Starting Your Own Business... Not Always a Great Idea

​The other day I received a call from a new mom wanting my advice on starting her own business.  Over the years, I have received dozens of calls from moms that are at home with their child and have a desire to quit their job to launch their own business. I am very proud of how many woman entrepreneurs have sprouted over the last ten years. However, I am always amazed by the major risks these woman take in order to be an entrepreneur.

I completely understand that fellow moms wish to be their own boss.  The idea of controlling your own work load and hours are certainly a plus of being an entrepreneur.  For my family it has been wonderful and positively affected my family. But, there can be many downsides. The most important piece of advice I have is to be fully aware of how risky it is to start your own business. Can you and your family afford the risk if your idea fails?

Over ten years ago, I was in the same situation when I started CanadianNanny.ca. At the time, I had little knowledge of marketing, sales, and technology. Therefore, I had to become an working-expert in those areas very quickly. Fortunately, I also had professional and personal experience in the child care field, which is really what made my business successful. In order to start your own business, you need to know that there is a market for your product/service, and that people are willing to buy it for what you're going to sell it at.

Frequently, moms want to quit their current job, or think they have to, in order to start their own business. In fact, I strongly recommend that you don't do this, unless your family can survive without your current income, at all. I've heard some very sad stories over the years of women who put their family through bankruptcy in their effort to start their own business. I didn't quit my own job until CanadianNanny.ca was established. While I was working, I even hired a part-time assistant to support the business while I was working. My job required me to work evenings and weekends, which made it challenging to focus on both, as well as my growing family. After some time, I scaled back to part-time hours at my job to help balance things. Then, when I was 110% certain that CanadianNanny.ca was going to be successful, I fully quit my job.

If you have to give up your own job earlier, make sure your family has enough money saved to support your family for at least 6 months without your income coming in. It always takes time to start a business, but if it is successful, it is a very rewarding experience!

More on this topic: - Martha's Blog