3 Mistakes I’ve Made as a Mompreneur… and How To Avoid Them (Part 3)

Doing Everything Solo?

A good entrepreneur knows her herself and her limits. Plain and simple. We all have an optimum performance level. When I try to do everything myself ,  I unintentionally set myself up for delayed success or eventual failure.

For mompreneurs, asking for help is non-negotiable.

Case in point, do you notice that all the calmer, non-zombie, well-adjusted new moms have a great support system? They aren’t a one-woman show. I remember the time I was shorthanded with help,and I was dancing our baby to sleep while trying to jam a spoonful of  takeout at 5pm. And that was my first meal of the day :/

Being Human = Help

I don’t mean to sound uncompassionate to moms or aspiring entrepreneurs out there who feel alone or isolated already. But if you can just ask for help, it would definitely lighten your load and keep things (or yourself) from going crazy. It can be your your mom or your sibling stepping in to watch your baby while you take a nap. Or if you can work out your budget to fit a stay out cleaner once a week, thirty minutes of “me”  (whether for business or pleasure) time can make a world of difference.

 

My mom was a lifesaver, and an inspiration. She brings a  healthy lunch  or snacks when she comes over, and just listens when I poured my heart out. To tell you the truth, she’s a senior citizen already and I should be the one serving her. My mom has helped me so many times in my lowest moments, and I never fully appreciated her until I became a mom myself.

Help in Business

For business, each entrepreneur will have different types of tasks that they want outsourced. This is because it depends on your skill set. I know people who outsource their copywriting, blog posts, sales letters, because they aren’t “words” people. Not only does it saves me time, but it also saves them frustration and losing focus from the important things.

This one was a hard lesson for me to learn, since I tend to try everything on my own first. Instead of just simply getting help from a freelancer, I wasted a lot of time and effort trying to learn how to do coding work… Basically, things that other people could have done faster and much better than me.

Remember, you are delegating and outsourcing tasks so you can make better use of your time and put yourself in the best position possible to do your best work possible.

Time’s Up

Money can buy a lot of things, but it can never buy TIME. Everyone has 24 hours a day, and as a mompreneur, it’s critical to position yourself to be able to do your best work possible.

Being a lone ranger will only cause you to burn out or draw focus away from the tasks that actually need your expertise and attention.

Your time is  best spent doing things that only you can do for yourself:

• Taking care of your mental, physical, emotional health (no one will do this for you!)
• Being a wife to your husband. I’ve heard horror stories of husbands falling for their secretaries or household helpers because of too busy wives)
• Being a mom to your child. Having a nanny/yaya to asssist helps greatly, but we are still the parents at the end of the day
• Using whatever unique skill you have that makes your business great. In my case, I enjoy research and product development. Recently, I am working on improving my logistics and coordination skills.

In the beginning, it’s common to think that no one can do the job as well as you can. But this is not only a recipe for burnout. The sooner you can ask for help from someone you trust, the better. 🙂