How to Balance a Direct Selling Business with Your Family’s Needs

It’s the school holidays. Could you organise a spontaneous beach trip with your kids, or would you need to negotiate extra time off with your employer? And once school goes back, do you have the freedom to attend athletics carnivals, help with reading in the classroom or simply stay home with a sick child, anytime you need to?

One of the biggest benefits of running your own home-based business is that you have control over your day and can manage your time in the way that suits you and your family. As long as you do the work to keep your business thriving, it doesn’t matter when, how or even where you do it.

But this freedom and flexibility requires careful organisation and strict boundaries. You must be committed to taking your business from a hobby or side hustle to a thriving enterprise. (Find more tips on shifting to a business mindset in this blog: https://www.jeunesseglobal.com/en-AU/blog/how_to_shift_your_thinking_to_a_business_mindset )

The following tips will help you balance your growing direct selling business with the needs of your family.

Protect your time
When you work from home, it’s easy to think you can multitask your way to success, writing emails while you supervise the kids’ homework. But multitasking can actually hinder your productivity by as much as 40%, according to workplace studies [1].

It seems counterintuitive but by fully committing to one task at a time, you can achieve much more. Have a daily plan and set aside specific times to complete your work. Communicate these times clearly to your family and explain that you aren’t to be interrupted during this work time.

Start small – block out one hour early in the morning or when the kids are in bed. Leave your phone in another room and focus only on the task at hand. An hour of focused work each day is far more valuable than trying to find five minutes here and there.

This also allows you to be fully present when you’re with your kids, as you’re not trying to juggle too many things at once.

Involve your family
If kids see your business as something that takes you away from them, they may begin to resent it. However, if they understand why your business is important and what’s in it for them, you might find they’re much more supportive.

Talking to your children about your business not only helps them feel more included, it also helps build their own entrepreneurial spirit from a young age [2]. Plus, as they see first-hand the difference your products make to the lives of your customers, their own service mindset begins to grow.

And don’t forget to show them ways they can also reap the rewards!

Get kids involved by sharing your monthly or quarterly business target with them. You could create a chart together and mark off each sale that takes you closer to your target. Agree on a ‘family reward’ that you’ll all enjoy once the target is hit.

You could even promise to take your whole family on your next travel incentive trip, if they help you meet your targets!

Find out more about why working mums love Jeunesse in this blog: https://www.jeunesseglobal.com/en-AU/blog/why_working_mums_love_jeunesse 

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Sources:
1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtsteinhorst/2020/02/20/how-multitasking-erodes-productivity-and-dings-your-iq/ 
2. https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/heres-how-entrepreneurs-are-talking-to-their-kids-about/309315