In today’s blog post, we’re going to explore three tips for growing your business when you have very little time as a stay-at-home mom. I’m dedicating this to stay-at-home moms because I truly relate to and consider myself one. There are so many labels, but I’ve never felt comfortable with just one, as I’ve never been “just” or “only” one thing.
You’re not just a mom, and I mean this in both the negative sense and the literal sense. You’re so many other things, and that’s what I want to discuss today. I understand that we spend a lot of time at home, and some of us may not have many opportunities to get out. Maybe you have one car or no car, rely on public transportation, or don’t have your own backyard. Perhaps you live on the edge of a forest or in the middle of nowhere. Everyone’s home situation is different, and I can’t even begin to imagine what each one looks like.
But what I do know is that our experiences as mothers are remarkably similar. While circumstances, hardships, limitations, and privileges may vary, the core responsibility of caring for our children and wanting the best for them unites us all. This shared commitment is a constant thread that connects all mothers, regardless of our individual situations.
This shared commitment is a constant thread that connects all mothers, regardless of our individual situations.
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Overcoming Challenges To Grow Your Business As A Stay-At-Home Mom
Throughout my journey, I’ve experienced various challenges, such as sharing vehicles, being a single mom, being the sole income earner, finding sitters for my kids, making ends meet, and dealing with or without a backyard. All these factors have influenced my ability to make money, show up consistently, grow a business, and even maintain my career as an interpreter. I went to college, and there were times I couldn’t even use my degree, and then I could again.
Becoming a mom complicates the idea of providing financial support. Even with full-time daycare and a full-time job, it’s still incredibly complex because you want to be home with your kids, but you also need to work. Today, I want to talk about being a stay-at-home mom. If you’re in that season, fully committed to being at home 100% of the time, there are still numerous opportunities for you to grow a business.
I’ve started two businesses while being a mom, and each time I figured out how to carve out the necessary time to make it happen. That’s what I want to unpack today in a concise and meaningful way through three essential tips. These aren’t tips I’ve discussed in detail before, but they are crucial for growing your business when you have very little time and are managing young children. So, let’s dive right in.
Tip 1: Utilize Children’s Rhythms
Tip number one: Start paying attention to your children’s rhythms. If you’re strapped for time and trying to grow a business—whether it’s an Etsy shop, hairstyling from home, an online business, coaching, photography, network marketing, a brick-and-mortar store, or crafting like knitting blankets or making earrings—it’s essential to tune into your children’s natural patterns.
This is the most important tip. Your kids have rhythms, whether you think they do or not. You might just be missing them. When I first became a mom, I didn’t know much about this. But with my second child, I discovered the art of sleep training, which changed my life. I realized that children instinctively have built-in rhythms. With my first child, I just didn’t understand this. I don’t think many of us do. I was the youngest in my family, and I didn’t grow up around younger siblings or cousins and honestly had no idea about these natural rhythms.
Leverage Natural Rhythms As A Stay-At-Home Mom
When I realized my kids had rhythms, it was like discovering a gold mine. If you think your kids don’t have any rhythms, or you don’t like the ones they have, there’s good news: you can create and shape these rhythms. You can lean into the rhythms that already exist and make the most of them.
So, what does this look like? From when your kids are little to when they’re older—like my 12-year-old whose rhythms are constantly changing—these patterns will be different. They will differ from those of her six-year-old sister, for example. Start by observing simple rhythms like naps, eating, playing, schooling (whether homeschooling or taking them to school), and other daily activities.
The key is identifying a window of opportunity when your children are at their best and need you the most. This is what I coach my students to look for to grow their businesses effectively.
Establish A Morning Routine To Grow Your Business
The main conflict you’re facing is feeling pulled in multiple directions, wanting to be fully present in more than one place at a time, and struggling to focus on either. To overcome this, it’s crucial to find a specific time in your day to dedicate to your kids. Based on my experience, the best time for this is in the morning.
When you engage with your kids first thing in the morning—demanding their attention, eye contact, communication, and intention—they’ll be more satisfied and less likely to interrupt you later. Pour into them fully: feed them, set up their day, engage with them, and ensure they complete their tasks like setting the table and cleaning up. Once you’ve given them this focused time and established a routine, they’ll be content, and you’ll have the space you need to work without constant interruptions. This approach, adapted to your children’s ages, is absolutely vital.
Tip 2: Focus On One Thing To Grow Your Business As A Stay-At-Home Mom
Tip number two is crucial if you’re trying to grow a business with very limited time. As a mom, your time is incredibly restricted, regardless of your kids’ ages. You need to pick one thing and go all in.
What does this mean? You can’t be on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Threads, and whatever else is popular simultaneously. No one can do everything. You can’t grow your email list, learn ads, and try to master a multitude of tasks all at once or focus on serving high-end clients while managing small packages. You can’t attend all events at once. It’s not feasible, and you shouldn’t attempt it. You simply don’t have the time, and it’s ineffective.
Learn From Experience To Grow Your Business As A Stay-At-Home Mom
Where did I learn this from? My long-time business coach, Stefanie Gass, taught me the importance of going all in on one thing. She encouraged me to focus solely on podcasting, which I’ve been doing for five and a half years. So, here we are, fully committed to podcasting.
Focusing on one thing allows you to get really good at it. You can find the support you need, read relevant books, get coaching, or simply practice enough to improve. When I was doing weddings, we were all over the place for a long time because we didn’t know what we wanted to focus on. But as soon as I honed in on a specific type of wedding, our business started to thrive. Even though we weren’t entirely specialized after 3-4-5 years, we recognized that certain types of weddings suited us best, and we stuck to those.
The lesson I learned from that experience, and from how I’ve approached my current business, is the importance of going all in on one thing. Not only do you not have enough time to do everything, but focusing on one thing also makes you really good at it. That’s when you start to see real growth.
