To wonder if this is a pipe dream

[isitapipedream]

I’m due back to work from maternity leave in the autumn. I can’t afford to be a SAHM nor do I want to give up work entirely, I feel it’s important for my identity and of course financial independence too! I really don’t want to be away from my baby, though. I used to be an early years practitioner and after taking my baby to baby groups I feel it’s something I could run myself. However, is starting (and running) a business with a baby harder than just going back to my office 9-5 for 3 days a week?

Running your own business is hard! I know a few people who started baby/child led businesses (some franchised, some not) - all of them went back to their day jobs within a couple of years because they made very little profit.

Oh wow, really? Yeah I didn’t want to underestimate it.

How much do you rely on an income? Starting and running any business is hard, and likely to be loss making or barely break even for at least a couple of years - it’s not an automatic replacement for a 9-5, it’s a long term focus.

Can you afford the start up costs? And is there sufficient demand in your area to hold more classes?

If you've run the numbers and think you'll make enough of a profit to be viable, it might be okay.

Something to consider is what happens in a few months when your baby isn't really a baby any more, and you're trying to entertain a toddler whilst engaging a load of mums/babies.

My income is just disposable/to save with so we probs need £1000 a month from it- which I’d get + some if I reduced my 9-5 to 3 days rather than FT

All the current classes get fully booked within a few days of the tickets being released so I think there is definitely demand. Good last point though. My mum lives very nearby and would help but I don’t want to underestimate how much help I’d need.

Unless you have time and money to throw at it, or it's your literal dream, reduce your hours until nursery. Running your own business will consume your life. Especially for the first couple of years at least. Talking from experience.

What happens with your baby while you’re working in this new business op?

It won’t just be a case of turning up and running a class then going home till the next one.

Running a business is very time consuming and all-consuming and i Wouldn’t recommend starting one if your only motivation is “don’t want to go back to work”.

Remember it's not just booking a church hall and posting on FB. You need insurance. Possibly council license. Offender checks for you and any helpers, staff etc. Risk assessment on the premises, toys etc. Will you need finance...so a business plan, cash flow projections etc.

Can you cope with not making any money for a sustained period. Can you cover the costs of set up and initial running

That said my wife and I both left the corporate world and started our own micro business at 40 and were successful for 15 years until I retired

It will be harder, but whether it's worth it in the long run hinges on how happy you are working for someone else. Personally, I was always miserable working for someone and hated being micromanaged. Being self employed is harder in many ways, but you having the autonomy to decide certain aspects eg x customer is hard work and I don't want to do business with them is very liberating!

How about being a childminder?

Realistically you would only be able to do 1 class per morning/afternoon - how many people would you be able to have places for - what would be your profit per class after all costs such as hall hire, insurance, supplies etc? Don't forget to factor in other overheads such as marketing, set up costs, up keep of equipment etc etc.

This isn’t really a viable approach for somebody who runs baby groups, though: OP would probably find quite a few of her customers a bit obnoxious or hard work, but you can’t turn away every customer you don’t like.

Being a baby group facilitator is much more of a relationship-building customer service role than an early years role in many ways: you need to appeal to the adults, schmooze them, and make them feel positive and happy in order to keep them bringing their babies along, and spreading the word to their friends who want to come along. Read a few MN threads about baby groups and you’ll see a lot of it can also be about managing challenging personalities and group dynamics, bullies, and careful navigating bad behaviour among customers.

I ran my own business with a newborn and an 18m old, right up until they left secondary school.

Not a franchise and I was a single parent so I depended on my income.

I remember having a telephone meeting with a client whilst changing a nappy in a soft play venue!

It's not easy. It's bloody hard. But I made it work to the point that I ended up with five employees before selling the business.