Looking for Advice from parents who founded companies when your kids were young

Wendy·Jun 11, 2021

Hi everybody! Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a 14 month old and my partner and I hope to have a second kiddo in the next 1-2 years.Earlier this year, when my daughter turned 1, I left my job to start a company (I had previously started a company when I was 24 and had been wanting to again for the last 3-4 years). Prior to leaving my job, I had been doing user research and engineering for this company on the side while working my full-time job—as you might imagine, I got totally burned out.I'd love to speak with any parents here who started a company (successfully or not) during the early years of their children's lives! I'd love to hear about your experience and advice. It's been a rough ride, but the challenge has also been augmented by my constant uncertainty of whether or not it's really possible to do both without significantly sacrificing my health, relationship with my child, or business success. Thanks so much :)

KimMyerson·Jun 12, 2021

Hi Wendy, another lurker 😂😂😂My husband and I started a company about 1 1/2 years ago and it’s starting to take off now. Our daughter was then around 1 1/2 years old. It’s not easy as one feels like a bad parent so much of the time. I found it got better when I could put her in a play school from 9am - 3pm when she was about 18 months old. Then I try to play with her for a bit after school in between meetings and calls before her dinner at 6pm. Then my husband and I take turns bathing her and getting her ready for bed - the one who has less work to do 😂 . Yes I believe you can do both. You’ll have good days and bad days but you will have the same if you have a full time job. You’ll be happier working for yourself and I see that my daughter knows we enjoy what we are doing. I hope this helps.

Wendy·Jun 17, 2021

Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Kim!

RoseHerr·Jun 13, 2021

Just wanted to lend my support and empathy! I am trying to launch a business right now - my son is 19 months and I'm expecting my second in September (and i'm still working full time). I find that time blocking is really helpful in the day to day (trying to get a lot done at night and during nap times / when he's at daycare). But overall, the business is something I'm passionate about, and want to see through - I think it's good for my own mental health that I'm working on something that excites (and scares!) me. Ultimately, I would love to stop working and focus on my business in the hopes that in the end it will provide more flexibility around having time for my kids. All that to say - it isn't easy! but hopefully will be worth it!

Wendy·Jun 17, 2021

Really helpful. Thanks so much for lending support and empathy <3 Sending some back to you! I had a 4-6 month period where my FT job, this business, and my kiddo were all overlapped and I think I went a little crazy, haha, so super impressed that you're doing all of that (AND pregnant again!!)!

janebuescher·Jun 14, 2021

Hey Wendy! My kids are now 3 and 5, started my first company before they were born but was still running it when they were both born, and now started a second company last year. DM me if you want to chat!

Kellee1·Feb 16, 2022

Hi Wendy! While it wasn't me exactly that started the company, my spouse quit his full time job when our son was 8 weeks old. As a family, we identified how we wanted our family life to flow and work/life boundaries. Here were some of our rules in no particular order:1. Heavy focus on independent sleep training from the beginning as we knew we would need solid sleep (highly controversial in the mom world, I know, but you do what works for your family). 2. Between the time the kiddo was home from daycare and the time he went to bed, that was dedicated family time. No phone calls, no emails, no computer. This still holds true today (as we are both working on our computers now that the kid is in bed). Oh and we mutually agreed to call one another out on this, even looking at social media or texting friends. 3. Random days off of daycare, sick baby sent home from daycare were the responsibility of my spouse for the first 6 months or so. We chose to do this because I was the only one making money at the time and needed to be present at work as much as possible. Now, more than 2 years later, we often both stay home and split the time around meetings or other work. This works best for us. 4. Finances. As soon as we knew my spouse was going to quit we stopped all extra savings (i.e. no retirement, stopped extra mortgage payments, vacation fund, toy fund) and just stocked up on extra cash into an emergency fund. We are big Dave Ramsey followers so are debt free except the mortgage and already had a 6 month emergency fund which helped tremendously. The extra cash was to bring us closer to 12 months. This would allow my spouse to not make any income for up to a year before needing to get some sort of paying job be it consulting or flipping burgers. 5. Time limit. This goes hand in hand with above. Sit down with your family and decide how long you're going to try to make your startup work and what constitutes as successful. For us, it was having some sort of income, especially to offset the cost of daycare. 6. My spouse and his cofounder are both parents and they both vowed family first and that has still held true more than 2 years later. Sometimes the kids are in the office and sometimes you're working from home or from a sporting event or whatever needs to happen. The company acknowledges that the spouses sacrifice and take risks just as much as their employees. Having this mentality is great. They even offer extra flex days off to be used when you've had a long week or when your family needs you more at home that week. It's totally possible as long as you're able to draw boundaries and hold them. Family over work always. If you're not able to hold those boundaries, then don't do it. If you are, go for it!