Mothers as contractors

Having a baby changes your life. There’s no getting away from that. Some people embrace this change, make the most of their maternity leave and then go back to work. Others see this change as a real turning point in their lives and an opportunity to do something different.

 

 

More and more mothers are becoming contractors rather than returning to their previous role in the workplace. Here are just some of the reasons why we think this is great news for mothers and for businesses:

The flexibility and freedom of contracting is hugely attractive for mothers

Contracting brings the flexibility that many mothers are looking for. When you have children, there are periods when working 9 to 5 (or more likely 8 to 8) just doesn’t work. While contracting is far from an easy option, it does allow you to choose when you want to work and when you don’t. It may be that you choose to take a 3-month contract and then take a couple of months off to fit in with school holidays? Or perhaps you’re contracting with an arrangement that allows you to work your own hours? Either way, the flexibility and freedom that contracting brings is hugely attractive to most mothers.

Organised and focused mothers are hugely attractive for businesses

Being organised and focused is all ‘part of the job’ of being a mother. Mothers have a reputation for juggling a host of different tasks successfully. As such, when it comes to being contractors, they’re more often than not great news for business owners. Having someone on the team on a contracting basis who’s organised and focused generally spells great results all round. At The Smart Contractor we can help out with your contractor bookkeeping and accounts.

Mothers as contractors is hugely attractive all-round

Mothers as contractors is generally speaking a great deal all-round. Mothers get the work:life balance they’re looking for and business owners get a great addition to their team without the expense of directly employing someone. This is a real win:win situation.

All of that said, if you’re a mother thinking about becoming a contractor for the first time it’s well worth planning your journey carefully. Here are our Top Tips for making a real success of contracting from the start:

•  Do your sums. Before you go into contracting, do your sums and make sure the figures add up to what you need to live your life and look after your family.
•  Know your customers. It’s really important to know WHY your customers are looking to take on contractors. Only by knowing what your customers’ pain points and problems are can you market yourself effectively.
•  Identify your value proposition. Only by knowing exactly what value you can bring to a business can you stand out in a busy contracting marketplace. Take time to work out your value proposition and put words around it that are appealing to your target market’s pains or problems.
•  Get great messages. Once you’ve identified your potential customers’ pain points and your value proposition, invest the time required to get great words around why you’re the best person in the world to soothe those pains.
•  Put procedures in place. At the start of your contracting journey, you may have sufficient time to juggle all the things that need to get done, but when you get busy, you’ll need procedures in place. Put the right procedures in place from the start and your contracting will be plain sailing.
•  Keep an eye on cashflow. Cashflow is King and keeping an eye on what’s coming and going out of your till is an essential part of running a successful contracting business – so set aside time to do this on a regular basis.
•  Outsource what you can’t (or shouldn’t) do. At the start, you might be willing to burn the midnight oil to save money, but in the long run it makes great sense to outsource tasks that you’re not great at or shouldn’t be spending time doing. Things like accounting and tax really are top priority.

The Smart Contractor is here to support all contractors. We have a team of expert bookkeepers and accountants on hand to help your contracting business succeed. If you’d like help, why not reach out today?

The post Mothers as contractors appeared first on The Smart Contractor.