Managing Work and Family as an Entrepreneur

No one knows the struggle of balancing home and work as much as an entrepreneur does. Unlike a normal job you can’t justify that time spent away from home has any security towards the family’s future. But your success will lead to family success if you can balance the two worlds now.

Automate Where You Can

Business listings are still a powerful tool, and it’s one of those do it and leave it tasks that many businesses forget about. You can open a business listing and begin grabbing local attention that otherwise might have shopped online or found another service further away. 

Use Buffer or a Similar Social Media Manager

Social media may seem like the key to everything. Free marketing and everyone’s talking about customer engagement. But social media is the death of a decent family dinner. To manage work and family, you need to be able to set the phone down and focus on the task in front of you.

Tools like Buffer allow you to set up posts at regular times. So instead of trying to get a post out every day, you can set up one post to publish on all of your social media accounts days or even weeks in advance. Set aside some time to schedule a week or two of posts at a time so you won’t jump every time your phone goes off. If you’re looking for inspiration, look no further than Profitboss founder Adam Guild who helped restaurants survive the pandemic by creating a website where local restaurants could provide online ordering but with low fees. 

Embrace Technology as a Communication Tool

Although many people have set age restrictions on when children should have their phones or tablets you might want to reassess that decision. As an entrepreneur, you’ll spend a lot of time physically away from your family. But, allowing your kid to have a kid-friendly phone or tablet that can video chat or text with you can ease the pain.

Give your family windows of time when you can video chat, so you’re not absent from important conversations. You wouldn’t want to get home and realize you hadn’t spoken with your spouse all day, pick up the phone!

Make a Clear Division Between the Two

Running a business together and starting a business together are very different things and many marriages don’t last through a business starting up and then falling apart. If you and your significant other aren’t meant to be business partners, be transparent about that fact and don’t try to force it.

You should also embrace that any ideals you have of your kids taking over in the years to come aren’t realistic right now. In 20 years, you may have a thriving business that your kid wants to learn how to manage. But, in 5 years you might be sick of it yourself and on to your next great business venture.

For now, let your family be family, and your business be a job. You can carry a passion for both parts of your life but trying to bring them together can quickly become a disaster!