How to Become a Stay at Home Mom While on Maternity Leave
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Hey Mama,
If you’re out on your maternity leave or soon to be, I’m so happy you found this post. If you’ve had a baby before you’ll know what I mean when I say becoming a mom to your sweet baby is absolutely the most magical & lifechanging event. If you’re expecting your first, you’re in for the most beautiful, intense shift of your life, where you’re about to feel things you’ve never even realized you were capable of feeling. Life as a mom gives you a whole new meaning, your purpose becomes so clear, and honestly, it' seems so odd to expect moms to jump back into their old life when they’re hardly even the same person anymore. As I was noticing how many moms felt so thrown off and disconnected from their natural intuition when they had to return to their 9-5, I decided to write a post detailing exactly how you can start your business & become a stay at home mom while on your maternity leave for the moms who are being called to stay home with their sweet babies. .
So whether you’re preparing to be a first time mom or recently had a baby, this post will teach you how to start a business and become a stay at home mom while you’re on maternity leave. Also- even though this post was written for moms on leave, any mom can use this timeline & just adjust it to fit your current situation. Let’s get started!
Weeks 1-2 are for doing absolutely nothing business related other than soaking up every second of being that sweet baby’s mama, so much so that you start picturing how incredible life will be when you get to do this every day. These weeks are for caring for yourself, your new baby, your family, and letting your supports pour into you. Towards the end of these 2 weeks, if you remember or feel ready, spend some of the time during those middle of the night cluster feeds thinking about how beautiful life will be for your family when you’re able to care for your children full time, raising them & loving them so well in the comfort & safety of your own home. If business ideas come naturally, let them. If not, don’t worry, there will be time for brainstorming in the weeks to come.
Week 3 is for planning out important parts of your business, and we’re doing it in the simplest format possible. Start thinking about business ideas, things you like, skills you have, needs people have that you could fill- & for each idea, ask yourself just 2 questions: what would you sell & who would buy it? If you’re interested in starting a business quickly & with low startup costs, my FREE Successful Startup Mini Guide walks moms through the 4-steps of starting your own blogging business from scratch. Whether you want to start a blogging business or some other kind of business, spend as much of week 3 as possible brainstorming ideas & deciding on how they could make you money (between baby snuggles, of course!)
It’s also a good idea to spend some time this week thinking out some of the financial details unique to you and your family’s situation, like how much money you need your business to earn to hold up your end of family contributions, and how much money you’re able to set aside weekly to put towards starting your business. [Tip: starting a blogging business is low cost & straightforward, which are two of the reasons I recommend it for moms!]
Once you have a business idea with an idea of what to sell & an idea of an audience that’ll buy it, the hardest part is done!
Week 4 is for doing your research & preparing to get your business some traction, which depending on what type of business you’re starting, is going to look a bit different for everyone. Think about the work you need to do to feel confident/prepared for business owning: are there any classes or courses you want to take? Look into the legalities of running your business such as creating an LLC and information about taxes. I also recommend reading books on being in control of your own finances. My favorite books when starting my business were The 4-Hour Workweek and The Simple Path to Wealth (I recommend buying both of these, they each offer a unique perspective & truly motivated me so much in the beginning of starting my business, especially being the first entrepreneur in my circle- it can get lonely & discouraging, these books literally kept me going and gave me so much valuable information!)
You’ll also need to think about how you’re going to advertise your business, which is usually fairly easy with the internet at your fingertips.. I highly recommend signing up for Canva Pro if you’ll need to create graphics for your business (Tip: you will!) Canva Pro makes life super easy for business owners. There is a free version available too, but for me, I found it more frustrating because even most of the basic elements & graphics require you to have Canva Pro. I use Canva for everything business related, from creating logos, images for my social media pages, elements for my website, & slides for my courses. And remember, I don’t expect there to be unlimited time for creating graphics, reading or taking online classes with a 4 week old baby but, get through what you can & if nothing more, I do recommend figuring out what you’ll need & purchasing what you can during this week so it’s easily accessible when you do get a few minutes. This way, you don’t forget, & truthfully, being already a few dollars invested will make you less likely to give up. Once courses are purchased, books are ordered, legalities researched, the fun begins!
Week 5 is the best because not only is your sweet baby developing a sweet little personality & validating that your most important job for the rest of time is to be his/her mama (& maybe even sleeping a little?) , but also because you’re giving your business life this week. This week we’re getting things done!
Use week 5 for building your website (I highly recommend hosting your website on Squarespace, it’s SO easy to build a website from scratch.) We’re also creating advertisements, sales & social media pages, and designing and stocking your physical space in your home (if you’re running that type of business.) (PS: Be sure to get help if you’re setting up a physical space… I know you’re almost a thriving business owner but remember, you’re also only 5 weeks postpartum!) Don’t worry if you can’t get everything done in one week, this stage will be ongoing, & probably always changing and being adjusted. But at minimum, work on your website and start thinking about how you’ll advertise to get people to it, or, if you’re planning to solely market and sell through social media, be.sure to create and post some solid & valuable content.
Week 6 is launch week & the week you become a stay at home CEO! Use this week for anything you still need extra time to complete! When you’re ready, pick a day & launch that business Mama! You can pick a special day, a date with significance or meaning, or maybe you’re starting to feel up for company and you can invite friends over for a launch party with mocktails! Have fun with your launch, and remember, your business doesn’t have to be perfect right away. Having doubts & worries is totally normal, just get it out there! The only way to fail is to give up.
Well Mama, there you have it, how to become a stay at home mom while on maternity leave, and really, in just 4 short weeks if you’re following this timeline! If you want to learn how to start a work from home blogging business in 4 steps, sign up for my email list and I’ll send you the free Successful Startup Mini Guide! You can sign up here:
And lastly, remember, while the purpose of this post is to give you an organized way to get through everything you need to start a business while on leave, give yourself plenty of time for rest, recouping, and bonding with that amazing new family of yours first! While it’s lovely to get your business up & running while you’re on leave, it’s okay if it takes more time. Momming is no easy task, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that starting a business as a mom of a newborn (or any age child really) is not effortless. But, if you tell yourself you’re going to do it & you commit to not giving up, no matter how hard it gets or how long it takes to be successful, you cant fail.
You got this, Mama.
I know it because I was you.
If you want it, make it yours.
You’re already doing the hardest job in the world in your home,
This is nothing.
I help moms make their stay at home motherhood dreams a reality by starting work from home blogging businesses that make them money while they sleep.
Want to ditch the 9-5 but need to be able to contribute to your family financially?
Love your job and just want to create an additional stream of income for your family?
You’ve made it to the right place.
