Founders’ Post: Starting Your Business When You're a Parent of Young Children

Is there a "good time" for getting into business? The answer is "no". There is no magic moment for starting a business. In general, it is a mixture of circumstances, luck and a lot of work.
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The next question, if you are a parent of young children, is: Should I get into business now? Because if there is a time when everything does not seem to line up for starting a business, it's when you have your hands full of diapers!

Surprisingly, from our own experience as entrepreneurs-parents, it's not easier or more difficult to get into business with or without children. It's all about adapting. The human being adapts according to his environment. Without children, we work like crazy 12 to 15 hours a day for our startup. With children, we work less, but perhaps more effectively, because we learn to juggle all the challenges of being parents.

We learned several lessons from our creation of Bouge Petit. When we started the business, our youngest was only a few weeks old and our oldest one and a half years old. We certainly had our hands full! But our new project, the creation of Bouge Petit, has brought us a beneficial side to our family life. Having a project, in parallel to caring for the children, made each day a stimulating one. It was not just a matter of diapers!

We would go so far as to say: is there not a better time to go into business than when you become parents? For example, during maternity leave, this gives an opportunity to start a small business. A hobby or passion can become the subject of a business plan. A few hours a day well used can lead away.

Warning: everything is not pink and it is difficult to manage family and business. You have to surround yourself with people of trust and become an expert in managing your schedule. It is also necessary to determine your level of risk, because success is never guaranteed in advance. But you still have to get out of your comfort zone to get into business.

Now that several months have passed since the opening of Bouge Petit, we are confident that becoming parents and entrepreneurs is not only a dream, but can become a reality for many. Life already changes with a child, so why not take advantage of it to change your professional life too? You must remain realistic, but you must know how to be audacious. This mix can take you far!

Follow our "Founders' Posts" to find out more about our experience as entrepreneurs in Quebec. They are published on our blog and shared on social media. Thank you for your interest!

Benjamin & Paula
Founders