How to Make Your Business Fit Your Life

All the business strategy in the world will fall flat if you don’t figure out these 3 things first!

As a parent-carer, the thought of starting your own business can feel overwhelming. Juggling appointments, therapy sessions, and round-the-clock care leaves little time or energy for anything else. But what if I told you it's possible to build a business that actually works around your caring responsibilities?

You might not believe that starting a business is possible for you and I get that. Traditional business advice assumes that all businesses aspire to massive growth (they don’t). It assumes that we all have ‘the same’ 24-hours in a day (we don’t). And it assumes that your business is your priority (it isn’t).

But here’s the thing… your business can work around your life!

By getting clear on 3 core things, you can lay the foundations that will help you to refine a business idea, choose a business model and create a viable income stream.

In this blog post, I’ll guide you through those core foundations.

Foundation 1: Identify Your Non-Negotiables

These are things that either by choice or by circumstance are immovable. Maybe it’s a regular appointment, a regular therapy or maybe it’s being able to do the school run or being available to be present with the kids after 3pm.

These inflexible responsibilities are your "non-negotiables" – the parts of your weekly routine that you need to build a business around.

If you build a business without first getting clear on these, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed, resentful of your work, burnt-out or wanting to give up all together. Perhaps until now you’ve been using your non-negotiables as excuses, saying things like: ‘I can’t make money because I can only work during term time’. When you build your business around your non-negotiables, they become reasons rather than excuses – ‘I’m building a business because I can only work during term time. See the difference?

Grab a journal and a pen right now and write out your non-negotiables – the things you have to build your business around e.g:

• Picking up the kids from school at 3pm every day
• Attending physiotherapy sessions on Wednesdays
• Being home for insulin injections at set times
• Or anything else that is simply unavoidable in your world

Once you have a list of your non-negotiables, you can start estimating realistically how many hours per day or week you could potentially work on your business around those fixed commitments. This is the first key step to ensuring your venture doesn't add even more overwhelm to your already full plate.

Step 2: Define Your Values

Now that you know your non-negotiable time commitments, it's time to get clear on what deeply matters to you. These are your core values. I do these a little differently than most coaches or mentors because, as a parent carer building a business around your life, I want you to consider what’s important in your life, not just in your business.

Values act as a filter for making sure any business idea or opportunity aligns with what's truly important in your life. They'll guide decisions like:

• The type of products/services you offer
• How/when/where you work
• Who you serve as customers or clients
• Your pricing model
• The overall vision and mission driving your venture

To uncover your top values, make a list of 8-10 things that are important to you about the work you want to do both in terms of the impact that you want to create but also in relation to how the work should fit with your life. It could be having flexibility, not working weekends, using your professional skills, helping others, creating memories with your family, earning a certain income level, etc.

Once you have your list, rank them in order of true priority and importance. This can be tricky, so use this technique: Look at your #1 value, and ask yourself "If I could have this, but not the #2 value, would that be okay?" Then, if I could have #1 value but not #3 value would that be ok?” Re-order and shuffle your responses as you go (it’s a good idea to do these on cards or on a wipeable board).

When you’re sure they’re in the right order, choose your top 3 values – these are the ones you will use to decide on how you structure your business and the model you choose.

Step 3: Set Clear Goals

With your non-negotiables and core values identified, the final foundation piece is getting crystal clear on your goals – what specifically you want this business to do for you.

It’s so important to ensure that your goals are SMART – That is, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Saying ‘I want to make some extra income’ or ‘I want more flexibility’, isn’t going to cut it. Specify e.g. an exact amount or what exactly the flexible work will enable you to do e.g. pick the kids up from school every day.

So… what do you want?

• To replace your corporate income? OK, put a figure on it and a time-scale for achieving it.
• To work part time hours? OK, how many hours?
• To do impactful work? OK, quantify the impact.

OK, lets take the goal setting a little but deeper by creating a sensory experience of it.

When your goal is achieved:

• What will you see?
• What will you hear?
• What will you feel?
• What will you be saying to yourself?

I know it sounds fluffy but think of it like this: if you’re seeing yourself being able to take days off last minute then what business model would make that happen? If you’re hearing clients raving about your service, what are they saying? That’s what you need to be offering. If you’re feeling motivated, inspired or proud, what specific elements of your business enable you to feel this way.

This information is like gold dust when it comes to creating a business that works for YOU!

Conclusion: The unique foundations are what will create success for you.

There you have it - the three essential steps to laying strong foundations for a business that can thrive alongside your role as a parent carer.

By getting clear on your non-negotiable commitments, core values, and well-defined goals first, you'll avoid the common pitfall of trying to force an unrealistic business model into your already overflowing life.

Instead, you'll craft a venture that makes space for your caring duties as the top priority, while honouring what matters most to you. And with a motivating vision pulling you forward, you can feel empowered putting your skills, resilience and brilliant multi-tasking abilities to work!

The next step then is to refine your idea and make a plan for bringing your new business/ business structure to life.

If you could use a hand exploring these sorts of questions and finalising a solid business idea, I invite you to book a one-on-one consultation. As a parent carer myself, I specialise in helping others like us build self-employed careers that enhance life, rather than overwhelm it.

You can also join our Carer Mums in Business community to connect with a supportive tribe walking this path alongside you. Just drop me a note at claire@carersatwork.com to get started.