Being a Mom and Business Owner

So, lately my business has been growing.  I am so thankful for that and yet I seem to have been in a rut!  This sort of surprised me as more work is what I had been seeking. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job!!!  I've been doing a wedding almost every week, family portraits, and doing personal work.

I realized quickly that I needed to set a schedule...

I am passionate about my photography and although I love it, it's not a hobby...it's a business for me.  Yes, I have been pouring every cent back into my business lately ...but even that's about to change.  I do this for my family, to help support us....maybe one day support us entirely.  I have realized that I need to set a schedule,  times where I work and times where I don't.  We are like so many of you...busy.  We home-school, my husband works full time, my kids play sports, we have a big extended family nearby and we are involved in our local church.  When you work from home if you aren't careful working from home can turn into "working all the time from home."

I am sure you have seen the quote floating around facebook lately, "Never get so busy making a living, you forget to make a life!"  It's so true...so with my busier schedule how do I plan to do that you ask???

1. I am investing in outsourcing tasks for my company.  Last week I decided to hire someone to do basic culling and editing of my wedding I shot a few weeks ago.  Although this will take away from my profit, it still will improve my business as I will be able to manage my work and concentrate more on the artistic side of editing rather than sorting and color processing.  In turn, I will be able to serve my clients better AND spend more time with my family - Double bonus :)   There are various other things I plan to outsource but I won't bore you with the details.. but if you are business owner yourself I encourage you to try this with a company/person you trust... if you can!! I don't think you will be sorry! 

2.  I have ONE set night where I work .  I have actually been doing this for a little while and I am glad I have.   I used to stay up really late every night into the wee hours... but not anymore.  Every week, I go to Starbucks on Wednesday nights after hubby gets off of work.  I am usually editing, answering emails, etc.  Sometimes, I do a shoot but I try to reserve this day for editing and office work if needed.

3.  I have tried to implement doing family and portrait sessions on Monday-Thursday.  Since I do at least one wedding a weekend I try to reserve the other weekend days for my family if possible.  This doesn't mean I absolutely WON'T do portrait sessions on the weekends it just means if at all possible I appreciate doing them on the weekdays.  

4.  I share babysitting one day a week with another home-school Mom.  I watch her kids one day and she watches mine the other day...they are all friends and they love it.  It doesn't work out every week but I actually have a few Mom's I do this with, which helps make this work.  This helps me have almost a full work day a week.  Sometimes, I get a ton done and sometimes I don't, but at least I have some uninterrupted hours of work during the day. Then the rest of the weekday is my family's time and I try to return emails/calls after the kids have gone to bed.

I hope this has helped any of you with some ideas on how you can  re-schedule your workflow better and make sure you prioritize what matters most...time with the ones you love.  Our clients are important but it makes us better business owners if we enjoy life...what good is a grumpy burnt out business owner??? :)