Being a mom is hard.

Being a working or entrepreneurial mom is hard. Being a stay at home mom is hard. Let's just face it - being a mom of any type is hard. Entrepreneurial moms not only have the regular mental load to worry about, but also have brains that are ticking away at all hours worrying and planning about how we are going to take the next steps in our businesses. Entrepreneurial moms tend to have a hard time delegating tasks - a nasty habit that ruins productivity and carries over from day-to-day motherhood. I, the owner of MoBoleez, am no exception. 

The Problem Begins

MoBoleez was founded by a mom in the mid-2000s, then the assets were purchased by another mom (ahem... me...), Alison Ruks, in 2016. I sat on the business until I had a chance to breathe some life into and voila! Pandemic times, 2020 gave me my opportunity. I previously had a 'more than full-time job' as an executive  in the corporate world and worked on building the business on my lunch breaks, in the evenings, and on the weekends - never delegating and sacrificing much of my family time. 

Finally, I took the leap to focus full time and much to the chagrin of my 9-5, stable-job-loving parents, left my high-paying, benefit-laden job in pursuit of the 'North American dream'. I rebranded the company, now named Mobobaby, and was off to the races. 

Continuing my journey of being unable to delegate, I began handling every aspect of the business myself, kind of like I do in my home life. Accounting, marketing, operations, you name it. As mentioned, most moms have a hard time delegating tasks and entrepreneurial moms are likely bootstrapping the business on the financial side. This just compounds the problem, as we want to do it ourselves AND save money. Entrepreneurial moms carry this trait into the business world. We need to learn that we cannot do everything. We must learn to delegate. We must learn to ask for help. 

Finally, The Delegation Realization

Today was a monumental day, as several weeks ago I finally realized my limitations and decided to hire a specialist in retail packaging. This is the 3rd attempt at working towards realizing my vision for retail packaging, and I am finally just around the corner to ticking this off my list. Because of my lack of ability to delegate, this project has taken me six months longer than it should have.  This is six months of lost time and income in which I could have been in the retail marketplace. 

Finally, I have learned my lesson. I have assembled a small team of uber-efficient crew members who I call on from time-to-time when I need help working on certain tasks that I just should not do. 

Delegation Inspiration

This has given me the inspiration to delegate in my home-life, as well, even if it is as simple as teaching my daughter to water the plants, to set the table, and to put her own toys away. Even if it is to ask my husband to prepare one meal a week, or make our daughter's lunch. Since learning to delegate, I have tripled my productivity and look forward to applying the same principle to my home life. 

Delegation is key to success in life and in business. Do you delegate?