Becoming a parent: how do you set up your freelance business?

Being a freelancer means living at the pace of assumed freedom. But what happens when you decide to add a new dimension to an already busy life by becoming a parent? Between financial uncertainty, the need for a flawless organization, and responsibilities to customers, it's not an obvious choice for everyone. However, many freelancers are successfully taking up this challenge. In this article, discover concrete tips for reconciling parenting and freelancing, shared by Wemind, the mutual fund for self-employed people.

Parenting and freelancing: too risky?

In 2023, 30% of French people wanted to focus on work and career choices that promote greater flexibility. Self-employed people also share this desire for balance, without necessarily achieving it despite the autonomy specific to their status. But when parenting comes on the agenda, it may be necessary to review your lifestyle.

With the constraints associated with taking in a child, one might expect to see a return to paid employment on the part of freelancers. Indeed, the wage seems more appropriate to welcome a child, because of the financial stability that comes with it. Because of the potential downturns, it seems logical that some freelancers prefer a working environment that ensures a fixed salary at the end of each month.

However, few self-employed people choose to go back on their status. On the contrary, sometimes it is even the opposite: some parents believe that it is the best time to start their business and become a freelancer. How can such a phenomenon be explained?

Freelancing offers just the right framework to avoid the difficulties encountered by parents returning to work, for example:

• the organization of missions: it is often easier to organize your missions according to your personal agenda, unlike employees who may encounter difficulties in benefiting from part-time work and this, without heavy financial losses;
• the flexibility of the work environment: even if teleworking has become democratized, the self-employed benefit from greater flexibility than employees, whether to take advantage of certain coworking spaces that offer crèches, or to create more proximity with their child;
• career development: parenting can impact the number of missions in progress, but the self-employed are less affected by the slowdown in their career, due to the autonomy characteristic of their status.
• social benefits: self-employed persons can also benefit from benefits during their parental leave, under certain conditions;

This non-exhaustive list makes it possible to go beyond appearances, in order to become aware that this personal project remains compatible with the status of self-employed. Of course, this stage of life requires adjustments because the arrival of a child will necessarily disturb the balance built up to now.

Parenting and freelancing: tips for finding balance

The latest studies show that French people have their first child around the age of 30 (according to INSEE). Knowing that 60% of self-employed people are between 25 and 39 years old in Europe, we can effectively deduce that parenting and freelancing are not so incompatible. But how do you reconcile the two? Wemind, the mutual insurance company for the self-employed, offers the self-employed several possible solutions.

Changing your mindset

Before taking concrete actions that affect your professional life, you will have to change your state of mind. Indeed, you will no longer be able to carry out your activity as you did before becoming a parent. Because of the time that you will most certainly prefer with your child, you will therefore have to adopt strategies to gain efficiency. Each of your actions should have a positive impact on your business.

First of all, it is important to announce your life project to your customers in order to prepare them for the changes that could affect your current mission. It is about giving them the opportunity to anticipate your possible absence or to reorganize the mission to allow you to transmit the deliverables on time. This transparent communication could even work in your favor even more, since it can solidify mutual trust in your collaborations.

Regarding your activity, several strategies are possible: use the Pareto law in order to focus on what will have the most positive impact on your turnover, define only one priority per day in order to guarantee the achievement of your objective, set up personal OKRs to effectively measure your roadmap and your performance.

After all, your state of mind is what mostly guarantees the success of your project. It is therefore important to align your daily actions with your new lifestyle.

Organize your business

After collecting numerous testimonies from freelance parents, Wemind came to a conclusion: you must dare to be accompanied. Many freelancers, parents or not, often find themselves isolated when they would benefit from surrounding themselves with family and trusted professionals.

Here are the tips from Wemind and Beager's field observations:

• get closer to self-employed groups: this solution brings together several of them since it offers peer support in managing its activity, the provision of shared services such as crèches, the request of a peer to whom to temporarily delegate his mission, etc.
• find out about social assistance: the self-employed can actually benefit from financial aid during their parental leave, or other devices offered by dedicated services such as CAF.
• delegate administrative tasks: this allows you to focus on most of your activity, the exercise of your expertise as part of a mission.
• use a trusted third party: prospecting is an often tedious step that can also be delegated to partners or networking services such as Beager.
• Update your health insurance: parenting requires additional responsibilities, so it is important to better protect your health, as well as that of your child.
• rely on your life partner or loved ones: just as it is important to call on professionals to delegate certain aspects of your activity, it is essential to rely on the presence of your life partner or loved ones.

Your freelance activity should not be an obstacle to parenting. This is why many devices are in place to support you in the realization of this life project. Whether they are trusted partners, financial aid or groups of freelancers, you are not alone in the face of this new situation.

And if you want to get all the information on parenting as a freelancer, our partner Wemind has produced a guide on the subject. Click on this link to download this resource.