another thing to consider is the amount of your time you dedicate to your side business. This is another benefit of being a home business owner, as you can work part-time and still afford to give your family the attention they deserve.
