If you are a parent and you are thinking about starting a home-based business, you are in luck. Parenting and entrepreneurship have a few things in common, and that means that parents are likely to be very successful in home-based business ventures. What are these common elements, and why are they important? Sometimes parents, especially those of us who choose to stay home with our children and leave the workplace for a while, feel like they no longer have what it takes to succeed in business. This is why it is important to learn about the similarities between entrepreneurship and parenting – you have more going for you than you may realize.
The very process of becoming a parent helped you learn how to plan ahead. As you prepared for the birth of your child, you probably did a lot of preparation and planning so that when your child arrived, you would have everything ready. The same holds true for opening a business. There is a lot to do before you can open the doors of your business to your customers, and since you are accustomed to planning ahead you will not only be able to think about what things you will need to do, you will be able to make a realistic time line for doing them.
Parenting improves your communication skills. Your baby or babies started out their lives without the ability to speak. You helped them to learn how to speak, and by teaching them how to communicate, you polished your own communication skills. If you did not communicate with your child effectively, you got immediate feedback in the form of a blank stare. You learned how to communicate firmly but gently, and how to say “no”. All of these things help you to communicate effectively with anyone, adults and children alike.
The list goes on. If you are a parent and you are thinking about starting a home-based business, take some time to reflect on how being a parent has prepared you well for the journey ahead – and then go for it.