“You can’t give birth to adults” said Brian Smith, the founder of Ugg Boots, which are a fashion statement, all over the world. Also the author of “The Birth Of A Brand”, Brian is of the opinion that you can’t expect your two year old to head off to college. As a mother of a toddler, I am often able to see what he means, even though, we have too many expectations from our little ones. My daughter is just a little over 5, and although she is quite smart and intelligent, there are times when I myself feel that I am expecting too much from her.
Same is the case with my business – technically speaking, I have just started my business and there are times when I expect that my I will start making a profit in the next few months. What I seem to forget is that like my baby, I can’t expect it to grow to great heights in no time. like my baby, my business too will need time to grow and like I protect and nurture my child, I need to do the same with my business too. As a mother, there is so much about my business that I have learnt, drawing parallels from my child. I realised that children as well as business need time and will not grow overnight. You will have to face failure several times, before you can touch success and you also need to keep trying, over and over again, before you can succeed.
However, being a mother also allows me to draw several parallels between how I raise my daughter and how I build my business. Here are just some of the comparisons I was able to see:
- Research is imperative – Whether it is your child or your business, you need to do your groundwork well in advance. You need to understand what you are getting into and be prepared for the same. Children as well as new businesses need a lot of hard work, time and dedication and it is important that you be prepared for all of these. Just like you wouldn’t want to get pregnant when you are not prepared for it, you also would not want to start a new business, when you are not ready. Once you have a baby or a business, you cannot let go of it, anytime soon.
- Constant attention will be needed – People like Brian Smith feel that you should treat your business the same way that you would treat your baby. From the time my daughter was born, I have spent a lot of time, ensuring she grows up healthy and happy. I gave her food that will nourish her, I made sure she slept on time and stayed active and I also made sure that she always knew that she was loved. I continue to do all these things for her today and I realised that I do pretty much the same for my business too. I need to make sure that I give a certain amount of time, each day to my work, nurture it with all the resources it needs to grow and of course give it the love and attention that it deserves. Of course, as time goes by, you will need to dedicate lesser time, just the way how my daughter is able to eat on her own and even take a bath on her own! Once your business is up and running, you will start to see that you have a lot more time to spare.
- Investments will have to be made – Just the way you would probably save up for your child, you also need to save for your business. You would make sure that you educate them, you would get them all their vaccinations and you would nurture all their interests, which could vary between basketball to ballet. Same is the case with a business – you need to make sure that you save up money for all the rainy days, you need to invest in an education so that you always know how to run your business the best and of course, you also need to protect it against those who might want to harm it. Just the way, I have planned my daughter’s life for the next 20 or so years, I need to make sure that I have long term plans for my business too.
- Keep your cool at all times – There will be plenty of times, when as a mother, I have to do things that don’t seem pleasant. From changing my baby’s diapers to having her spit up all over me, there have been so many times that I have really felt upset and frustrated. These days, my daughter has an endless list of questions, some of which leave me really irritated. However, as a mother, I have known all this while that I have no choice but to get through all of this. I changed n number of diapers and spent hours cleaning up after my baby and today, I try and answer every question that she puts to me, because I know that that is what a good mother does. It is pretty much the same with a new business – there will be so many times when you will have to do things which don’t seem pleasant – from making innumerable calls to frequently travelling to far off places. However, in order to get your business up and running, you will have no choice but to get it all done. And there will be times when you feel that you are losing your patience – just hold on!
- No point being jealous of others – Recently my daughter went for a competition, where she did quite well; actually much better than I expected. But there was another child who did better than my little one, and her mother took a great amount of pride, rubbing it into my face. I have to admit I was jealous, but after a while I realised that there was no point being jealous. I had to take pride in the fact that my daughter had done extremely well in a competition, without almost no help or guidance. Even in the business world, there will be several people who will try to show off how much better their business is, but the fact remains that your business will grow at a pace that you decide for it. Being jealous will only take up a lot of your time and energy, and bring nothing positive to you. So, instead of spending time being jealous, I decided to spend a little time teaching my daughter, for the next competition and I did the same for my business too!
- It’s a lot of work, but don’t forget to enjoy it all – Mine was not a complicated pregnancy, but I did face a lot of morning sickness, backaches, swelling in my feet and sleepless nights. After she was born, there were several sleepless nights and endless diaper changes. These days, it is a range of activities that she needs to be shuttled to and fro from and of course, everything that is associated with going to school and being a toddler. I have to agree that it is all a lot of hard work, but every night, when I hold my little doll in my arms, it all feels worth it. When you are starting your business, it will seem like a lot of work; you will be spending endless hours trying to get everything done. Once your business is functional, you will have to spend even more hours trying to keep it on its feet. It will be a lot of hard work, but when your business starts becoming profitable, it will all seem great. And no matter how hard you work, as a mother, as well as a business person, you need to remember to enjoy the ride. After all, it’s not the destination, but the journey that matters.