With the absolute nightmares that are childcare costs and getting flexible work hours in London (and that was before Covid-19 hit), I, like many parents have found freelancing to offer the possibility of spending more time with my small children and avoiding the parts of employment which can eat up acres of time (staff meetings, appraisals, water cooler chatter, presenteeism, commuting) and get to pick and choose the work I enjoy.

In my case this has developed from random bits of freelance event organising, to writing a book and launching a consultancy about fundraising for music, through to being a creative business adviser and now moving away from that to focus more on delivering training, facilitation and coaching which I really love.

As a creative business adviser (I’ve worked with The Barbican, Creative United, the Musicians’ Union, the British Council and many others) I’ve frequently worked with both start-up and established businesses and inevitably with the sole-trader businesses we end up implementing strategies to help them develop their business so they can charge more, work fewer hours, be more focused way, say no to ‘red herring’ jobs that detract from their goals and balance their work with their overall lifestyle.

This focus is absolutely essential for self-employed parents, as it can be demanding to look after both your business ‘baby’ and your actual babies, and deciding on how to divide your time and then actually implementing that. People talk about ‘juggling’ but it feels more like rubbing your tummy and patting your head while tap dancing and singing…

Some strategies that I’ve evolved over time, and am still evolving are:

• Develop more of the work which you find energising and fun, as this will be easier for you to deliver and allow you to manage your stress levels.
• Look at your portfolio of work – what pays the best. Can you make it a goal to get more of that work and promote that work? You can always be busy if your rates are low, but with kids there is the constant pressure to make your limited time away from them worthwhile (and cover any childcare costs).
• Get up early and get key tasks done before the kids get up (tricky as one of mine wakes up at 5:30 anyway, but I hate working in the evening as I’m much more of an early bird and evenings are my down time).
• Find a buddy or coach who can help you with goal setting and keeping motivated. I have a handful of freelance friends who I check in with regularly, they are my ‘work buddies’ and we refer each other for assingments, celebrate the successes and help each other see the big picture when we lose our mojo. I love the 90-day-plan for working towards bigger goals.
• Always have a sense of humour…I’m finishing writing this while preventing my 3-year old from destroying my office and shouting instructions to my 6-year old!

I’d love to hear your strategies for making self-employed parent life work; or to work with your organisation to help freelance parents!

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More about my faciliation work:

Remi designed and facilitated an inspiring networking event to help mums in business set goals and find their personal motivation.

Her organised and professional approach from the start made for a straightforward planning process and well thought out event. Combining her facilitation skills with her warm nature, participants shared with ease and made valuable connections. Participants left with tangible plans of action alongside heaps of motivation instilled by Remi. If you are looking for a thoughtful and very organised trainer/facilitator who can really design around specific needs, I highly recommend Remi! 

 Megan Thomas-Thiede, StartUp Mums, Crouch End, London