Many business owners we spoke to admitted they struggled with their own work family balance issues and often felt reluctant to let their customers know when they were attending to family commitments. Remember, we’re all members of families and it’s likely your customers have family commitments, too! Being open about your family and other commitments can even strengthen customer relationships.

37.9% of employed women have dependent children.

44% of employed mothers with children under the age of two use flexible working hours to assist with childcare. (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Find out more about the statistics of being a working mum.

CASE STUDY: A happy announcement

Natasha Kuperman planned ahead with her clients, in anticipation of her new baby. Photo: Gabriella Favretto.

Natasha Kuperman owns and runs Red Creative, Design and Digital. Natasha was working full time until the recent arrival of her first baby.

When 12 weeks’ pregnant, Natasha decided to contact all her clients personally to advise them of her pregnancy and give them the opportunity to schedule their jobs around Natasha’s changing circumstances.

“I’d say about 70% of my clients are women, and so that made me feel more confident about telling them. I hoped they’d understand, and overwhelmingly they did. They appreciated me telling them personally and they were really positive.”

Natasha was able to plan her workload and that of her staff and maintain important relationships with her valued clients. She plans to resume working on a part time basis.

CASE STUDY: Setting boundaries

Anne Tzouvelis and Jodi Read started their business with Louise Oliaro (who is now a consultant to the business) after running into each other in the supermarket. They had worked together as social workers and realised they were now all mums and wanting the same thing- professional part time work they could fit around their family. And so Axia Solutions, a recruitment business specialising in filling temporary social work positions, was born. However, they were worried that if they told clients the truth about juggling part time hours, or that they were taking calls while out of the office attending to family, they would be seen as less available, less committed and less professional. Anne has now started to re-think her approach.

Jodi and Anne have learned that it's ok to be open about being family friendly. Photo: Gabriella Favretto.

“The real ‘light bulb moment’ for me was realising we don’t have to be shifty or reluctantly admit that we only work part time,”says Anne. “We can say, ‘these are our office hours, this is when we’re available’. We can put it right there on the door, that we’re a family friendly business and that’s why we shut at 2.30pm.”

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