Focus On One Thing To Grow Your Business As A Stay-At-Home Mom
You start learning who the experts are in the one thing you want to excel at. For instance, if you’re into network marketing or photography, you find the photographer who excels in the type of shooting and business model you want to master. This simplifies your focus immensely. To make this even better, once you narrow your focus, you become so proficient that tasks like editing or following up with leads take a fraction of the time they used to.
Let me tell you how unbelievably easy it is for me to create podcasting content now compared to when I tried to create content for other platforms. It’s not easy to juggle multiple platforms, and if I had tried to do everything from the beginning, I would have failed at both and subsequently at my business. This is why focusing on one thing is crucial. I could talk about this forever because I’m passionate about it, but let’s move on to tip number three.
Tip 3: Automate Everything To Grow Your Business As A Stay-At-Home Mom
Tip number three is so practical, you’re going to love it. It’s meaty and full of actionable steps. Here’s what you need to start doing regularly, starting tomorrow, or even this afternoon. When you sit down to work, you can implement this immediately: automate anything and everything you can. I’ve got three practical ways to begin automating your business right now. This is my expertise, my passion—systems in your business.
We talk a lot about systems in both home and business, but I want to focus on how you can start automating three specific things in your business. Before diving into the specifics, let’s discuss why automation is essential. If you’re still writing to-do lists on paper or working from your emails, you are not automated. This approach leads to constantly putting out fires and reacting to what needs immediate attention. It’s inefficient and stressful. While some people can manage this way, burnout is inevitable, especially if you’re not making money. High hustlers are motivated by income, but without that, the burnout comes quicker.
I’ve worked hard to avoid building my business and home life on such a reactive model. Interestingly, I recently read a blog review where someone expressed exhaustion from constant planning. If you find that constantly planning and preparing is exhausting, it’s crucial to examine what you’re actually incorporating into your daily, weekly, and overall life and business routines.
You shouldn’t feel like you’re trying to orchestrate an entire army single-handedly. If you have too much going on, automation will seem impossible. Here are some ways to simplify and start automating in your business specifically:
Create Templates To Grow Your Business As A Stay-At-Home Mom
One is to start creating templates. This is something I’ve done from the very beginning because I didn’t have the time or capacity to constantly create new content. I wanted to focus on podcasting and marketing, so I created templates to reuse every week. And guess what? It worked brilliantly and still does. We use templates for everything, and it’s incredibly effective.
This approach isn’t limited to my business; it extends to my family life as well. Our meals follow the same routines, our daily, weekly, and monthly activities are consistent, and our weekends have a set rhythm. Despite this structure, it’s never boring. We have a blast, and it brings so much joy and stability to our lives.
I want you to experience the same sense of peace and enjoyment. You don’t need to run yourself ragged trying to reinvent the wheel every day. By implementing templates, you create a system that saves time and reduces stress. Think about the emails you write, the graphics you create, the responses you give, the editing styles you use, or even the molds you cut your cookies with—whatever it is, figure out what you can template. Templates essentially become your system, streamlining your processes and freeing up your time for more important things.
Automate Your Daily Tasks
So here’s the second thing: automate what you do every day in your business. Not every week, but every single day. This can be a tricky area for many, which is why I teach what I teach—because it’s not supposed to be complicated. Your daily tasks should take no more than 15 to 20 minutes. This includes checking emails, responding to comments, being briefly active on social platforms, and networking for just a moment. Then, you can focus intensely on your main tasks for the day, like planning out Monday.
If you can master these daily tasks and schedule them at the same time each day, you’ll significantly reduce the overall time you need to spend on them. Repetition and consistency will streamline your process, making you much more efficient and freeing up time for other important activities.
Automate Your Weekly Tasks
Here’s the third thing I want you to automate: your weekly tasks. I discuss this in depth regularly because it’s incredibly powerful. Automating your weekly tasks is the most impactful thing you can do for both your home and your business. From managing your kids to running your business, if it’s not automated, you’re not optimizing your time.
I don’t like to say there’s a right or wrong way to manage a home or be a mom, but from my methodology and what I’ve created, showing up every week and feeling like you’re constantly reinventing the wheel isn’t effective. You should be able to streamline and automate your weekly tasks. Identify the specific things you do every single week. Do you create content, send out emails, or reach out to leads? Whatever it is, establish a routine.
Decide what tasks you handle on which days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Understand that your schedule may need to adjust based on different seasons. For example, during baseball season, you might have less time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but outside of that season, you’ll have more time. This ebb and flow is normal and expected. The same goes for automating weekly tasks in your home; they will also need to adjust as necessary.
Wrapping It Up…
But essentially, when we take a step back and look at what we’re trying to accomplish as moms who feel like we have a million spinning plates in the air, I want you to come back to these three tips repeatedly. They will change the game for you.
If something in this blog post resonated with you, if it sounds like the thing you’ve been thinking about or already knew, trust that feeling. Your mom gut is right. Sometimes, you just need a little inspiration or a swift kick in the behind to get moving in the right direction. Hopefully, I provided you with a bit of both and you can take away some incredible nuggets from this blog post.
If you do end up putting any of these tips into place, I’d love for you to share them within our vibrant Facebook community or come over and visit me on Instagram. Not only will it serve as a piece of accountability for you, but it will also encourage other moms who haven’t yet taken action on what they’ve read. And remember that we would LOVE to see you inside of Systemize Your Life as a VIP student!
Thanks so much for being here with me!
Frequently Asked Questions
What other ideas do you have for me as a stay-at-home mom and business owner?
Check out some other similar blog posts that can be helpful like: High Performing Habits for Stay at Home Moms or 6 Productivity Tips For High Achieving Stay At Home Moms
