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Does having a baby mean you have to give up on your business?
For a new parent, the priority becomes taking care of their new child and being present in every moment of this special time. Yet for entrepreneurs in particular, this can be a particularly difficult phase — handling the duties of parenthood while running their own company can feel like two full time jobs.
Leila Lewis, the CEO and founder of public relations agency Be Inspired PR and lifestyle site Inspired By This, which offers inspirational content on motherhood, marriage, career, weddings and home decor, was interviewed by CNBC about the challenges that she faced as a new parent:
“I had a long-time client abruptly end their contract with me in the middle of my first maternity leave for no real reason other than they just didn’t hear from me as much.”
Unfortunately, there are many entrepreneurs like Leila who are facing the negative consequences of opting for parental leave, putting their mental health and business on stake. Parenting is often associated with the perception that business owners will not be able to sustain their company, due to lack of time for professional commitments and responsibilities. For many women-owned businesses, investors or stakeholders will question them about their plans to have children, and there may be negative consequences impacting their bottom line as a result.
Although the establishment of the Family Medical Leave Act in 1993 allows parents working in a company with 50+ employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a new child either entering or joining their family, the law does not provide protections for entrepreneurs who are also new parents.
With over 42% of businesses in the United States being run by women, it is impossible to avoid the topic of entrepreneurial maternal leave.
To answer unspoken questions about how expecting parents can circumnavigate the complexities of parental leave in the startup space, digitalundivided:sessions — a new virtual monthly speaker series providing founder education to our community — invited Arianna Taboada (MSW, MSPH), Author of The Expecting Entrepreneur, to discuss Planning for Parental Leave.
Here are some of the ways Taboada shed insight as to how you can manage your business and accomplish your entrepreneurial dreams while making your newborn baby a priority. Use these tips to plan a stress free parental leave successfully:
Master the Art of Delegation
When you’re away from your desk, there has to be a team who can work on your behalf and help manage the operations during your time off. Learn how to divide the responsibilities of your business amongst your team members according to their skill sets and expertise. It’s important to utilize your experience, rationale, and intuition in order to carry out appropriate allocation of responsibilities.
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Apply for Coverage
Research if your state offers paid leave programs and make the best use of the current policies to assist you during your leave. There are existing state programs that provide parental and family caregiving leave as well as temporary disability insurance to cover paid personal medical leave. If you are not confident about the help that is available, approach an expert who could guide you about the available help.
Reserve your Funds
Thinking ahead about your finances is a great way to prevent stress and anxiety in the future. Calculate beforehand (to the best of your ability) the expenses you will incur in the coming days and manage your savings accordingly. This way, you’ll sustain your company without incurring any loss. Checkout these tips to financially prepare for parental leave.
Reverse-engineer Workstreams
Make a list of the tasks and operations that you can foresee will need your attention and begin working on them early. If you already know specific responsibilities in the business that can only be done through your presence, tackle them in advance or set up an alternate solution.
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Take Advantage of the Power of Automation
Automate any projects that won’t need your hands and decide what can be off-boarded from your plate. With the prime technology and advanced platforms available in the market, making certain aspects of your company operate automatically has become more accessible. A wide-variety of automation tools are available to enhance your business’s digital presence and marketing campaigns.
Set your Boundaries
Remember — this particular time will not come again. Use the power of discretion to decide which work obligations you’d like to step into and which engagements can be temporarily paused until you’re back up and running. Consider saying “No” to work tasks and projects that you can’t afford to take on during your paternal leave.
Prioritize Client and Investor Communications
Make it a must to share the news of an upcoming pregnancy and parental leave with your clients and investors. This will build trust between the parties and give space to discuss any anticipated concerns. The rule here is to be transparent with your clients and investors, share the contact information of who will be managing your responsibilities during your leave time, and allow your investors and partners to cooperate with you to create a win-win situation.
To catch the rest of Planning for Parental Leave with The Expecting Entrepreneur, watch the YouTube video here.
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