What is stopping you starting your own business right now? If you’d love to earn money in a flexible way, help boost the family budget and show friends and family that you can succeed, read this series of tips from Antonia Chitty and Erica Douglas of www.becomeamumpreneur.com.
As mums, we often sell ourselves short. The very phrase, “I’m just a mum” is often heard as we look at great opportunities and decide that they are out of your reach. In fact, as mums we are multi-able, multi-tasking superwomen. We juggle managing a team, even if its members are mainly under 18, scheduling appointments, staying on top of the finances, planning and putting ideas into practice. All these skills put you in a great place if you want to go into business.
Of course, there are some skills that you can’t learn from being a mum. If you want to run a transcription business, you’ll need to learn how to type. If you would like to offer reflexology or want to become a graphic designer, you’ll need the right skills too. It is important, then, to draw a distinction between your lack of confidence and actually areas where you genuinely don’t have a skill you might need to start the business of your dreams.
If you know that you’d love to take up a new career, make a note of three things you could do to get the skills you need. Might you enquire at the local college, see if you could do a regular swap with a friend to give you some child free time, and get a book from the library so you can start learning right away? Then, book in time this week to take those first steps.
If your real problem is lack of confidence in yourself, think about what you could do to feel MORE confident. Start but creating a vision board, one that looks back at your successes and times that you have felt great. Put up certificates and photos of things that you are proud of achieving, whether it is a great cake you have baked, your children, or a qualification, like passing your driving test. Look at your ‘success board’ every day and note down the little things you achieve that make you feel good.
Then, start taking baby steps towards doing something like starting your business. No business pops up fully grown overnight: if you can do one tiny thing towards growing your business every day, you’ll be amazed by how much you can achieve in a year!
Take your first step today: build your confidence, learn and grow your skills by joining the Mumpreneur in a Month eCourse at Become a Mumpreneur.
