Growing Your Doula Business: Goal Setting with Kids at Home

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When designing your plan for working at home while your kids are on summer (or Spring or Christmas break), it's important to set goals to optimize your productivity and you and your kids' happiness. InspiredBirthPro.com If you’ve been following this series and doing the work along with me, you created a vision for summer with your family and a vision for your business over the next few months. Now that you know how you want to feel and have an idea of what you want summer to look like, it’s time for some goal setting.

Set your business and family goals for the summer

I know from experience that if I don't set goals for the summer, no matter how great my intentions are and how big my vision is, I end up wandering around a bit aimlessly. We go to bed too late and sleep in too long. The projects the kids and I talked about doing don't get started, and the places we talked about visiting remain on the list. And, before we know it, we're gearing up for another school year. Time doesn't wait for us to get it together.

It's the same with business. Without goals and a game plan, that website may still be in the conceptual stage, the "home office" may still look like the guest room, and those networking opportunities come and go.

If this sounds a bit familiar, then you probably understand how having some goals can help you bring your vision to life. When you have well-defined goals:

It's easier to focus on what has to be done. In fact, your intent focus will attract the resources, people, and situations that will inspire and move you more quickly to your goal.
Life is easier. Once your goals are broken down, they can be scheduled into your day. You can set clearer boundaries between your work and your personal time, and those boundaries will be easier to explain to your children. Having a plan in place lets you be more present.
Your children will benefit from more predictability, and your business will also be happy because it's getting attention, and progress is being made.

Keeping SMARTER goals in mind, some of my summer goals include:

Revise new program documents by June 30th and plan to launch by July 15th.
Create an editorial calendar for blogging, email newsletters, and social media through the end of the year by July 30th.
Send my list of goals to my mentor by June 25th so she can keep me accountable to keep working on them.
Each Friday during summer, meet with kids to plan activities and outings for the following week. (This will be scheduled in my Planner Pad, and I’m sure my kids will also hold me accountable!)

Don't forget your financial goals!

While you're thinking up your goals, don't forget your financial goals. This can help keep you focused and continue moving forward as you juggle kids at home during the summer while managing your business.

How much do you want to make over the next 2-3 months?
Are there new services you want to offer or ones you want to pull back during the summer?
Do you have additional expenses that you need to cover, both business and personal?
What needs to happen for you to meet your income goals? Do you need to raise your rates or have a flash sale? Advertise more or attend additional networking events?
What can run in the background to bring you more inquiries? An automated email funnel or Facebook ad campaign?

What are your goals for the summer? Start working on them now! In addition, create a framework for keeping yourself accountable, whether it's your husband, a business partner or colleague, a coach, or your kids! Do you need more support? The Inspired Birth Pros community on Facebook can help!

For Part 4 of this series, we will take a look at what's working and not working and cover new systems that can be put in place to help support you in meeting your summer goals.

Photo credit: lululemon athletica via Flickr