It helps to be really clear about who you want to serve with your birth business. If you are just starting out, you may have to take a guess for now and adjust your ideal client profile as you gain experience. What’s wonderful, though, about having your own practice is that you make changes at any time!

For the first five years, my doula business finances were a mess! I was getting plenty of births, but I had no idea if I was making a profit, how much, and when it came to the end of the year, figuring out my expenses for tax time was just awful!

And then I stumbled on a product that has solved all most of my accounting problems. It’s called the “File-it!” calendar, and I’ve used it for the last five years with great success.

You don’t have to be a highly trained salesperson to do well in an interview. You should be well-prepared, have a professional presence, and most of all, you should be authentic and true to yourself.

One of the best ways to market yourself is by having a website. If you are just starting your business and don’t have web design experience to do it yourself or lack the capital to pay someone to create your site, there are free services available for you to create your own professional website. The [...]

As soon as you finish your doula training, you should get yourself some business cards. Yes, an eye-catching logo and catchy business name will help to brand yourself, but you don’t need to wait until you have those to let people know you are in business.

In Part 2, I shared some resources to help you determine the state and federal requirements necessary to start your birth business in your area. In Part 3, I will take a look at business classes for small business owners.

In Part 1, I discussed ways to build your business support team as a means to move you forward in creating your birth business. Today, I will provide a few resources to help you determine what you need to know about in order to start your business in your particular state.

After coming down from the high of attending a your training workshop to be a doula or childbirth educator, or finishing your schooling and getting your degree, license or certification, are you asking yourself what to do next? If you have not owned a business before, navigating these uncharted waters can be overwhelming.