Initially, on becoming pregnant with her third baby, Annie Ridout was overjoyed. But then the panic set in: how was she going to look after three kids and a new business? Fortunately, it’s all working out rather nicely…
A few months ago, while pregnant with my third baby, I thought: what have I done? I have a five-year-old and a two-year-old, they both sleep through the night and now I’m having another baby. More sleep deprivation. Another mouth to feed (and from my boob, initially). And I’ve just launched a new online course business.
It was too late to turn back – and I didn’t want to – but the panic was there, low level, throughout the pregnancy. However, what I hadn’t taken into account was that this new business meant things would be quite different. Now, I truly was my own boss: no employer, no clients (for a while) – just me and my laptop and this growing community of wonderful people on my courses (over 400-strong).
And not just that: the online course business alone was bringing in enough to support our whole family financially, so my husband had quit his job to help me grow the business and look after the kids. I’d no longer be alone trying to work and mother simultaneously – all the drop-offs and pick-ups, while working to other people’s deadlines.
So my baby was born, and after a week we could re-open the courses shop. As he sleeps most of the time, I’m able to work (slowly, in bursts). And my husband takes care of the older two. We’ve managed to establish a rather nice work-life balance, all because of the flexibility and ease of earning that comes from online courses.
If you’d like to launch an online course, don’t forget that my next ‘How to launch a successful online course‘ course starts Monday. Sign up now and you can access modules 1&2 next week, 3&4 the following week – but there’s no pressure to login right away; you have access for six months. You can read more about the course here.
Now back to the breastfeeding, burping, bouncing…