Could you be a ‘Parentpreneur’?

Being an entrepreneur is becoming an increasingly popular career choice for parents who are looking for a balance between a fulfilling career and being able to spend time with their family. Whether you’re a ‘mumpreneur’ or a ‘dadpreneur’, parenting and running a business can work for you. This week we’re exploring some of the benefits of being a Parentpreneur with some experiences from the fantastic mumpreneurs in our XFE community.

Benefits of being a mumpreneur: Flexible working & School Holidays

School holidays can be particularly difficult for working moms who regularly need to request time off. This may not always be practical and the desire to spend more time with your children can often leave you feeling demotivated at work. Whilst running a business is unlikely to leave you with lots of free time during every school holiday, you are likely to have more time for your family.

Looking after a tiny human is not a 9-5 but nor is running your own business and this can be a big advantage. Perhaps you’re replying to emails at 2am or cramming in some work during your baby’s nap time, you can choose to work at a time which suits you. Planning ahead will allow you to do some extra work before the holidays or catch up once the kids are back at school, thereby allowing you to spend as much quality time with your children during the holidays as possible.

For mumpreneur Suzy Olivier this flexibility was a big benefit of entrepreneurship and inspired her to set up teething jewellery business Mama + Belle:

‘Belle was a couple of months old and I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mum for as long as possible so I needed to find something that would allow me to generate income without having to leave the house. I was on the lookout for a product. Something I could easily store/stock in my house and sell online’ 

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Do I have the right skills?

Absolutely! Whilst you may think the time you have spent bringing up children is a ‘gap in your cv’, new parents acquire a host of skills which, although they may not realise it, make them well-equipped to be entrepreneurs. We asked the newest mom on our team, Sharda, our Marketing Manager who said:

Resilience: Whether it’s battling through morning sickness or waking up for the 13^th time that night, mothers are tough cookies who quickly learn to just deal with whatever life throws at them. So, whilst starting your own business can seem like a step into the unknown, you’ve already proved yourself perfectly capable of dealing with new situations and dealing with challenges head on.

Multi-tasking: As a parent, you are a multi-tasking expert with great organisation, problem solving and prioritising skills. Not convinced…ever fed baby with one hand whilst putting away laundry with the other? Ever changed baby’s nappy whilst performing a hearty song and dance rendition of ‘the wheels on the bus’?… see, you’ve got this!

Following your entrepreneurial dreams

A recurring theme we often see at XFE is our mompreneur business ideas often stem from their own parental experiences. This could be realisation that there is a gap in the market for a particular baby/parental product or that you’d rather provide your professional services under the banner of your own business.

Toddle, was set up by ex RAF Servicewoman Hannah Saunders who enjoyed outdoor activities as a family but found the outdoors rather harsh on her baby’s skin. Toddle fills the gap in the market for skincare gentle enough for babies but strong enough for adventures.

We were able to help Hannah nurture her entrepreneurial ambition with a start-up loan, training and ongoing mentoring:

‘X-Forces has helped Toddle a lot through its first year. It’s lovely to know you have someone there should you have an issue or difficult question and it’s also great meeting other veterans who are starting their own business; it’s lovely having a group of people in the same position as you who have been on a similar journey. I’m not sure where Toddle would be without X-Forces to be honest’.

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I think I’m interested…

If you’ve read this and thought entrepreneurship could be the route for me and you have a business idea which fills you with passion then get in touch with our team and we’d love to help you get started.

XFE offer business advice, low-interest government-backed start-up funding, access to workshops and networking events, as well as ongoing mentoring for the Armed Forces and Emergency Services communities. We do not charge you for our help. To find out more, send us a message and one of our team will give you a call back.