Trying to find a job that fits around your children's needs can be one of the hardest things about being a parent. Take the traditional working hours of nine to five (although, seriously, how many of us still work strictly nine to five? Try eight to six and then some...). Whatever business hours you work, they don't tend to mesh well when it comes to traditional school and nursery hours.
Add in an hour or more commute at the beginning and end of the day and you're looking at 'wrap-around' childcare - literally paying someone to look after your child from 7.30am to 7pm at night - or longer. Considering most small children go to bed between 7.30pm and 8.30pm at night, what time are you going to spend with your child during the week? Let alone trying to make this 'quality' time? Even if your children are older and have later bedtimes, school days still finish at around 3pm. Who's going to look after your child until you get home at 6pm and how much is that going to cost you?
In the UK, parents of children under six are able to request flexible working hours from their employers, which can work out well if you have a sympathetic boss and work for a company who appreciates the importance of a decent work/life balance. If you don't, you may find your request remains just that - a request - which is then rejected, and you're back to square one.
So running a business where you can set your own hours can be an absolute godsend. Of course, not every business is going to allow you to simply work when you want to - with a lot of service based businesses, you're going to be working 'normal' business hours - but when the business is your own, you'll probably find a degree of flexibility that just isn't going to be available to you as an employee. With other business models, such as online businesses and those founded on a more passive income based model, you should be able to pretty much work the hours that you want, whether that's at 12 midnight or 6.30am in the morning.
You may find that a lot of business tasks can either be automated or can be undertaken when the children are either asleep or otherwise occupied. Running a business from home also cuts out commuting time and can be a godsend when you have a sick child who can't attend school or nursery, but can't be left unattended.
Don't forget that working from home might be great for working flexible hours, but you also need to know when to switch off. Try not to let your business overrun the house, both in terms of physical and emotional space.
Want to know more about successfully combining both a home business and a family? Want to know how to organise your life and gain more time for yourself? How to Run a Business From Home When You Have Small Children will give you the guidelines that you need to get the lifestyle you want.
Available on Amazon Kindle http://www.amazon.co.uk/Work-Business-Small-Children-ebook/dp/B007I8PQN8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1331216069&sr=8-9 or from the website at http://domestic-entrepreneur.com/ebooks-and-media/
Celina Lucas is the author of the Amazon Kindle books How to Be a Virtual Assistant, Article Marketing for Beginners, How to Start a Business When You've Got No Time - Or Money and others.
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