10 Women and Mums in Business Spill The Beans On Their Biggest Learning In 2018

Focus matters.

It was my word for 2018. I use a planner I created and only allow myself to focus on the 90 days ahead. Now I have a business that is bigger than I ever thought it would be and feel valued by my clients - something I also thought wouldn’t be possible.

Eve Tokens is a Pinterest Marketing Strategist working with small female business owners to grow their targeted website traffic at www.evetokens.com

Always save a piece of you for your family.

I visualise myself in a ‘work’ suit, that I zip up before I start to work, and then I take it off as I finish. Boundaries has been my hardest yet most valuable lesson to date, bar none.

Steph Grainger is a Business Therapist at www.stephgrainger.com

I had to learn to lower my expectations.

I thought I would have everything up and running within 3 months of my little one arriving and it took a lot longer than that. In becoming a new mom, I changed so much that I needed to take some time for myself to work out who I am now.

Beth Connor is a transformation and life coach at www.wildflowertransformationcoaching.com. Beth is passionate about helping women manage stress by empowering them to let go of limiting beliefs and negative emotions.

Childcare I can trust is by far the best investment I’ve made for my business.

Beyond the obvious benefit of giving me time to actually focus on my business, it’s also totally up levelled the way I show up as a professional.

Jess Critchlow advises and supports leaders at www.lightupwork.com.

Slow down to speed up.

Promote stuff before you've written the content for it. Once it's in the diary and you've told people it's going to happen, you have to make it happen (ideal for recovering perfectionists).

Georgina Bowden is a Success & Mindset Coach at www.georginabowdencoaching.com

Create discipline around time.

Have a singular focus for 20 minutes. People's focus is best in that time frame and that matches well with the pockets of time we have as moms. Also, get right down to it, so as soon as they're napping, no faffing, get right into it.

Leslie Ng is a Business Coach for conscious entrepreneurs. You can find her at www.leslieng.com

Trust and back yourself.

First, breathe - breath work can change your energy about everything. Get awake with yourself and your feelings and your why in life and you'll find yourself tuning into yourself more and more.

Val Cripps is a soul, life and love guide for sensitive empathetic women at www.valtopia.com

It’s OK to make mistakes.

The best part of my journey is learning that it’s ok to make mistakes. It’s ok to put yourself out there, regardless of the outcome.

Janette Collins is a thriller writer and creative writing coach, inspiring women to write their stories and create a legacy. You can find her at www.facebook.com/Janettecollinswriter

It’s OK to struggle to balance being a mum as well as running a business.

Make sure you prioritise. Write a list of what MUST be done such as banking, posting out orders, invoicing. Then a separate list of what you would like to do. Do the must do list first then anything else is a bonus.

Fiona Woods is a mum of 3. As well as being a scrub nurse, she blogs at www.themumwhodidntcope.com and has run her own successful Juice Plus franchise for 5 years.

Time block.

Get organised, spend time doing a strategy and time block - a toddler does NOT understand business or that mummy is working. I quickly learnt he shouldn't have to understand either, I just need to manage my time better,

Lisa Norman handpicks and sells gifts for premature babies at www.presentsforpreemies.co.uk

Take a moment to reflect, then comment below: what learning from 2018 are you taking into the new year?