Lifestyle, food and drink, and our family life and travel adventures.
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When you’re a mama, it’s often important for you to be able to find the perfect balance in life. And while that’s not always easy to achieve for some people, it still should be the ultimate goal that you’re working towards. Because we all want to be able to spend enough time with our children, but we may also need to work or want to. And so it’s important to be able to find a balance between both. Some mothers will be able to find a job or career that allows them to do exactly that. But not everyone will. It can be hard to find a career that’s forgiving to mamas and allows them the time they need with their family. And this is often why working from home can be a great option for a lot of parents.
However, there isn’t always a readily-available supply of work-from-home jobs. Sometimes, you’ll see none advertised. Or, the ones that are, just are not suitable for your lifestyle, and that can be frustrating. And it’s for this reason that you may want to consider starting your own company.
When put like that, it can seem big and overbearing and scary – but we’re not talking about a huge company right off the bat. Or at all. Instead, we’re talking about becoming self-employed, doing something you enjoy to make money, and growing it if you want. If this sounds like the perfect solution for you, and you’d love to get started, here’s what you need to do.
The very first thing that you need to do here, is research. It’s essential that you’re able to work out what you want to do and how you’re going to do it. Even if you have no intention of starting a big business, it’s still important for you to work out how you get started. Take a look at business plan templates, on marketing tips, time management tips, and anything else that might help you out when you first launch.
And then, you need to work out exactly what you’re going to do for a business! This is the part that you’ll really want to get right! So think about the skills and strengths you already have. Consider what you’re great at, and how you can use this to build a business that gives you a good balance, is fulfilling, but that others will really want too.
But at the same time, you should also think about the skills and experience that you already have. Maybe you’ve excelled in a certain industry or career in the past? And maybe you know that you still have more to give? Then why not start your own business doing what you’ve done in the past? Sometimes, you can really change the game or do things your own way, by sticking to what you know.
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Another option that you have here is to finally think about following your passion. If there’s something that you’ve always wanted to do, why not do it now? And you can always set aside some time to find your passion if you have no idea what that is just yet. Either way, making sure that you embark on a venture that you care about, will make this a more enjoyable task for you.
Now, if the thing that you’re passionate about is something that you’re not skilled in. Or, you just want to top up your knowledge, then you may want to learn something new or take a course. Maybe doing your masters of science in business management online will make you feel more confident when launching your own business? Or learning more about the industry you want to be in will help you to get started.
And then, you just need to start. There’s definitely too much time that you can spend researching and planning and thinking. And so, rather than just stewing over things and NOT getting anything out into the world, you just need to start. Do not wait for perfect. Because that may stop you from launching altogether. Instead, just get too work and put something out there.
The best part of just starting is that you are going to find your feet along the way. Because you never know what your audience may want from you, or what kind of marketing techniques will work, UNTIL you’ve just started. So as you’re building things up, keep an eye on your data. Then, make sure that you’re absorbing as much information from books and videos and podcasts, to help you optimize the results going forward.
When you’re first starting a new business, it’s really easy to feel worried or afraid of failure. Because you may not want to put yourself out there if it doesn’t work out. But here, you need to remember that there’s no such thing as a failure. You either learn or you succeed. So make sure that you’re always growing, learning, testing – and then you will find your success.
And then, you just need to keep going. Even if you think nobody is listening. Even if you’re getting tired or bored. Just keep it up. Because your HUGE success could be just around the corner. It’s just so important for you to keep putting the work in to make this take off.
Now, you definitely want to be making money with this, BUT do not focus too much on that in the beginning. Instead, you need to be thinking about how you engage your audience and start to build loyal followers. When you can create a community, you’ll find that they love what you do. And when the time is right, you can then look to start selling to them.
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When you know that you’ve built up enough of an audience, the next thing that you need to do is sell. And not in aggressive, cold, hard pitch kinda way. But just by doing what you do. By talking to your audience, talking about what you’ve got and what you’ve created – and focusing on benefits or why it’s so great. Which is exactly WHY you do what you do in the first place. So selling naturally should really start to come easily to you.
To help you do that, you will find that building your personal brand can be really helpful. It’s essential for you to be able to build up an image in your customers’ mind and to make sure that they know what to expect from you. And the good news is, you can start to do this very early on. The way you speak, the imagery you use, and the kind of content you create can all add to this, without any fancy branding design in place at the beginning.
And then, when it comes to building your social media presence even further, you are going to want to make sure that you be as real and authentic as you can. Don’t shy away. Because it’s the connecting that your audience builds with you that allows you to find a tribe, make your sales, and grow the business. It can be scary at first, but when you get started, you’ll realize how easy it is.
Above all else, you just need to be patient too. Because you may just be one day or one follower or one sale away from the success that you’re looking for. The more time you can put in, and the more patient you are, and the more persistent you are, the more success you will find you get!
And if there’s one thing that you really do commit to doing here, it’s to make sure that you’re staying as consistent as you can with the work that you’re putting in. If you do a bit of work here and there, you’ll find that it takes a much longer time for you to grow. However, when you’re able to chip away consistently, little by little, you’ll find that your business starts to get traction and that you’re making money before you know it.
So there you are, that’s all there is too it. ‘All’ because when you break it down, starting your own company doesn’t seem that scary after all, does it? Yes you need to put the work in – and it can take time, but it’s all worth it. If you create a plan of action, one that you’re truly passionate about and you know will bring something to your life – and even your family as a whole – you can really make this work. Then, you just have to keep going, keep putting the work in, and doing what you do, and this is how you can find success with your first home-based business.
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
Contact: [email protected]
