Home Based Women Entrepreneurs

Working from home can make you bitchy and stressed if you do not set boundaries.

Yes, I said the “B” word. In use since 1400, this term has frequently been used as a derogatory term for women, meaning they are malicious, domineering, intrusive or unpleasant.

Women are generally responsible for doing or overseeing house keeping, groceries, meals, child care and so on and so forth. This juggling act affects most working wives and mothers, but for entrepreneurs the stress is compounded. Unchecked this stress alters our behavior and gives us this demanding and controlling persona.

As new entrepreneurs, it would be wonderful if we started our businesses and could afford a production assistant, receptionist, PR agency, driver, accountant, credit controller and errand runner. Sadly we are all those things rolled into one.

When I entered into businesses I joked that I needed a wife. Why? Wives offer an enormous support to their husbands. This kind of support from husbands has to be specifically negotiated. You do yourself and your husband a disservice when you assume they will naturally know your needs and how to meet them.

If I had a wife, I could work regular hours, put my feet up, watch the telly and not worry about getting the kids bathed and fed and presenting a home cooked dinner after work.

Although my husband is very supportive of my business and helps out where he can, I am still fulfilling the traditional roles plus some. As a wife to a previously divorced husband who lives in a different province to his son, I am also the travel agent and child minder over the school holidays.

The consensus with home based entrepreneurs is it is assumed that we have the time to keep children entertained during working hours and handle a number of domestic issues and marital administrative duties. This adds enormous stress and leads to underlying resentments that spill out when we least expect it.

In September we moved home. To meet a tender deadline on the following Tuesday, I got up at 02H15 on the Saturday to do costing because the packing on the Friday had eaten into my working hours. Did I set the alarm? No, the panic of having too many tasks bolted my body into alertness.

Another attack of insomnia at 03H00 today resulted prepared dinner, washed dishes and trimmed leaves of our plant.

By 06H00, I put a dressed, fed and cleaned five year old into my husband’s car. By 06H30, I had instructed my branding house, updated production schedules, completed a quotation, approved artwork and investigated branded chocolate molded in the shape of a car.

This article was completed by 07H19 and by tonight I would have executed those long overdue boundary negotiations with my husband.

Negotiate with your spouse sooner rather than later. Overworked and stressed wives are not at all nice to have around and it does no justice to your business either.