Being an entrepreneur isn't a 100% full time activity. It's a 500% commitment. If you want to build a business, then every waking hour needs to be devoted to it - working, planning and thinking. And then if you're not sitting up with the sweats in the middle of the night, be worried because you're still not doing enough.
The things you need to do come thick and fast - relentlessly one after the other, from the first cock-a-doodle-do until deep into the night. On top of that you'll have ideas that need exploring and lots of people around you demanding your attention, some of whom will be trying to throw you off course.
If you really think you can have some kind of balance between your home and work lives, think again. It's not going to happen. It's more akin to the full absorption of your life into your work. This isn't always a bad thing - as if life means happy and work means bad - it just means you're doing more work and there's not much time for other activities. But being an entrepreneur is about creating something real and tangible from your ideas - it's fun and might be very rewarding.
If you want a balance between your work and home lives then get a job and work for someone else. Maybe you can do a regular 8 hours and have some of the week working at home with your family around you.
But if you are truly committed to starting your own business, then your partner and your children need to know that for the foreseeable future work is where your focus lies. It might be uncomfortable. You'll be tempted to lie to them and say you'll clock off at 5.30pm and you'll take kiddo to football practice on Saturday. And you'll mean it. Really mean it. But I promise you it will rarely happen.
The mature thing to do is talk to your family about this new journey and be clear about the commitment you're about to make. Will they support you, or are they horrified at the prospect?
Starting a business is a chance, and honestly quite a slim chance, that one day you'll have the financial freedom you crave. Freedom to choose how to spend your time, freedom to relax, freedom to explore the world, freedom to be with your family. Freedom to just say fuck off. I know lots of entrepreneurs who have achieved that, but many of them are doing it on their own, or with new partners. Because the partners they started their entrepreneurial journey with got lost along the way - they just found the relentless absence of their life-partner too much to bear. They resented being second on the priority list and continually let down. Even if the money was good!
If you want a decent work/life balance (and it's entirely reasonable that you should) then think carefully before you get sucked into entrepreneurial life. Maybe the lifestyle you have, with time for your family, for holidays, for hobbies, is a better balanced way, even if you could use a bit of extra cash. Just be clear of the tradeoffs and of what you value most.
Being an entrepreneur is not the be all and end all.
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