5 things I’m doing that make me feel less overwhelmed and more prepared

I struggled to find much info online for small business owners/solopeneurs when it came to preparing for mat leave, so I spent a good chunk of time researching, asking other biz owners and I’ve pulled together *5 things* that I’m doing that are making me feel less overwhelmed and more prepared. It’s so important to work out what is best for you and your growing family and I hope that these 5 tips can help you too.

1. Preparing my team and setting up systems

This goes for my full-time team member, Imogen, who’s been with me for over 2 years now and the team members I have on my on-going projects. It means setting up systems, creating access to information, processes, and training anyone who will be stepping in for me. I recommend starting this 6+ months before you plan to take leave. Making it a priority and setting up meetings, giving more feedback and stepping back has made a huge difference in not only allowing them the ability to take ownership, but really take charge of their own work. It’s also taught me I do not need to touch everything! This has been HUGE for me and I hope to keep this up when I return.

2. Setting up a plan that makes sense for YOU

Decide how available you’ll be during maternity leave: Will you completely check out for three months? Will you be available one day a week for project questions or concerns? Decide on a direction and stick to it. If you leave your team and clients with realistic expectations, everyone will be happier.

For me this looks like a staged mat leave plan that I have mapped out like this:

Stage 1: June 15 – Aug 15 no contact/2 months (emergency only)

Stage 2: Aug 15 – Sept 15: 1-2 days or 16 hours per month/1 month. This includes:

• Check in with team, review final designs where needed
• Invoicing/accounting/any must deal with items with clients
• Monthly ‘Brand Clarity Cocktail Hour’ with all students of the Brand Clarity Course

Stage 3: September 15 – November 15/2 months: 1-2 days per or 8-18 hours per week. This includes:

• Set days with flexibility on hours where needed
• Getting back into working directly with clients and continuing to oversee and manage projects
• All of the above and more hands-on work (staying within my ‘budget’ of working hours)

Stage 4: November 15 – February 15/3 months: 2-3 days per or 16-24 hours per week. This includes:

• Set days with flexibility on hours
• Getting back into working directly with clients and continuing to oversee and manage projects
• All of the above and more hands-on work

Stage 5: Feb 15, 2022 – Onwards: Back to near full time work with flexibility, specific meeting times/capacity and developing a schedule that fits my family’s needs. Will access boundaries and schedule closer to this timeframe. Considering a 3-4 day work week (something I’ve always wanted to do).

I should also add a key piece of info that allows me to do this! My partner, husband, baby daddy, aka Jay is taking pat leave, and this is a MASSIVE blessing. I know this isn’t available to a lot of people, but if one partner is self-employed and one has access to paternity/maternity leave (even if it’s just EI in our case) it might make sense to take it! We recognize how fortunate we are to have this as an option and because I can work from home I’ll be able to return to work without missing too much of my baby snugs.

3. Communicating with clients and team members

I shared my staged mat leave plans with my on-going clients (high level with dates and boundaries) with info on who they will be working with in my absence. I did this 5 months before I plan to take leave and will remind them again 2 weeks before I go. I have also mapped out the 3 months of work (with lots of flexibility because, well shit happens), my team’s availability and planned my out of office message so folks know who to contact and for what.

At the time of writing this I am now 45 days from my due date and although I haven’t put my out of office on and I plan to work up to my due date, I am communicating what will come well in advance both over the phone and in writing to be super clear! No surprises for my clients means more ease for me!

4. Saving, investing, and choosing not to pay into EI

I have been saving and leaving money in my business account to pay myself and my team member in case a project drops off or anything changes. This is my back up plan, but ideally all projects will be a GO and income will continue as I take my leave.

I didn’t choose to pay into unemployment insurance. I did my research and spoke to my accountant and in the end, I made the choice that felt best for me. I can see how this would benefit some folks, but for me the premiums, qualifying periods and value didn’t make sense.

Instead, I chose to put the money I would have paid into EI for the past year into a TFSA account and invest the money conservatively to create a reserve for myself. Having this money saved and making money (with the help of an advisor) has given me what I would have got from EI and some. It has also helped me to engage with other folks who are interested in investing and learning about stocks, mutual funds and the opportunities out there to grow savings outside of the traditional bank systems. Shout out to my group chat peeps!

5. Automate and organize as much as poss

Create a client contact list for team, organize finances (for me this means getting my invoicing and accounting all up to speed in Quickbooks), set up emails to send out in advance, detailed out of office messages that are auto-scheduled, any marketing emails queued in the calendar, whatever you can do to organize and automate, do it and walk away. I’m not there yet, but this is my priority as we speak! When done, you will know that you’ve communicated with your team, given access to everything necessary, reminded everyone about your leave, now it’s time to get ready to step back!

The final thing I’ll share beyond this list of 5 is that I am going into new stage of my life knowing that ALL OF THIS may change and that’s okay. I have put the work in to create systems, communicate as clearly as I know how and get myself set up to feel prepared. This allows me the ability to set boundaries and be present with my baby. To me that is what is most important and if plans change, they change. I will say that having a plan in place makes me feel a lot less stressed and more at ease. This is something I want for any new parent, whether you own your own biz or not.

Let me know if there’s anything you did that really helped you or if you’re also an expecting new parent so we can hang out on the interwebs!

xo Meg