Tips & Tools: Severe Weather = Business Disaster?

By Kate Powers

TIP:  Severe Weather doesn’t have to equal a business disaster.

Old Man Winter is at it again here in New England and with most of the country struck by severe weather this winter, small business owners are feeling the crunch with what seems like weekly school cancelations.

Many of us find ourselves dealing with snow days and trying to keep the kids busy while still getting some work accomplished. Here are some adaptions I’ve learned to make that might prove helpful to you if you are “taking the kids to work with you” this winter.

1. Be realistic about when the kids will be home and how much you can expect to accomplish with them house bound.  It is probably not a great idea to plan a new project or schedule a full day of client sessions when the forecast calls for a foot of snow.
2. Enlist the help of the kids. You may be surprised at how much can get done by including the kids.  Don’t forget the power of a paycheck either—your children may become very motivated to assist you if there is a monetary reward attached to the job.
3. Work side by side. This may be you working on your schedule book or planning out your business events for the year while your children are coloring or building with legos at the kitchen table.
4. Make the kids your business partners. If you have client calls or work that requires your full attention and a quite space while the kids are home, explain to the kids that you need this window of time for work.  Of course if you have very young children your quiet time is restricted to nap time.
5. Explain the importance. Tell them how you need their help to get this work done – you need them to be quiet and to not interrupt you.  And because you appreciate their good behavior you will spend time prior to the work time focused on getting them set up with a quiet activity and will spend quality time with them following your work time focused on them.  Set them up with an independent craft project then playing a board game, cooking/baking together or spending some girl time doing nails or hair just for fun.

The most important thing to remember is that you can make both your business and your family cohabitate with a little give and take and a bit of thoughtful planning. To read more on this topic click here.

Kate Powers is a certified professional coach with over 10 years of experience working with women small business owners in areas of business strategy and life balance to create successful businesses that support full and joyful lives.