New mum running small business - help!

[Kotokoto]

I'm expecting my first in June and no-one I know to ask irl. Now I'm through the first trimester my thoughts are now turning to work and how I should manage things. I would be really grateful for some opinions from others who've managed this.

I run my own small company, so won't be eligible for full maternity pay. My work is a combination of desk work (project planning, management and fundraising which could be done from my desk at home) and delivery (running training courses for adults with special needs). Our next funding round will take place this Spring so we should have funds to deliver programmes over the next 12-18 months after that. I'm trying to work out what to do given the baby is due June and the training programmes would normally start in the Autumn with a fair bit of preparation beforehand. (I could push the start back a bit to suit me better but will still need to be around then).

I could pay one of my best staff more (and myself less) and give them responsibility for day to day management of the courses / delivery. However, we are a small team and I would still need to oversee the overall project management even from a distance (due to the skills, experience and professional relationships involved). Would it be feasible for me to keep a hand in during the first few months of the baby's life (eg August till Dec)? At a minimum I would need to do a small amount of work from home, such as responding to occasional emails, weekly phone meeting with staff member, bit of budget planning, sending books to bookkeeper etc.

How do new mums manage with small business / when they are a sole director?

I would imagine I could return to work delivering (maybe part-time) in the Spring or evening summer of the following year. The main question is how to keep my business ticking over in the meantime, during late pregnancy and once I have a newborn, so that I still have a business to come back to.

(For context DH works FT and earns 3x me so it makes sense for him to stay in his work).

If anyone runs their own small business which relies upon you, how have you managed with a baby?

I think that what you have described seems quite feasible in terms of hiring a member of staff to cover (they would probably need to be an employee rather than a contractor at that point) and what you would do from home to keep your hand in.

Emails - fine, you can do them at odd times
Calls - a bit harder to schedule, as new babies don't nap for long periods at a time in a predictable way. But you could do them while breastfeeding, or while pushing the pram.

What you can't really do is schedule 'a morning's work' unless someone else is looking after your baby. But you do actually have quite a lot of time at odd hours of the day - 'odd' being the operative word!