Balancing being a parent and running a business is fulfilling but can also come with it’s challenges! Traditionally, it was choosing either a career or business over starting a family and the world seemed to be saying: if you want to succeed in business, you can’t have kids! But this could not be further from the truth now. It is possible to do both, and they shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. In fact, they should be celebrated. After all, don’t children bring great lessons and joy to their parents’ lives? Why shouldn’t they also bring useful lessons to your business life? In today’s post, we’re going to talk through some of the ways having children can make you a better entrepreneur.

Productivity

Being a parent means you are constantly working. Whether it’s your paid job, or the home-related unpaid work that family necessitates, you are always busy. Especially for new parents, it can seem like you are constantly on the clock, looking after your new-born child. When you do get a chance to work for your paid job, whether that’s your own business or someone else’s, you understand the value of your time. You know you have to work fast, because, before long, you’ll be back looking after your child. Productivity is clearly going to spring from this kind of set-up. You don’t have a second to waste, productivity is a necessity, not a luxury.

Negotiation skills

To be a parent, you have to learn how to negotiate. Anyone who has parented a toddler gets very good as convincing people to do things they don’t necessarily want to do. This is such an important skill for an entrepreneur. Whenever you have a particularly difficult transaction to make, just pretend the person you’re negotiating with is your child, and you should find you’ve made the deal before long!

You trust yourself more

Having a child is a daunting experience for many reasons. One of these reasons (that also has an effect on your business life) is that there is no one who can give you the right answers anymore. Your style of parenting is your choice; there is no one right way to do it. For this reason, you have to get comfortable believing in your decisions. Sometimes you get things wrong, but you learn to take it in your stride and learn from it. These are all essential qualities for an entrepreneur. There is no one right way to run a business, and along the way, you’ll make mistakes. But the best quality to have as an entrepreneur is trust in yourself. If you believe you can make good decisions, you’ll learn to stand up for yourself and make things  happen.

You can succeed in business and be a parent

However much the world might try to tell you differently, being a parent is a strength in business. So, go to dereklok.com.au and ensure you can grow your family when you are ready.

Team TDP