How to prepare your freelance business for your transition into parenthood
Running a freelance business as a parent doesn’t have to be challenging.
Yes, you might struggle to find enough time or energy to combine your work with taking care of your family. And yes, some customers may abandon you if you take a longer parental leave.
But you can go smoothly through this transition and embrace your new role as a self-employed parent. All you need to do is to prepare your business and yourself for a completely new lifestyle.
Know your rights
In many European countries, as a self-employed professional you might be eligible for maternity allowance. For example, in the Netherlands, if you worked at least 1225 words in the preceding year, the maximum amount you can receive is the statuary gross minimum wage paid out for the period of 16 weeks. In the UK , if you meet the appropriate criteria, you might qualify for about 140 GBP per week.
However, for many successful freelancers this amount won’t be enough. You can either agree to take a few months off and supplement your maternity allowance with your savings or decide to keep working through your first weeks of parenthood. The latter might be a bit overwhelming, the former requires some initial preparations.
Figure out your finances
Many financial experts recommend that self-employed professionals should always have a buffer worth three to six months of their expenses. This financial cushion can help you through unexpected events such as a sudden loss of clients, late payments, or health problems. You could also use these savings if your maternity allowance is too low or if you need to extend your parental leave.
Here is a simple formula to save up for a parental leave when you run a freelance business:
1. Calculate your monthly expenses, both in business and private life.
2. Add about 10% for unexpected payments.
3. Now, multiply this amount by the number of months for your planned maternity leave.
This is the amount you’ll need to save if you won’t be receiving any income during your parental leave. Now, think how much you need to save per month to prepare for this scenario. For example, if your monthly expenses amount to 2000 Euro and you’re planning to take four months off, you’ll need to put 8800 Euro aside (that’s with the 10% extra from step 2). Let’s assume you’re able to contribute 600 Euro per month to build that safety net, which means that you’ll need to start saving about 14 months before your planned leave. If you do qualify for maternity allowance, you can deduct that sum from the final result and reduce your monthly savings or the number of months in which you’ll be putting your money aside. Now your freelance parental leave should flow smoothly, at least from the financial perspective.
Have a passive income
Whether or not you’re preparing for parental leave, you always have to be ready for a temporary downtime. One way to protect your freelance business from late payments or any other negative events is to focus on passive income.
In this way you’ll be able to earn money without the constant exchange of your time and skills, which is especially handy if you can’t or don’t want to spend countless hours in front of your computer screen. You could create online courses, write books or e-books, use affiliate marketing, sell spaces on your blog, create website or graphic templates, develop apps, sell photography, sell printable products — the possibilities are endless. There’s always something you could share with others, such as expert knowledge, invaluable experience or amazing ideas. Figure out how to convert it into a source of steady passive income and protect your business from unexpected storms.
Prioritize your self-care
As a parent running a freelance business, you’re actually running a marathon.
That’s why you need to prioritize your self-care. Your baby and your business need the best version of you — as relaxed as possible, motivated, taken care of, physically and mentally strong. This is not an easy task, especially if your responsibilities seem to multiply and your to-do lists never end. Still, you need to take your well-being seriously. It means that you’ll have to give up that extra hour of work in the evening to get more sleep. It also means that you’ll need to find courage to ask your family members to stay with your baby while you can finally go to a gym, do yoga, meditate, take a long bath or do just about anything that will put your mind and body back in balance.
When you prioritize you self-care you can generate more energy for your family and for your business. When you focus on your well-being, you’ll become calmer and more productive, even if your work time shrinks to the size of your baby’s nap.
Combining a freelance career with parenthood isn’t mission impossible. You probably won’t be able to work in the same extend or accept as many tasks as you could earlier. But in your new role as a parent you’ll also find a new perspective on your life, business, and family. Your work style will change, you will change and your business will change, but with some preparation and self-awareness you can turn these changes into a positive and fruitful transformation.
Over to you
What else do you think is important to prepare your freelance business for your transition into parenthood?
You can share your ideas below.
P.S. If you’re looking for advice on how to juggle your work with motherhood, have a look at my book “You’ve got this: How to continue your freelance career when you become a mother”.
