Woke up this morning, arose from my cosy bed and went about my normal morning routine. This involves saying goodbye to my husband who is on his way out to work. Then finding something to occupy my two children, my two year old Robbie and my five year old daughter, Milly, whilst I shower and dress. I get the children togged up and head to the kitchen to have breakfast together. Afterwards I check my emails for my business www.enhance-me.com while they play, I am grateful for their independent nature! I take Milly to nursery for 9.30am, when I return home I give Robbie his milk and get him down for his morning nap……hoping to get at least a couple of hours to work in! (Of course this won’t last forever!!)
I am lucky in that my daughter going to nursery coincides with my son’s naptime (for now!) so I have two hours every weekday morning I can devote to my business in term time. Mostly I work in the evenings though when my children are in bed, this means that apart from checking emails through the day and taking a few phone calls I am able to be Mum for the day and run the business at night. I love that my business enables me to remain at home with my children and not miss out on their early years while still contributing to our household income.
Because my business is online I basically have a workspace in the corner of the sitting room which consists of a computer, printer, scanner and two drawers of paperwork/mess! So I don’t feel this intrudes too much on our space or our daily life. (Apart from perhaps my son Robbie who is intrigued with the computer & keeps pushing buttons he shouldn’t!!) Being able to choose the hours I work is a huge advantage and allows me to be there for the children and family when I need to be.
I can be completely flexible and respond quickly to changes within the economy & my own target market. I have various times during the day (& night!) I devote to different tasks; emailing, designing, promoting etc planning my time really increases my efficiency. When you are a Mum running a business these are things that you almost learn to expect but simply cannot prepare for. I find lack of time a real frustration too as there are so many things I have in the pipeline but really have to prioritise. Talking about lack of time I now have 6 weeks of summer holidays ahead of me! Milly will be starting school after the Summer holidays and Robbie doesn’t begin nursery until after next Summer. Things are changing but my work schedule can be flexible and I will make it fit around whatever each day brings over the summer and in the future!
The beginning…
I set up my business www.enhance-me.com back in February 2006 – it began as a hobby playing around with image-editing software on my computer! I created some fairy and angel portraits for friends and they had such a positive reaction at the final result that I thought what have I got to loose and with the help of my husband created my own website! Very little financial outlay was required – I had everything I needed! I didn’t even need to pay for a website.
When my www.enhance-me.com went live I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I was surprised at just how quickly the orders came flooding in. I can’t even begin to describe how thrilling it is to find people who like and want the work that you do!
Found this useful wondering how you can show me your appreciation? Well, there are some ways you can say thanks and support my website: ➡
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