Written by Amber Trail, HR Consultant
Amber's determination to reinvent your business through your people provides the basis on which The HR Trail was created. With over a decade of Human Resources experience and education, she understands that small businesses need a high quality HR person without hiring them on full-time.
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty - being a mom is hard. And whether you’re a working mom or you’re a stay-at-home mom, I stand by my statement that being a mom is hard despite everything else you’re juggling. It’s like someone placed the heaviest responsibility on our shoulders without giving us a heads up, thanks life.
However, in my experience and in my 34 years, I’ve come to find out that being a female entrepreneur is, dare I say, harder than being a mom. To all the mompreneur’s out there, you’ve probably asked yourself at least once, ‘What was I thinking?’. I’ll go ahead and tell you exactly what you were thinking. You thought that you wanted to follow your passion and define your purpose via the creation of your very own company, or as I like to call it, the other child.
Not only are you the queen of mothers conquering the feats of daily stress and needs of your children, but you’re also running a business. You friggin’ go you mompreneur, you. With all of this being said, I’m writing this article to you because I 100% get it as a mom, and I 100% get it as an entrepreneur.
I’ve been in human resources for 11 years, and yes, I do have some interesting stories from those 11 years of keeping businesses running and operating smoothly. But that’s for another time! Anyway, a little over a year ago, I decided to take my passion and knowledge of HR and make a name for myself as a consultant. I love what I do, and I love being able to share it with the world. But I’ve found that business ownership can be difficult, especially when getting started. Recently, I’ve come to find that I can’t do it all alone and that I need help. Anyone else feel me on that one?!
For me to be a happy, caring and loving mother as well as a successful business owner, I have to take care of myself first. A few things I’ve done to help me and the business include hiring someone local to help me keep up with my house. I do, after all, have 3 boys, a husband, and animals. SHEW. I like to keep a clean home but found that it was my least favorite and most time-consuming activity. So finally, I waved the white flag and just said, why not hire some extra help? That help alone lets me spend more time to focus on my business and my family. From a business standpoint, I’m not saying hire out for every single thing, but I am saying that it is completely okay to hire out where needed and when necessary and to delegate certain tasks for your business.
Let's think about this for a minute. I'm not a math expert (heck I need my 5th grader to help me with math sometimes), but let's put it in simple terms. If you charge $200 per hour and it costs $20 per hour for someone to come in and clean your home, doesn't it make sense to hire someone to clean your home and you can remain productive throughout your day and be less stressed that the house isn't a mess? As a mompreneur, you can also start thinking about hiring a virtual assistant. Some virtual assistants ranges are between $15 - $25 per hour. Again, if you're charging a lot more for your hourly rate, have a VA complete tasks that you don't like to do!
Speaking of math and numbers, I highly recommend hiring a bookkeeper. Unless, of course, you are a bookkeeper, or LOVE numbers, then use your services. I was doing great at keeping track of my expenses and incoming paid invoices, but then it was like a wave of everything happened and hit me all at once. I immediately recognized that I needed help in this area. I hired someone and for only a few hours a month, my finances are squeaky clean!
I want you to walk away from this article by knowing that it is 100% okay to ask for help! This does not make you a failure. Let me repeat that. This does not make you a failure! As a mom and business owner, I understand that I need to ask for help when I get overwhelmed. I also know that there are tasks that I don’t like to do because they take too long or quite frankly, they’re not my greatest strengths. When you feel like this, hire someone to help you out.
Remember, not a single person on this planet is perfect. The best thing you can do as a mompreneur and for your family is to take care of yourself and acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses. When you do, you flourish and grow!
Amber Trail. HR Consultant
Amber Trail, MBA, SHRM-CP is the founder and consultant for her human resources consulting company, The HR Trail, LLC. With over a decade of HR experience and a master’s degree in Business Administration, Amber brings her passion and knowledge of human resources to small businesses nationwide. She realized that not all businesses need nor can they afford a full-time HR professional, and that's why she decided to create The HR Trail. To provide a variety of human resource consulting services such as recruitment, coaching, company handbook development, event planning, and more. Her motto is creativity + passion = purpose and she thrives on successfully helping small businesses accomplish their human resources needs!
