Mommypreneurs – Managing a baby and a business

Startups are similar to babies in so many ways. They need your constant attention and you think about it every single minute. Managing a startup is not a walk in the garden, and neither is raising a family. And I think having to do both at the same time is nothing less than a nightmare. But again, women have been known to break barriers and stereotypes with sheer grit and determination.

At StartupHyderabad.com, we have had the opportunity to interact with some wonderful ‘mommy’preneurs  who are doing an amazing job of managing a business and a baby. While some women had businesses before their kids,  the kids became the inspiration to start their own ventures for several others. Read further to know more about how these superwomen are making the best of both the worlds.

Create a support system

I am reminded of that old proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child”. Almost of the women we spoke to emphasised on  creating a support systems to help with taking care of their of children while they can concentrate on their work; a support system including the parents, siblings, inlaws, nannies and more!

Saloni Khandelwal, founder of Saloni Jewels feels that more than being a women, being a new mom is much tougher to manage along with work.  Saloni jewels is a one stop solution for all 925 Sterling Silver & customized gold jewelry in 18 carat gold. Being a woman herself, Saloni knows the challenges that a woman faces when she expresses her desire to work. And that is why this startup ensures that they not only provide employment to a lot of women but also offer the flexibility of working from home for all their women employees. But with the support of her husband, nothing seems to be impossible for her. “When I have to manage my business with the baby, I either take the baby along or my dear hubby baby sits. My husband is very supportive, and takes care of the baby when I have to go for meetings”.

Anupama, Founder of Tingle your taste buds,  faced a lot of criticism and negativity from the people around her when she started up. Yet, she strongly believed in the fact that the only way to overcome this lack of support is to put in her best foot forward with confidence. “Belief in oneself is important and eventually everything follows” is one piece of advice that she has for all the other working women. “My mother is a huge support without whom I cannot imagine focusing on my venture with dedication. The key is to get help from trusted people like husband, friends and a good help at home. It is a challenge but can be worked out.”

Ask for help

Kalpana Rajesh, founder of Pelli Poola Jada emphasises on the importance of asking for help. Women usually don’t tend to ask for help and feel they will be able to manage. “Pellipoolajada happened by chance during my second pregnancy when I thought atleast after the second kid is born, I should not leave them at day-care and go for work. I was looking for the opportunity where I could do something on my own, which will give me small income and also which keeps me busy. Starting Pellipoolajada business on facebook opened world of opportunities to me and there was no looking back. I worked till the last day of my pregnancy and started after a month, after my second kid is born. Now Pellipoolajada is my third kid and I divide time equally divided between my kids and Pellipoolajada. I start my work phone calls only after the kids go to the school and  I schedule meetings in such a way that they fall in the time when kids are at school. Every time I have to physically attend a meeting or a conference, that is when I really feel the heat of working. Leaving the kids to attend 2-3 days meetings is the biggest challenge for me. My advice to all women is never hesitate to ask for help.” Pellipoolajada currently operates in more than 40 cities and countries.

Delegate & prioritize 

Harini Ganti, a mom of two girls and founder of Cisne For Arts says that women are naturally blessed with multi tasking skills that we just need to brush them a bit and with the right support system in place, you are sorted. She also feels that “Indian women are also known to be very good managers otherwise tell me which part of the world people can cope up with a cook, a maid, a cleaner, a driver and of course HUSBAND. Just delegate well.” she adds.

Anupama Dalmia is of the opinion that having priorities clearly in place helps a lot while making decisions. There is no point trying to achieve best of everything as it is practically not possible. She advises women to not get burdened by guilt of not being able to give 100% time to your baby. “You are an individual first and you have all the right to pursue your passion. You are a great mother and you have to keep going!” is what she says.

Compartmentalize work and family

Bhavna Bagga, an overseas education consultant at The Education Group has been sending students abroad and fulfilling their desire to study abroad. From recruiting students to world leading universities such as Harvard University, Oxford University, London School of Economics, they have been supporting students in career counselling, admissions, visas and pre and post arrival services. While Bhavna has been fulfilling the dreams of other children aspiring to study abroad, she considers herself to be very fortunate to have a very supportive family and mother in law.  “I am blessed that I have a very supportive mother in law. I get up each day at 7am, get my son ready and drop him to his bus by 8 AM. He comes back home by 3 PM. I come back from work by 6 PM. In those 3 hours when I am not available to take care of my son, my mother in law takes care of him. From 6pm onwards I do all my duties towards him and the family. I have made a rule at work that no one shall call me after 6 PM so that my time with my son does not get effected.” 

Sandhya, founder of Purplekraft, a startup that manufactures eco-friendly paper products like photo frames, jewellery, gift boxes and more,  says that she managed work along with nurturing her child in the right ways. Now she has a little flexibility since her kid has started going to school. “Up to 2 and 1/2 years she used to be with me and I managed to work while she slept. But now, that my daughter goes to school everyday,  I try to finish most of my work in those 3 hours while she is away at school”.

Find alternatives

Sowjanya founded Skill Hunters in Aug 2010. SkillHunters caters manpower services to different companies in the  tours & travels, e-commerce, FMCG, digital marketing & chemical industries. Sowjanya feels that it’s nothing less than a herculean task to manage a business and a baby! After her second pregnancy, she found the commute to work to be very challenging and that it ate most of her time. She recollects how her team members were very supportive and coordinated with her for working from home. She was able to manage from home until the baby grew up a little. “It is really a tough job to manage baby and business. I take time to work while she sleeps. Now as her sleeping time has decreased so are my working hours. I am trying to manage by working from home. For my baby’s sake we shifted our office from Ameerpet to Begum Bazar” says the mother of an infant kid.

Kavya Bollanki, founder of Divya, a startup that is into making handmade goods  finds true inspiration in her two year old son. She chooses to carry him along in meetings conferences and every other business meeting. She adores his patience to travel everywhere and yet not create a mess. Sharing an incident she says “Recently I had been to Chennai for a Guinness record event of world’s largest crochet blanket in which I was one of the key members and I was the head of a team from Hyderabad as well as from whole Vidharba region. I had to work a lot on crocheting day and night creating database and conducting meetings as it was a six month long project. But my son was really very cooperative and I took him along for the main event as well. All credit to my son Udvansh who came along and cooperates with me from morning till evening anywhere and everywhere.”

Kudos to such women who are coming out with ways and means to manage everything at hand. They are not only managing things, but have been doing it exceptionally well. Way to go ladies!

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