Originally published: March 25, 2011
If I had known then, what I have learned since, I sincerely would have thought about it twice and probably decided against it.
You see my goal is to be at home with my kids more as they get older. I am among those who firmly believe that children need you more as they grow up. So about 8 years ago I decided to go into business for myself to feed my passion, stoke my creative juices, produce a secondary income and most importantly have it all figured out so that by the time my kids approached their tweens that I would be working from home — with half an eye on what they were doing and the other half on work.
Great plan, don’t you think?
What I did not plan on was the ridiculous amounts of moxy, dogged drive, perseverance and endless encroachment on my personal time that building a business takes.
Granted our business is quite diverse – video production, script development, interviews, research, retail distribution, writing a blog, negotiating contract – a forest of tentacles to say the least!
Being An Entrepreneur
Being an entrepreneur is a liberating, rewarding and incredible experience. It is also NOT for the faint of heart. More doors are closed than opened. It is up to you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, get up the next morning and start anew. I have learned a lot about the world, tons about myself, constantly pushing my personal boundaries, extending my discomfort zone and re-inventing myself and the business.
In the first of a 5-part series on WhereParentsTalk.com, we talk to a handful of parents who are also entrepreneurs, operating a diverse range of businesses — why did they embark on this often-lonely road, what have they learned, what tips do they have to share and would they do it all over again.
We start, with perhaps Canada’s foremost expert on “mompreneurs” – the founder of the Mompreneur Magazine — a lady who has interviewed many moms who have taken the plunge into the wild and whacky world of entrepreneurism. Watch the video interview with Kathryn Bechthold.
These parents are gutsy, passionate and walk around naked daily —- putting themselves on the line to achieve business success while still try to raise a family.
They should be celebrated!
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