Motherhood: Why I love being self-employed

I was very excited to read this great post over at Problogger which highlights the rise and rise of blogs written by moms (we say 'mum' over here) giving five reasons why mum blogs are getting very powerful and growing very quickly and it got me thinking about the multitudes of mums that are considering the self-employed route, and why I find being self-employed so attractive.

I'm not involved in BS and politics
Having 'the bambino' made it a lot easier to make the leap to being self-employed because like many mothers, I found that the reality of returning to work was bum achingly unpleasant. I haven't had an internal meeting for months and I don't discuss things to the nth degree for weeks on end whilst egos clash and nothing actually gets accomplished.

I get to spend more time with 'the bambino'
When I briefly went back to work in January it made me realise that I really wanted the opportunity to do a more flexible type of work that enabled me to spend more time around her. She goes to the childminder a couple of times a week but the rest of the time, she's here causing mayhem whilst I work. It has its challenging moments and she did decide to be more mobile the moment I started working for myself, but we've established a pretty good working relationship!

You get to innovate not wait
I just do what I feel like doing and it's great to have the opportunity to be as creative as I want to be. It's great to have ideas and act on them and it's great to have no red tape to get tangled in. At the same time, you have to manage your creativity though because you have to balance it with making money, but at least it's money that goes into your coffers, and not into the great jaws of a bigger employer.

No more commuting on the train and tube and being caught in Yet Another Delay or suffering the Great Unwashed.
I go into London a couple of times a month to work at the clients office, have a few meetings, and OK...do some shopping which I insist is research for my baby products blog. Whilst it's nice to go into central London, I don't spend 2-3 hours on tubes and trains each day anymore and it makes my day far more productive. Thankfully, commuters farting and belching in the confines of sardine packed train and tube carriages is something that I only endure once or twice a month now...

It's really empowering
I'm just starting out and trust me, it's not easy but it is great to feel in charge of my life and career. OK, I balls it up sometimes when I become overloaded with work and forget to do umpteen chores but now I'm thinking of investing in a cleaner... The point is that I'm living my life on my terms and I don't have to be made to feel guilty for only working certain days or wanting to spend more time around my child. It's very annoying when people give you 'that look' when you say that you've got to go because you have to get your child out of childcare. I enjoy seeing positive results from things that I do and I'm doing what I enjoy instead of gritting my teeth on a daily basis.

But...I do have some words of advice...

Unless you're already one of those 'Other Mothers' that has the whole house spotless and under control, you will struggle with balancing your time for the first few months.

You need to be adaptable. No two days are the same and your baby, never mind your work will often catch you off guard.

Get into some sort of routine and tweak it till you get comfortable.

Write lists because one minute you remember it and the next you're knee deep in a pooey nappy and it goes straight out of your mind.

Ask your partner to help. A quick straw poll of my self-employed mum friends suggests that partners assume that because you're at home you'll do all of the chores. Even if you can get them out with small things, they all make a difference. Or get a cleaner...

Do your receipts on a monthly basis. I have three months to catch up on and I won't be letting it happen again.

You have to learn how to say no to non-essential requests. I think it's a female thing this over-giving mallarky but you need to set boundaries and you also need to prioritise.

Network with other mums because you'd be amazed at the number of women who are thinking about working for themselves or are already doing so.

Don't forget your basis for being self-employed. I had an exceptionally busy period and it felt like I was working sixty hour weeks and I suddenly remembered that I had only wanted to do a 4 day week when I was going to be an employee. I still take the bambino to her various playgroups and I cut off at 5pm on most days. Make time for you!

And don't forget that you don't get holidays so you have to make your own holidays!

Natalie Lue has been self-employed for three months as a freelance sales and marketing consultant plus she runs a few blogs.