A couple of years ago, when my youngest daughter was a baby and my oldest daughter was in daycare a couple of days, I could not fathom owning a small business. I hands down respect anyone who can maintain sanity, be on call to their business 24/7 and keep two very young humans alive and thriving.
Fast forward to 2021, add a couple more hours sleep and somewhat reduced demands from my little people and the haze lifted. Add to that my work circumstances changing, doors that shut, others that opened and I threw caution to the wind to give my own small business a shot.
Stitch Studio was born less than six months ago and wow what an adventure it has been. Life as a stay-at-home parent and small business owner is messy, stop/start and perhaps most of all requires an insane level of flexibility. In the small amount of time I have been a small business owner, I’ve learnt some lessons that I wanted to share in case it might help another parent who is also managing caring for small humans and building/running a small business.
1. Doing “what you love” is more than a cliché
Building and running even a small-scale business requires a lot of hours, more than I have in my two 5 hour workdays. Although very cliché, if I wasn’t loving what I do I would not be happily working on my projects and goals for a few hours most nights and for an hour or two whilst my toddler sleeps.
I absolutely love learning about building a business and I thrive using my creativity, so spending time on the couch each night researching, tapping away on my laptop, designing art on my iPad or stitching my latest embroidery design is not a chore, it’s a pleasure. And let’s face it, life isn’t very rock and roll when you’re a parent to littlies so my nights out on the town are very minimal!
2. Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise
I have want-to-do’s, must-do’s, goals and new projects relating to my business that float around in my head all day, especially as I lay down to sleep at night. I haven’t quite found the perfect organisation tool just yet, but I realised early on prioritising my tasks is a must. Whether it is a list on my phone’s notes page or in my notebook, I usually start my workday with writing a list of my must do’s and want to do’s. This often includes a quick win which helps with maintaining motivation and momentum. Other tasks might include developing content or posting to social media (according to my schedule, see below), website updates, posting orders, outreach/business development and working on a new product.
3. Be kind
Being kind to myself doesn’t come naturally to me, but I am working on it. I often coach myself throughout my work day with statements like, “it doesn’t have to be perfect” or “I can’t expect to be a master at everything when just starting out”. I have heard being creative and doubting yourself go hand in hand – apparently it feeds creativity. Too much of it though and I become stuck, not wanting to move forward in case what I do/design/produce isn’t a masterpiece.
So reminding myself daily that I am doing the best I can, I am learning, I will make mistakes and so on brings a sense of calm and reassurance (and is cheaper than weekly therapy!).
4. Flexibility is everything
Well, this lesson should probably top the list! Being a mum (or any parent/care giver!) and business owner requires next level flexibility. I am writing this during the week my whole little family has Covid. We have luckily been mostly fine, just a bad cold, but getting much work done with both kids at home and feeling very average has not been smooth sailing. Our Covid week followed two weeks of school holidays, so let’s just say not much work has happened in the past three weeks. Only the essentials.
When I have the energy and a moment of peace, I have been doing tasks I want to do, like writing this blog and finishing some embroidery art pieces. As much as it grates me to not have dedicated undisturbed time to work on my business during the day, I have to flex that flexibility muscle and roll with the punches. There’s always next week…or the week after…
5. It can’t all happen when I want it to happen
As I mentioned, I have big goals and new projects and products in my head that I am itching to start. As my husband will attest to, when I choose to do something, I want it done yesterday. This can be helpful sometimes, like when I decided to start my embroidery business and within a month I had launched. One week after launch my embroidery kits were stocked in various gift stores including the iconic and on-trend Pigeonhole and my favourite local coffee and gift shop Folk and Merchant.
However, my impatience and bull at a gate attitude does not serve me well all the time. Adding too much to my plate means my levels of anxiety and stress go through the roof and everyone suffers, including the kiddies. So I have to coach myself yet again (or seek advice from my wise hubby) and give myself a break – Rome wasn’t built in a day. I can do all the things, just not all this week or today (maybe next week?!).
6. Create a social media schedule
The amount of time that goes into social media content creation, coming up with new ideas, taking top notch photos and so on is draining and extremely time consuming. It can be fun and provides an outlet for creativity, but the pressure to keep up is real. I am an avid research nerd, so I sought advice on how to approach social media for small business in order to take control back. This led me to developing my one-page strategy (love a good strategy) and timetable to guide my posts on the three or so days I post during the week. This past week much of that plan has gone out the window with Covid (currently flexing that flexibility muscle hard) – but that’s ok, I need rest and can only do my best.
7. Tune into inspiring podcasts and Insta pages
I was slow to the Podcast bandwagon, but I am making up for lost time. I have loved discovering so much FREE and inspiring small business content. My favourite podcasts and Insta pages give me business ideas and guidance, motivate me and feed my creativity. My favourites (I’m not making money from these links!) are Side Hustlers Perspective, Art Biz Success, Creative Pep Talk, the Accidental Creative and most recently I have discovered local entrepreneur Jessie Parker’s Insta page which is full of simple content and business strategy tips.
When I first started my small business I also came across a gem of a business, Creative Hive. Mei Pack from Creative Hive is so generous sharing free small business advice that is pure gold, particularly as it is aimed at creative business owners. Whenever I feel a little flat or unsure what to do next, I listen to a podcast or visit an inspiring Insta page and something in it will give me that inspiration needed to take that next step, or leap!
There you have it. What I have learnt so far being a small business owner of only six months. Wow I wonder what the next six months will teach me!