Hitting the ground running...

So you started your home business and things start out steady, balanced and just how you want them. You have the perfect business/life balance; your business is gaining more popularity and therefore gaining a bigger customer base. Business increases, you start to spread your wings and perhaps take on a little bit more. Now you're finding the businesses that you created, as well as your domestic / family duties are now not so balanced. What do you do when you get to the point when you find you are juggling so much all alone that you are no longer hitting the ground running but in fact running yourself into the ground?

Starting a Home business is one of the best things I have ever done. I get to keep my brain active and challenge myself daily all while still being the most important thing in the world to me and that is being a “Mum”. It enables me to be there for the kids with flexibility that many parents need these days. It also makes me feel like I have accomplished something in life and gives me a new label aside from just housewife and mum. Sometimes it feels like being a Mother means your life becomes another person’s life; that the things you yourself desire or want are just dreams or fantasies or part of another lifetime. I'm not saying being a mum is awful in fact it's the most joyous aspect in my life. Growing, nurturing and teaching a child while they grow is one of the most rewarding accomplishments in the world. It's just reality that being the carer and nurturer of a child (or children in my case) means that they are my main focus and I used to feel that being a mum is all I would ever be (until of course they grow up and leave the nest).

I wanted to do something with my time, skills, determination and really just for ME. I started to feel that now my eldest was in school that daily domestic duties and raising just one child throughout the day wasn't enough. I felt I could achieve much more. So now I am not only a mother of two (with one on the way) but also a one woman home Business operator. I perform nearly ALL aspects of this business on my own and have always been determined to do so. This has meant however that what I set out to create has jumped to the next level and I’ll admit it’s very overwhelming at times. The needs of my family have stepped up (with preparations for our new arrival) but so have the business needs. At times I struggling to keep on top of things being the administrator, web designer, social networker, manager marketing consultant, PR representative and all the rest as well as trying to do all the usual things in life and for the family.

Being the sole person responsible for this growing business has meant that many things have been pushed aside to the "to-do list" or just plain forgotten. Hundreds of emails a week, averaging 2000 wall posts a week on our Facebook social networking page, Directory listing approvals, top MWWAH sites list approvals, adding content to the website, doing book work and accounting, More Than Mums Ezine, Twittering, marketing the business & networking, sending out media releases to try to expand our customer base and many more business things that I do are becoming quite a handful for just one single person to fit in to a spare few hours a day.

I’ve been working out how I can get out of this rut, how I can change the situation before I start running myself into the ground. Late Nights, early mornings, weekend work! There is only so much one person can do before he/she breaks down. I’ve decided that if I'm facing these challenges that perhaps many of you are also facing them. This why I have decided to put together a list of articles that will help us all throughout our business journey and help us follow the right paths to avoid running ourselves into the ground They will be available for members of the site in the "Resource Article" category of the new site.

I myself am doing my best and to juggle everything that life, family and business throws at me. I hope that the articles I find useful and add to the site will also benefit you. I think it also helps to know that others are experiencing what you are going through also. It's time to share and support each other by sharing our stories and tips for better success.