There has been a huge rise in the number of women setting up in business with more than half of them being mums.<\/p>\n
Being self-employed and able to work around the needs of their family is a high attractive reason for many mothers setting up in business, but a worrying find by Business Link discovered that 24 per cent of mums actually had less time to spend with their families.<\/p>\n
Women setting up recruitment, legal or finance companies were hit the hardest when it came to having less time with their families.<\/p>\n
Marketing and communications director at Business Link in London, Diana Robertson says: \u201cMany entrepreneurs start their own business driven by a desire for a better work\/life balance. It\u2019s something many achieve, but the first few months and years of a new enterprise can be an incredibly busy time. If the last couple of years has taught us anything about the business world, it\u2019s that it can be challenging to create and maintain a solid and successful organisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key is to go into it with your eyes open. The rewards \u2013 both personal and professional \u2013 of running your own business can be immense, but it isn\u2019t something that comes easily. Establishing a reputation and building firm foundations for a long term business can be a time consuming task. The short term impact on things like family life need to be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Business Link suggest five ways for mums setting up a business to balance their time successfully around their family.<\/p>\n
1.Plan ahead to make the most of your time<\/p>\n
2. Build an effective support network of people to help when demands on your time are too much.<\/p>\n
3.Gather as much advice as possible from other entrepreneurs facing the same challenges.<\/p>\n
4.Set aside certain times of day for certain tasks, such as an hour in your day to make client calls, rather than juggling them through the day.<\/p>\n
5.Be realistic with what you can achieve in your day.<\/p>\n
Business Link provides a free impartial service on helping people in the UK get their business on the go.<\/p>\n
For further information on how Business Link can help your business, call 0845 600 9 006 or visit<\/p>\n