Time off - mat leave?
Hi, I own a small agency doing admin, design, marketing and start up strategy for other small businesses. I have a team of 6 associates.
I’m due start of May.
My plan is to take 6weeks off completely in which time my team will be perfectly capable of running their accounts without me.
Then I plan to start to come back just for a couple hours here and there, as I want and feel I can and slowly work back up as much as feels right.
It’s my first baby so I have no idea how I’ll feel. My husband is planning to be able to take some shared parental leave too so I’ll have support at home to allow the flexibility.
I’ve had mixed replies, some people getting it and saying that’s the pro of own biz that I can be flexible, while others have urged caution based on their experience.
Does anyone have experience of having a baby while running a business and what time they took off/ how they balanced it? Would love to hear your stories too.
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It is only now, almost 10 months post partum that I actually feel I can 'work'. But everyone and every baby is so different so it's great you are researching and planning what you can do ahead of having a baby. Since you have staff, it may be OK for you to go back earlier if you are just dipping in and out 🌸
Heya, I have my own businesses that I solely run and I shut them all down 2 weeks before I was due and didn't open them up again until 8 months later! I didn't feel ready to do anything prior to this, i had huge support from my husband (also self employed) but we were both extremely sleep deprived and any 'time' I had, I absolutely needed to sleep. I was also exclusively breastfeeding so my husband could not help with the feeding side of things either. I honestly feel like it depends on several factors like, how your birth/labour goes (c section alone takes approx 4-6 weeks for recovery), how much sleep you're getting, factors like post natal depression (extremely common), the feeding situation, how your baby sleeps (I met a couple who's baby would ONLY sleep in the car or on a walk) in the day and night etc. My baby would only sleep if he was held by either me or my husband for the first 4 months. I gave myself 2 months to go back to work before baby came, and that was way too optimistic 🤣