Scaling a business is like starting a master’s degree.

Newsflash: you’re already in a master’s level business program.

When you’re scaling your business, or bringing on multiple team members for the first time, it’s kind of like you’re starting a new degree.

It’s a finite time period, with noticeable workload, that produces a specific result.

And everyone in your family knows to work around that (i.e., expect you to be spending evenings and weekends on your homework and papers).

Here’s how to let your family know that you’re in a temporary push season.... 

You’ve got this!

Alyssa

Love your daily life again as a work-at-home mom: https://yourunbusylife.com/ 

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Transcript

This is the Unbusy Mom, and today we’re talking about why scaling a business is like starting a master’s degree.

Newsflash: you’re already in a master’s level business program.

When you’re scaling your business, or bringing on multiple team members for the first time, it’s kind of like you’re starting a master’s program.

It’s a finite time period, with noticeable workload, that produces a specific result.

And everyone in your family knows to work around that (i.e., expect you to be working evenings and weekends on your homework and papers).

So why can’t this business expansion you’re prepping for be like that? 

When you KNOW you’re entering a push season (not necessarily weekend work, mind you, but just an increased load of responsibilities for you to level up into), why can’t you sit down and explain to your husband and kids that you’re needing to have LESS on your plate (household wise) right now because you’re onboarding a graphic designer and an OBM and a customer service specialist all at once; re-org-ing the company; and onboarding 30 to 40 new clients into your programs?

I mean, that’s a pretty clear ask, isn’t it? (If your husband had a work promotion that entailed heavy manager roles, and HE wasn’t used to it, he’d probably need a little extra time to work down his overload and work INTO his new mindset and responsibilities, right?)

The reason this analogy works so well is that your HUSBAND understands in one go that you’re (a) taking on more work, (b) going to be able to ramp down after a certain period, and (c) out of capacity for doing all your NORMAL tasks around the house (while this “master’s degree” is going on).

Which is exactly what you needed him to know, right? I’ve got a little (okay, a lot) more on my plate; I’m expanding to meet it; but while I’m processing and digesting how my new role shifts, I need less going on in ANOTHER part of my life to give me the space to deal with this.

And since I’m never going to cut back on YOU or the KIDS, it has to be the chores. That all right with you? Here are some ways I was thinking we could simplify the meal prep and laundry and cleaning this season….

Doesn’t it sound far more real, more TANGIBLE, to your family when you use this “mommy’s actually in a master’s program” analogy? It gives you FAR more run time - even a compressed master’s is 18 months - and nobody expects quick results (like 3 week launch windows) and then you’re back on with all your normal duties.

They UNDERSTAND that this is an extended season; adjustments have to be made; but it’s NOT their new forever normal.

And that’s comforting, both to YOU and them.

Basically, you’re letting your company take up space in your family’s life by NOT always cutting IT to make room for balance. THIS time, it’s the “run the family” stuff that’s going to take a back seat to your CAREER.

And remember, you can use this mindset of “my business gets to take up space” in all SORTS of tiny ways, not just when you’re in a big company expansion or team hiring period.

For example, when you ask your kids to clear out of the living room so you can record podcast episodes for 2 hours (because your house layout doesn’t have room for an office for you right now, and you’re choosing to succeed *now*, not wait for a new living arrangement to produce great recordings whenever you need to) - and also ‘cause you’re worth doing your recordings in a nice, bright room with flowers and coffee nearby and candles burning and whatever else YOU like to keep up your energy and mood when you’re on video.

Yeah, it’s a little cramping to the kids to have to open their bedroom doors quietly and talk in whispers when they’re meeting each other in the hallway, but remember this is your work product here! 

And you don’t have to hole up in your closet to batch out all those recordings unless YOU want to. You’re ALLOWED to take the biggest and nicest room in the house for just a couple of hours every other week.

You see that mindset shift?

Now, let’s get nitty gritty granular with this. If you’re taking on a bunch of team, and you know you’ve got all kinds of onboarding periods and trial projects and extra one-on-one meetings to take place, what needs to SHIFT about your current CEO schedule?

Where do you have perfectly reasonable pockets of time - like full-on time blocks - except that you’ve been doing the grocery shopping or the food prepping or the “get everyone ready for the pool” shuffle instead?

(No shame here - this is what a NON-scaling mom does with her not-needed-for-business hours. But YOU’RE leveling up now, so YOU have to think differently.)

And what if you got your groceries delivered, or asked your husband to swing by the Walmart on his way back from work to pick them up, or bought a few more pre-chopped/ready to go foods, or farmed out the food prepping to your junior high age kids (life skills time!), or asked your mom to take the kids on the pool outings (complete with “come over early to get everyone in swimsuits and apply sunscreen and take snacks), while YOU were over there in your office, working? Under firm instructions to NOT be disturbed?

It’s exactly the kind of time-and-space respect you’d ask for if you were head down in schoolwork - I need somebody else to handle this, and not to come barging in asking me questions about everything every 15 minutes - so why can’t your BUSINESS uplevel be the same respect level?

• No, I can’t come out and help you with the exact right way to chop this. You do the best you can, or google techniques if you want to, and it’ll come out just fine.
• Hey honey, I’ve put in the grocery order and it’s at the 48th street store - they’ll have it ready for you anytime after work. Can you add 7 minutes to your commute and pick it up for me? Really appreciate it!
• No, I’m not putting on your swimsuit for you before grandma comes. SHE’S going to help you with all of that. You be sure to tell her where the pool toys are, all right? Have fun at the pool!

So I want you to start brainstorming here about what needs to come OFF your plate, that COULD be delegated or hired out to a responsible someone ELSE, and start gathering that list. You don’t necessarily have to do ALL of it, but you’re probably going to want MOST of it.

And that’s the way your company expansion is going to be handled - WITHOUT running you into the ground as the CEO mom who’s running 10 different directions at once - you DON’T handle all of it.

Okay?

So pick 5 different things that are going to net you a TON of time back, and get going on the outsourcing process today.

Your business worries about having enough margin and mental space to uplevel into this new role are going to shrink like ice cubes on a hot day.

Go be essentialist about your home life, and unbusy.