It breaks my heart to see and hear so many parents who want to be more involved in raising their children and yet feel trapped in their current situation unable to make a change. It's as if they are standing on the edge of a cliff and can see the promised land, but just don't know how to get there.
When I talk with my friends who are still working full-time, they often will say, "I wish I could run a business from home like you do, but..."
"... I would never make as much as I do now."
"... I have no idea what I would do or how to start."
"... I just don't have the discipline."
"... my spouse would never go for it."
"... it seems so risky."
Maybe you've said this, or something similar. The problem is, they are all lies.
I truly believe, that if your desire is to be more available to raise your children instead of being gone living in a cubical for nine hours a day, you can make it happen. To get there, you need to ask yourself what is holding you back from achieving your dream?
1. Money This is by far the number one reason I hear people say they can't be a Naptime CEO. But let's be honest, when we say that, we are saying we value our paycheck and our lifestyle more than being with our family. Would you be willing to scale back your lifestyle to achieve your dreams? When I quit my job to launch my consulting firm, we lost 65% of our income! Do you think I was nervous? Absolutely! But my husband and I were willing to make big sacrifices if necessary to make it work. We cut out eating out, we actually got on a budget, we were willing to sell one of our cars, and if necessary our house. Did I really want to sell our house, no, but if we had to scale down to be able to make our dream a reality we would.
2. Getting Started I hear this more so with the moms I talk with than the dads and I believe it's because moms tend to play down and undervalue their skill set. Knowing what your gifts and talents are is a huge first step to building a successful business. Once you know what you are gifted at, then you can begin developing your target market, products or services, and a marketing strategy. For this step it really helps to work with a coach or mentor who can help you see the potential. I've hired coaches before and paid to attend seminars and it was an invaluable investment in myself and my business.
3. Discipline Can you really stay focused on work when you're office is in your home? How many times have you taken a work-from-home day from your regular job and gotten 10x as much accomplished than you do in the office because you don't have the interruptions? Trust me, my husband is convinced I have OSS syndrome- Oh So Shiny syndrome - because I can be so easily distracted. The beauty of being a Naptime CEO is the integration of your work and life. The key is carving out chunks of time for work, home, and play time and being purposeful about what you want to accomplish. Besides, does it really matter if you decide to wash the breakfast dishes at 10 am and write training material at 10 pm?
4. Spousal Support This is a big deal. If you want to become a Naptime CEO, you need to have your spouse on board. Many times, we simply assume our spouse would never go for it without ever discussing the possibility with them. Other times, our spouse is hesitant because they don't know anything about the business we want to start or we haven't shown them a good solid plan. If you get your spouse more involved in what you want to do and have a solid, logical plan, including a reasonable transition, you might be surprised how supportive they can be.
5. Risk The other common reason I hear people say they can't do it is because they think it's too risky. Now some of that may be because they haven't laid out a plan as I mentioned in #4. Often though, it's because there is this false sense of security of being an employee. Yet, as someone who has been laid off in my career and seen other bright, strong performers get laid off, I really believe that entrusting your future and financial stability to a single income source (your employer) is a very risky decision. I would much rather be running a business with three, four, or five different clients plus two other income streams from say product sales and speaking engagements. Then if a client no longer needs my help, I still have other revenue coming in while I replace that one client.
So when you catch yourself saying, "I would love to do that, but..." really evaluate your reason to see if it is a valid reason or if it's just a fear that can be overcome.
If you want to be a Naptime CEO, or are now, what is or has held you back? If you overcame an obstacle, how did you do it?
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