On Becoming Mumpreneurs

We received a lot of questions ahead and during our W.O.W. Conversation on Becoming Mumpreneurs and although we touched on a lot of them, I thought it might be useful to have them, and especially their answers, written down.

Defining Mumpreneur

Although many of us are clear on the definition of Mumpreneur, this is the definition I’ll be working from for the rest of this post:

A ‘mumpreneur’, a combination of the words ‘mum’ and ‘entrepreneur’,  describes a mother who runs her own business while raising young children.

This is not to dismiss working mothers – mothers who are full or part-time employees while raising children, but the focus of the conversation and therefore also this Q&A post is particularly on mumpreneurs.

General Advice Questions

Without any further ado, here are some of the questions we missed or were not able to delve into enough during the event, as well as their answers, from my perspective.

Q1. How do you know when is the right time to venture into being a mumpreneur?

A1: Taking especially your emotional and financial bandwidths into perspective, both these ventures (becoming a mum and becoming an entrepreneur) require a loooot of input, especially at the beginning. Therefore, if you can intentionally plan that transition for yourself, try to make sure you have a mental health buffer (increased resilience) and a financial emergency buffer (3-6 months expenses ideally) for either of them – double it if you are attempting both at once. 

However, I am very aware many of us may kind of just fall into either, or both. Where that is the case, try and build your buffers on the fly to avoid crisis wiping you out completely. Find ways to boost your  confidence, social support, adaptability and sense of purpose, because both journeys can leave you lost and confused.

Q2. How do you prioritise your ideas and manage your time effectively?

A2:  To be honest, I’m definitely still learning that now lol.
It’s a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly fine tuning to identify what pace and priorities suit me and my family best. It’s important to make time to check in with yourself and be clear on your most important priorities, not just the most urgent ones. A great prioritisation tool is the Eisenhower Matrix.
It invites us to ask ourselves questions like:

1. Where do you need to show up? (urgent tasks only you can complete, services only you can deliver)
2. Where can you defer? (set dates to do certain tasks then)
3. Where can you delegate? (partner, coparent, grandparents, godparents, community, PA/VA, automated email responses etc.)
4. Where can you declutter? (holding onto expectations, ideals etc that are not working for you/borrowed from others, taking up valuable head, heart and hand space? Sometimes we hoard emotionally or aspirationally)

Q3. How do you also manage your entrepreneur journey, your family and your faith? 

A3: I would say my personal ultimate decision grid comes by passing any opportunity I face past these questions consciously or subconsciously:

1. Is it godly?  (no point continuing down the decision grid if it doesn’t meet this core criteria for me as a Christian)
2. Is it right for me? (just because it is of God, doesn’t mean it is God’s plan for me)
3. Is it right for my marriage? (my primary mission, so it can’t compromise that)
4. Is it right for my children? (my second mission, so it can’t compromise that either)
5. Is it the right time? (could be right for me, but not for my marriage and children because of current timing, not because the opportunity itself is wrong)
6. What is the cost and am I willing to pay it? (consider spiritual, relational, emotional, physical, financial)

Q4. How would you mentor someone who wants to be a parentpreneur? What would you teach your children?

A4: I would advise anyone seeking to step out into this journey 4 main things:

1. Be clear on your identity aside from your work and family status – this is important so you don’t lose yourself in your work or family and also so your productivity (or lack thereof) in either is not the source of your validation.
    
2. Do the inner work – really this is embedded in the first one, but makes clear that mindset work is essential to ensure you can healthily pursue both parenting and business development without past trauma adversely affecting either, or being traumatised by either.

    

3. Develop your networks for both – it really is about who you know and who knows you. Whether you need an impromptu babysitter or a business kingmaker – we can only go so far on our own. We need people to do well.

    

4. Have fun – invite joy into every part of your journey, because the process will be a long one for either, but especially in parenting. If you can’t have fun, you will spend a lot of your life being miserable, so inject fun in where ever possible, as often as possible, as soon as possible. 

Specific Scenario Questions

We had some questions submitted that were more personal to the person asking and it was important for me to let you know you are seen and loved and I hope these answers help you increase your self compassion and self advocacy.

Q1. I work in the evenings as I’m home with my toddler during the day. When people ask what I do I act like my job is a “hobby” but I’m qualified and used to do it FT. How can I grow in my confidence?

A1: It’s important for you to recognise that your story has changed. By that I mean the way you see yourself has changed since you last did your job. So it’s important to own your new story and recognise your success within that too. You can’t introduce yourself with confidence when you don’t feel confident about where you are at.
It is about redefining success in such a way for yourself that it includes your current identity.
My book is a great starting point to tackle that Impostor Syndrome, and so is getting some coaching that helps you embrace your current season.

Q2. What advice would you give someone who has lost vision or even the passion of the things that they aspired to be before kids? I’ve seen mother’s do amazing things since having children but for me, it’s the total opposite. I feel more lost than ever and unsure of what direction to take?

A2: It’s okay to feel lost love – you have gone through a life changing journey that has impacted you physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, financially and so on. Have the same compassion with yourself that you would have if your favourite person were letting you know how you feel.
I’d also ask how old your child/children are now? The younger they are, the more motherhood is still acutely impacting your time, energy, hormones, body etc.

Losing passion could have multiple reasons – one is depression, so that may need checking as post natal depression is a real experience we may have and especially as women from Global Majority backgrounds we have been socialised to dismiss our mental health.
If that is the case, have a chat with your GP and maybe connect with a therapist you can trust – I’m happy to provide recommendations, so feel free to message me on vanetta@blueprintway.com 

The other big reason for losing passion may be that it no longer fits with who you have become and continue to become. Maybe your subconscious is telling you what you loved before, was for a wonderful, fulfilling, beautiful season and in this new season your expectations of what is wonderful, fulfilling and beautiful has changed – and that’s perfectly fine.
If that is the case, the remedy is to take time out to mindfully study what your new path of passion and joy is. Do different things, take note of what is particularly fun and re-energising and repeat those where possible. Be a scientist of your own joy. And of course with bills to pay and cost of living crisis it may sound very privileged and lofty to say ‘find your path of joy’ but you can still do that while working and mothering if you are ‘time wise’.
And if after you have gotten rid of anything that can be delegated and decluttered and still have no time to dream, maybe this season just requires more of you fire fighting and so your self care basics are essential to bring in. You may not be able to significantly grow your emotional wealth, but hopefully you can avoid it from going into minus, occasionally and definitely chronically. Again, feel free to have a chat with me if you need some pointers.

In Conclusion

I hope these question and answers helped you embrace your journey as a mum – or parentpreneur with more confidence. Feel free to leave comments or questions below, or message me privately if you would prefer.