As those who see or contact me regularly would know, I have been doing a lot of growing this year…I’ve been growing a baby! Yes, I am currently seven months pregnant (where has the time gone??) with my second child.

So what does this mean for my business?

For my first pregnancy, I was employed full time and took nine months maternity leave. Four months after my daughter was born, I started working as the weekly e-newsletter editor role for a big sports association in NSW and a couple of months later, I took on an  e-newsletter for a football club. And yes, that’s how I became inspired to start up my own content marketing

business six months after that.

But last time, I didn’t have the flexibility that I do now. When I returned to work on an agreed three day part time basis for six months, I had to be in the office for those three days and work three full days.

This time around, my main client (three days a week) will allow me to do much of my work at home if that’s going to work out best for me and my baby.

So I expect things to be very different this time around. But going back to the newborn stage will obviously make an impact on growing my business. I have so many exciting goals – getting involved in podcasts, hosting a workshop, attracting enough work to require casual contractors etc, but I guess those things will have to wait.

In times like these, I think back to the advice given to me over a year ago by two businesswomen who have built their businesses around their kids. They basically told me that their business has gone through various lifecycles – sometimes they have time to grow it and other times they accept that it is time to take a step back and focus on their family. So I don’t need to put that unnecessary pressure on myself to keep my business, hours worked and income moving up the scale each year. Just because that’s what others are up to in their business, it doesn’t mean that it’s the right time for me. So it’s okay to just go with the flow and see what happens. There’s plenty of time to grow my business until I reach my full potential when my kids are at school. But at the moment, I should simply enjoy the balance of being a great mother and doing the work that I love – when I can.

In this past year, I’ve had to remind myself of this on a few occasions when I have become totally inspired and started to dream big. But it’s important to remember why I started my own business in the first place – to have the flexibility to work around my family. Having goals is great, but if it’s going to stop me from being there for my kids when they need me – then what’s the point?

Have you fallen pregnant while building  a business? What did you do?

Until next time,

Leanne