Juggling a Family and a Tech Business Start-Up

This article is a long past due follow up to Juggling a Day Job and a Tech Business Start-Up from way back in March and this write up has really been playing on my mind since posting that article which touched on how our real lives affect and attribute to the way we start and grow our businesses. Your day job obviously plays a huge part in how you run and manage your business day to day but nothing comes close to the part your family and loved ones play in shaping it now and in the future.

Wait I’m not married and I don’t have children?!

Ok, well if you’re not quite there yet then please don’t disregard the article right away, you may still have parents, friends, house mates, boyfriends, girlfriends, any individual you care deeply about, they all play a pivotal role in your future which will impact on your business.

My Business Failed

I rarely talk about my first attempt at starting a business and that is going some years back now, I try to dodge the subject because I’m somewhat embarrassed about the reasons that caused its early demise. I managed to get it off the ground but it came to a very sudden and abrupt stop for the simple reason that I didn’t think about my family and include them from the very beginning.

The Family

When I came about the idea of starting a computer repair business I began by playing with ideas in my head, considering the possibilities envisioning my work and the success that I might one day be able to achieve. From the outset my one defining goal was to provide a stable additional income for my family therefor reducing debts and eliminating stress caused by lack of money.

The ultimate end goal was to remove any need for my wife to work in the future, allowing her to concentrate on the upbringing of our daughter and have the necessary means to choose exactly what she wanted from her life and ultimately we’ll have provided a solid start for our growing family. On the back of that dream I was doing something I loved day in and day out and visualising this perfect scenario spurred me forward at a ferocious pace.

The pace ultimately drove a wedge between me and my family who never saw me, a few days a week I only got to see my little girl in bed sleeping. Plans I never discussed, my wife knew little of my whereabouts as I wasn’t in the habit of discussing it and I didn’t answer my mobile whilst with a client. But it didn’t stop there, I missed appointments, forgot about nights out with friends and family and isolated myself entirely whilst I continued to delude myself that this self sacrafice was all for the greater good.

If things got too much I took a few minutes out to think about my end goal and why I was doing this, and this served to excuse my behaviour, at least it did from my point of view. As to be expected things came to breaking point where my home life literally fell to pieces. This was an exceptionally difficult time for all of us and something I would hate to happen to any of my peers, starting a business is not just about you and the business but everyone around you and they all play a part. Here are a few points to consider.

Business Planning with the Family

When writing up your initial business plan be sure to include your significant others, this doesn’t have to be everyone, just your most significant spouse would do. Wife, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, whoever you spend the majority of your life with. They not only help spot the gaping holes and mistakes but the constructive criticism well help fine tune your plan to almost perfection and to discuss any family related issues that may result from your amazing ideas of being out until midnight fixing PCs. The key goal here is that immediately your plans are out in the open and the people you care about are involved from the onset.

Set Business Objectives

Throughout your business and especially at the beginning you should be planning both long term and short term objectives to help manage and improve. If some of these actions require short term anti-social behaviour then family and friends will be accepting of your absences if they know the reasons behind it. For example a website might require your full attention for a few weeks to get it off the ground, just be sure to let your loved ones know, take a break every now and then and be sure to make up for it when your done before moving onto your next objective.

Share Plans on Large Purchases

Business purchases can often be considered business related and more often than not my wife really couldn’t care less about the purchases I need to make. When businesses are starting out the larger purchases may have a direct impact on the personal accounts. For example paying up front for equipment needed for a job only to suffer delays in getting paid. This unplanned knock on effect can negatively impact your home life. If you have any upcoming large purchases that have the potential to cause problems, it’s better that they’re discussed with those that may be affected.

Discuss and Show Your movements

The nature of our job dictates periods of time where we’re constantly on the move bouncing from customer to customer. When those movements occur inside sociable hours such as evenings and weekends it can be very frustrating for others who care about you or rely on you to not know where you are. The biggest change I made going forward was being very transparent in my movements and made myself contactable during work, it’s as easy as sharing an Outlook calendar. My wife connects to my Office 365 account via her phone to have access to the calendar reminders, she now always has a good idea of where I am and I quickly learned that customers don’t mind you answering your phone. Calls are short and sweet, my significant other is a lot happier.

The Family Car

My family went through a period of time where we had to share a car which means when I’m working, they are probably stuck at home or wherever they wanted dropping off until I was finished. On this one reason alone it is immensely important to discuss what you’re doing at all times. Don’t run off to do a job and leave your family stranded!

Discuss Unusual Jobs

Some jobs have the potential to be lengthy, troublesome and costly and usually with a little thought and care these can be foreseen. Discussing them with your wife you can be sure that this potential issue is out in the open and you can consider the concerns of your family or loved ones before you decide to go ahead with the job. Bouncing the problem off someone else is another invaluable reason and just the act of discussing it alone may completely change your view on the job or client.

Make Time for Family and Friends

This is perhaps the most obvious one but we’ll add it for completeness, working 18 hour days, 7 days a week is a sure fire way to making money and speeding up business success. It’s also the quickest way to alienate your family and friends and put you in the hospital before your time. It just isn’t worth it, take time out, not only will your business grow but you’ll have your health and people to share it with.

The biggest mistake to make in this industry is to have a set day or period of time to socialize or spend time with the kids, business can be quite erratic and time with customers can overrun. Not only that but other people can and will change plans regularly delaying the time before you’ll see them or spend quality time. When you have a spare few hours to kill, don’t waste it, take the family out for a meal or drop in on a friend. You’ll often find yourself having much more fun this way and time truly turns into quality time.

Involve family and friends

The biggest advice I can give to improve your relationship with your family and friends is to involve them fully. When my wife asked to be involved it’s fair to say that I was a little apprehensive, she ended designing all my documentation, business cards and ultimately my logo and has saved me significant time, money but aside from that we got to spend a lot of time together. Being a qualified accountant she often assists me with my lack of accounting abilities, she has been invaluable in building my business and keeps me encouraged.

My daughter is 3 and overly interested in my workshop at home, the result now is that I give her child safe items, a laptop and give her a place at my desk. We’ve had some wonderful times and I’m completing my goal in making her a technical genius much to the dismay of wife, well I can’t please her all the time.

As always I’m keen to hear your views, tips and advice. How do you ensure you make time for your friends and family in such a time intensive career?