It's a love hate thing!
eCommerce: A Day In The Life
Running a biz from your home, that is.
About a month ago, I got a request in this blog to write about how I got started doing this, and what's it's like to run a business as a stay at home mom. It seemed like a pretty overwhelming request, so I tabled it, and have had it in the back of my mind ever since.
The answer is this: I love it AND I hate it.
I am a stay at home mom of two kids. Except that's sort of funny, because my kids have been full-time in school for the last few years now (my son since he was 3, my daughter since 5) I have them there so I can get my work done.. yeah, well. Like I said, I stay at home.. and work and thus, need to send them away, because otherwise they'll drive me insane. Kids don't really buy into the "stay at home and work" thing. They don't care that their screaming is too loud for you to talk to a customer on the phone. They don't get why you are always working, even though you've explained it daily like this: "Daddy goes away for the day and works, but Mommy does the same thing, only from home, so she can be with you."
To which they say "but you can never play with us."
This is a weekly conversation.
Running this business is a job that never ends. I am working during the day and at night, and on weekends, and actually spend about half of my day doing the things I like to do to keep me sane.. ie. Gym, shopping, errands, etc. You know, that stuff you hate to do with your kids in tow. I do them alone, in peace, and love every second of it. For this reason, I love my job.
I love my job because if I have a field trip, I can get up at 5AM, and work for a few hours and accomplish what needs to be done and leave with a clear head I hate my job because every time the site goes down.. I'm definitely on a field trip. If I had a dime for every time I had to call tech support from the bathroom so as to not annoy the teachers who plead with us parents to NOT USE CELL PHONES ON FIELD TRIPS. It's my job. It's my business. If I don't fix my site, I don't make money. and thus, can't afford to send them to the wonderful school. Simple as that. So I hide in the stall… make my calls thank God for iPhones.
I love my job because I get to sit at Panera most mornings and smell the bread that I don't eat because I'm always on a diet. I drink my coffee, and work for a few hours in peace. I love that no one is my boss.
I hate that no one is my boss when I can't figure out how to sell more merchandise, or deal with cash flow. I wish I had a boss on that day to point the finger at and say "so now what?? How are we going to turn this around Mrs Smartypants??"
Can't do that. I'm Mrs. Smartypants, but so often, I am at the mercy of my own learning curve. When I'm clueless, I'm to blame.
I never feel like I know enough. There's always more to learn. I never have enough time to research what's new in shopping carts and how to improve mine. I actually have to schedule that if I want it done.
I get great ideas, but don't seem to ever have the time to implement those fanatastic ideas, and I need to write them down so as to not forget them.
However, and this is a biggie.. I'm really going to fess up and tell you that I actually love it more because it's mine, and I'm pretty proud of what I know. I've come so far. I used to be in advertising and would design a look for a website, and have to hire out a webmaster to code it.
I do it all now. I run the shopping cart, had to set up the gateway, manage product, and so, SO much more.
I love knowing all that. I have a really large site, and it's really crazy that I did that. For that reason, I'm proud of it. So clearly I love it and hate it. Some days I'm so jealous of my girlfriends who dress up and go to an office that is in no way tied to their home. When they leave, they leave.
They watch me run into school in my workout clothes because I work from home. They wish they had that! Ultimately, I want what I have, it's just no cakewalk. If you are a mom thinking of doing this from home, think about if you like the social part of going somewhere everyday... think about what it means to have an identity outside of your home and kids. A business of home is an extension of home. You just can't put it away. I'm an extremely social person, but hate being told what to do. Staying home all the time is lonely for me, which is why I'm a coffee shop queen! But no one tells me what to do, and I really enjoy that!!
Next week I intend to talk about getting our biz off of the ground, and what it took to do it.
Have a good week!
1 Comment
Lotusbee says:
THANK YOU!!! Thank you so much for writing about this subject matter. This is exactly the sort of information that I have been looking for on starting a home business. I am about to take the big leap and start my own ecommerce business but have been wondering if it is possible to balance the business and family. We are thinking of starting a family within a few years and am worried about how I could manage it all. One of the reasons that I want to do this is to be able to spend more time my family. I know that running your own biz is a lot of work but it just seems more rewarding at the very end. Reading this has been very helpful and has made me realize that I really do want to be my own boss. I look forward to any more insight on this matter and reading about how you got your business off the ground. Again, thanks!
