8 Truths In Running a Small Business That Totally Apply to Homeschooling Too

Hello there, good friends of the internet. For those that don’t know me already, I’m Victoria. I’m a homeschooling single parent and also a small business owner. Yes, I am tired, thank you for asking. But before you go and start ogling about how MUCH doing both of those things is, you can’t imagine, etc… I have to come clean about something: the main reason I’m able to do this (besides copious amounts of diet coke) is that they’re honestly, kind of the same thing. 

See, we’re finishing up our fourth year of homeschooling. But also, I’ve been self employed for a little bit longer than that. At the beginning I did mostly smaller projects and freelance classes to supplement being a SAHM because my then husband was the main earner and my kids were both little and high maintenance, but since being single, my main income currently comes from my jewelry brand, which I started in mid 2019. 

I’m not going to sugarcoat anything, it’s hard, it’s a lot, and generally speaking I would not recommend leaving your husband and continuing to homeschool your kids while building a new business from the ground up right before a pandemic starts. But you know, here we are, and while we’re here I’ll take some time to unpack that bombshell I dropped at the beginning: 

Homeschooling and running a small business are very much the same in the type of mindset that you need in order to succeed (or, in pandemic times, just surviving is ok too). 

It took a while for me to REALLY see the parallels, but, given that due to the current situation, neither my employment nor my kids’ education were things that I could really change, I found myself CONSISTENTLY giving myself oddly similar pep talks as I struggled through those two, superficially unrelated, areas of my life. And yes, while I wouldn’t trade the life we’ve built (are building?) for anything in the world, IT IS HARD AND MOST DAYS ARE A STRUGGLE. I have a lot of insecurity about unintentionally misleading people into believing that homeschooling whilst self employed is fun and easy and I mean I guess sometimes it is but that’s more the exception than the rule. But my point is that, at their cores, both homeschooling AND running a small business are fundamentally similar in the following truths: 

Just when you’ve gotten used to how things are, they will change. 

In business, this may look like changes in the market, in homeschooling it’s more likely to be changes in your child’s age and development. Attachment to how things are “supposed” to be long term doesn’t serve you well in either. Especially if you’ve made a detailed long term plan with ideal end results, which, oldest daughter here, ARE VERY SATISFYING TO MAKE. But embracing the fluidity of change and practicing adaptability is, I think, one of the keys to success. The plan is nice to have as a guideline though. 

You can’t pour from an empty cup. 

I feel like this both goes without saying but also can’t be said enough. When you work for yourself, NOTHING CAN GET DONE IF YOU’RE NOT OK. And when you’re homeschooling your kids? SOMEHOW EVEN LESS THAN NOTHING GETS DONE. Self care is crucial, especially when it comes to the basics like eating and sleeping because I can tell you from experience, you make a LOT more mistakes when you’re tired and hungry and YOUR KIDS WILL NOTICE ALL OF THEM. 

You get what you pay for/doing everything yourself is not going to be a good time.

Look, there are free versions of all the things, and I’m a HUGE believer in DIY. But in the same way that say, you should probably hire an accountant if you struggle with math and organization, you should EMBRACE the availability of tutors and classes that are taught by people that aren’t you. It doesn’t serve anyone if you’re struggling because you HAVE to do everything in the hardest way possible. Honestly, I have yet to find an area where what I payed in money for assistance did not pale in comparison to the peace of mind it brought me knowing that the job was done correctly. And this goes for both tax software AND swimming lessons. 

Don’t reinvent the wheel. 

Ok so ON A RELATED NOTE, you know how in business, it’s best to learn as much as we can from those that came before us and use as many existing tools and structures as we can? The same goes for homeschooling! I’m sure there ARE parents who excel at lesson planning and creating their own curriculum from scratch, but I’m here as both a homeschooling parent and an adult who was homeschooled as a child, THIS IS NOT A THING THAT YOU HAVE TO DO IN FACT ITS PROBABLY BETTER IF YOU DON’T. In the same way that there is absolutely nothing bad about trusting experts to provide services that we’re not able to do on our own, trusting the experts who created the existing tools that are now at your disposal to use to make your life easier always worthwhile. 

What works for someone else may not work for you, and that’s ok.

I mean in business we’re usually talking about like, how one brand’s results from a certain strategy may not directly translate to your own brand, but in homeschooling this applies in two completely separate areas: 1. What works for one family (whether it’s a schedule, curriculum, philosophy…) may not work for yours, and 2. What works for ONE OF YOUR OWN CHILDREN may not work for another one. Personally, I’m walking through this one HARD because my two kids could not be more different and I feel like I’m learning to homeschool again for the first time. 

Success comes from consistency, not singular big moves.

Now everyone’s definition of “success” is going to be different, but like, we all know following up on one business lead or creating one piece of content per day is going to give your business better long term results than say, contacting 100 leads and making 100 pieces of content one time and then getting so burnt out you never do either again. And the thing with kids is… they actually THRIVE on repetition. Unfortunately, pushing through large amounts of information at once, “working ahead” before a break, or “catching up” after a busy season creates the exact same burnout that you’d get if you did the same thing with your work. Slow and steady wins the race, I tell myself as I encourage my son to trace just a few letters a day until he has the motor function to actually write. 

Sometimes you have to cut your losses.

Ok I know I just said that consistency is like, super important but ALSO sometimes things just aren’t working and you need to reevaluate and pivot to something different. This is no less important to remember when your child just is not responding to your phonics curriculum as it is when you’ve made a big investment and it’s not panning out the way you were hoping. It’s hard, especially when you’ve put a lot of time, effort, and/or money into it, but if it’s not working… it’s not working. 

You get out of it what you put into it.

I mean in business this is a given, maybe you can skate by doing the minimum effort and investment but you’re definitely not going to grow if you don’t commit yourself to being fully present and getting your hands dirty. But it’s exactly the same with homeschooling. Sure, you could pick a curriculum to follow, maybe get them a tutor, and sit back letting their education naturally unfold on it’s own, knowing that they’ll eventually be able to read and write and do math. But as an adult whose homeschool experience was mostly like that, I can say that… there was a lot I missed, a lot I struggled with later in life, I can really see the importance and the crucial difference that comes with parents who dive in to learn WITH their kids. Honestly the most important gift we can give our kids through homeschooling is a lifelong love of learning, and there’s nothing more powerful than modeling it. 

All work and no play makes Jack a dull (more like grumpy) boy.

So you know how we need breaks from work? And, especially us creatives, need space to experiment and create in ways that AREN’T related to work? THIS IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT WITH HOMESCHOOLING. It is so, so important (especially when it comes to reading), that not all learning is “for school”, and not all exploration is “for learning”. Yes kids are sponges, but also, they need as much play as they can get!

If I’m being 100% totally completely honest here, I always expected the business part of my life and the homeschooling part of my life to be in staunch opposition. I was, again being fully candid here, anticipating a life of struggling to find a balance between the two, and forever having to switch between my “business lady” hat to my “homeschool mom” hat. Finding out that, while in practice they’re very different, what they require from ME is actually quite similar was a game changer.

I’m a firm believer in mindset work, and a big fan of efficiency, so WHAT A REVELATION that the mindset work I’ve been doing towards my business was ALSO helping me with homeschooling. And apparently, it’s the same hat. 

Has it made it any easier? Practically speaking, not always. But for my own mental health and inner peace? I think we’re really turning a corner…