If you’re a solo entrepreneur, nothing can throw a wrench into your business game quicker than having a new baby.
Between the sleepless nights, the constant cuddling, and never-ending feedings, it’s near impossible to run and manage a business on your own while taking care of a newborn.
When I was pregnant with my 3rd baby and growing my business simultaneously, I knew that I needed to prepare my business for the moment my little one came into the world.
And I was right.
After bringing our newest addition home from the birth center, I quickly realized that I would have even less time to work on my business than I could have imagined; simply because of my newborn’s needs.
It took me months (dare I even say a year) to finally get back into the groove of creating content and really focusing on my business.
If I hadn’t planned ahead of time, my business would have sunk.
As the time quickly approaches to bringing the 4th edition into our family, I am back to planning and prepping my business for the newborn & baby days, with an even better plan in place.
If you’re faced with a similar fate, I am here to assure you that running a solo business with a baby CAN be done, it just needs a little pre-work to succeed.
So let’s uncover 6 simple ways to prepare your business when you’re expecting a newborn.
Get super organized
This can mean a lot of things, and it should.
Being organized in your business AND in your home will not only save your sanity, but it will save you loads of time.
In terms of getting organized for your business, consider all the options.
Financial records, client paperwork, computer files, packing and shipping supplies, backup work, calendars, filing systems, etc. should all be considered when organizing before your baby arrives.
If you know exactly how to find something for your business, it will save you tremendous amounts of time in the long run when you have a newborn to take care of.
Imagine trying to sift through a stack of paperwork looking for one important document while you’re holding a fussy baby and your client on the phone waiting for a response.
Having your business things put in their proper place will keep your business organized for smoother sailing in these early baby days.
As for the home setting, being organized is equally as important.
Being able to know exactly where something is for your business is a time-saver, and your home essentials are no different.
An organized space is a happy place, so make sure you take the extra time to make your home extra tidied before you welcome your little one into the world!
Set realistic goals
This is BIG.
Growing a baby inside of you is no small feat, let alone taking care of one on the outside. Especially when you have a business to run.
Being realistic with what you can do to prepare ahead of time & what to expect of yourself when the time finally does come will be detrimental to your mental health and wellness.
Trust me, there’s nothing much quite worse than trying to do too much while simultaneously taking care of a needy infant.
So give yourself some grace Momma!
Raising a child, especially in the really months and years is the most important job on this planet, so don’t even try to reach for the stars above and beyond your grasp; you might just be setting yourself up for disappointment.
But, there’s no reason why you can’t juggle both roles.
Just make sure you take care of yourself and your baby without stressing yourself out or taking on more than you can both handle.
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Create a marketing & content plan
This really boils down to being organized like we went through earlier.
By creating a content/marketing plan, you’ll have a ready-made course of action in hand, so you won’t be scrambling at the last minute trying to come up with ideas on how to keep your business rolling along.
Ideally, it’s best to have a loose idea of how you want to market your business for the entire year, and then work out the nitty gritty details for a few months at a time.
Related: 3 ways to plan 6 months of content for your business
For me, I have my entire marketing calendar written down in my planner. Then I go through each month and plan out how to I am going to achieve my marketing & sale goals through my content and outreach.
I don’t like to hammer anything down too far ahead of time, because life with kids and babies doesn’t always allow for our plans to run smoothly.
Plans are more concrete for the month I am in and 2 months out from there.
Anything beyond that is only a loose idea of what I will be working on, but it’s still good to have that plan written down so it’ll be easier to come up with a strategy and content tailored for those months when the time comes.
Create ready-made content
Now that you know what you’ll be focusing on and how you will achieve your goals, you can now start to plan out content ahead of time.
This can include sales, graphics, blog posts, social media posts, newsletters,etc.
Knowing what the month will hold, you can create all of that ahead of time so that when your baby comes along, you won’t have to lift a finger. Instead, you can just focus on snuggling and savoring those first precious moments.
How much content you plan for is entirely up to you, but I would suggest at least 2 months of pre-made content ready to go. Before you know it, those months will be long gone and you’ll have to rev back up and start creating again.
So it’s best to gauge it depending on your individual needs.
With my last baby, I created 6 months of blog & video content for my business. It was a lifesaver because even though I had a high-need baby, I was still able to pump out fresh content for my business and keep the wheels rolling.
If I hadn’t planned ahead, I know it would have led to frustration and stress on my part, so it was essential for my personal well-being.
You know your strengths and weaknesses, so plan ahead to accommodate yourself so you can rest easy knowing everything is taken care of ahead of time!
Schedule tasks in advance
Just like creating content ahead of time, scheduling tasks you know that will need to be done down the line will save you a lot of grief.
If you run an annual giveaway that requires a lot of backend work, go ahead and plan that in advance.
Perhaps you write a weekly newsletter to your subscribers. It might be wise to write a few weeks or months worth of emails so you won’t be doing that while trying to take care of your baby.
Even scheduling social media posts for a month or two ahead of time will take a load off your back & you’ll be glad you did it.
Carve out a little bit of time every day until you have your baby to work on these tasks, and you’ll get there before you know it!
Enjoy your time off
I cannot say this enough – enjoy your time off!
If you’re a first time Mom, then you’ll learn quick enough that this season in life is extremely short-lived, so soak up every little bit of it while you have it.
There will come a day when you look back and you’ll remember these early days.
How do you want to remember them?
Being stressed out and worried that the work was piling up and letting the baby cry so you could get to those ‘important’ tasks OR would you rather have good memories being the Mom your baby needs you to be?
There will come a day again when your baby insists on doing everything on their own, so enjoy every ounce of this precious time while you can.
There will always be work, but there won’t always be babies.
With a little bit of planning and organization your part, you can create and enjoy a relaxing maternity leave – even if you’re a one-woman show in your business.
And who says you can’t still have fun and connect with other businesses during your time off?
Join our private Facebook group, for Moms like you, to connect, collaborate, and share your business with Mompreneurs around the globe – hope to see you there!
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