Hi there!
I wanted to share with you a bit about how we prepared our small, independent pattern design business to allow me to take maternity leave.
As I’m sure you can imagine (or perhaps know from hands-on experience) it’s a pretty major thing for a business owner to take a step back from their own business, particularly when it’s for extended periods of time, and even more so when the business has a very small team. I wanted to share my experience with you, in the hope that it helps other small business owners who might also be navigating similar waters.
Although my partner and I had always planned to have a child, the idea seemed quite abstract - mainly because I am self-employed. There were so many questions that needed to be answered. The main one being how we were going to manage a new baby (and everything involved in having a new baby!) while also keeping the business running. So, from the moment I found out I was pregnant, I began thinking about the changes that needed to be made so the business could continue to function while I went on leave.
The other major difference between taking maternity leave as a business owner was the amount of time I could take off. With such a small team and a monthly project subscription, we decided that I’d probably need to be back at work after 3 months.
Up until this point, In the Folds was run by myself and Alys. Between the two of us we managed everything from the big picture work like pattern ideation and design, to the more practical business roles, like answering customer enquiries and managing the books. Between the two of us we agreed that with such a small team and a monthly subscription to maintain, I needed to be back at work after 3 months, and we needed to expand the team.
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Hiring another staff member
So, I advertised for, interviewed and hired a Communications Assistant (the lovely Xanthe - who you will know if you’ve contacted customer service in the last year or are part of our Curated subscription) so that I could begin handing over some of my work. It was important for me to do this early on in my pregnancy so I could train Xanthe and ensure she felt supported.
With Xanthe now in charge of communications, I could step aside from that side of things and really get into product development so we could start working ahead on our Curated by ITF project schedule.
Using project management software
The next thing I could see needed to happen was transitioning us over to more robust project management software. We had been using Trello up until that point, which had always done the job, but with the growth of the team we noticed that it relied too much on my input to make it work. We needed an application that would enable us to take everything out of my head and automate it so that when I was on leave I could completely disconnect because the team wasn’t relying on me to tell them the next step. After much trialling and testing we settled on Asana and began the huge job of setting it up (which I must give Xanthe all credit for!). It was a huge job, but one that made a huge impact almost instantly.
Updating our Operations Manual
I’ve used an Operations Manual since hiring my first employee in 2020, but it became more important to ensure that everything was added before I went on leave. So we set about making sure it was up to date.
I’ve always held a lot of the In the Folds processes in my head and my team are used to being able to come to me with any question they have, but we wanted to make sure everything was in there so they could find what they needed and felt supported while I took a break. This was a great thing to do because it forced me to think about the things we were doing and question whether anything could be streamlined further. It also meant that when I signed off for leave, I knew I would only need to be contacted about urgent matters and nothing related to the day-to-day running of the business. This eased my mind a lot as it was really important to me to be able to spend the early weeks of motherhood solely focusing on my recovery and my new bub.
Working ahead of schedule
When you own a very small business, there isn’t the budget to replace a role as you would in a corporate setting or larger business. My amazing employees, Alys and Xanthe, really stepped up to allow me to have time off by doing more hours or taking over jobs I have previously done myself.
But even with the extra hours, they of course couldn’t cover the number of hours I was doing, which meant we had to get ahead of the project schedule before I went on leave and then dial things back slightly while I was away, so that the work was achievable with the smaller team.
To do this, we followed a fairly strict, and jam-packed schedule, working as far ahead as we could (thanks to the project management software we had changed to). Prior to this, Alys and I worked on projects together, but to get ahead we decided to work independently on separate projects and then handover to each other further down the line for suggestions and updates.
Alys became the wizard of all things operations during this time, and kept her eye on the project timeline to make sure we were keeping up. We managed to get everything done to a point where I could confidently close my laptop, knowing that everything was in good hands!
I can’t say that it was an easy thing to do to prepare In the Folds for me to take leave, but it’s something that I am so grateful for, and I think it shows that it is possible for small businesses to do, if you’re prepared to get stuck in and do the hard yards.
Looking back, I can see that the benefits far outweigh the negatives of what it required. It gave me time to really focus on everything happening in my family once our daughter arrived. To be present and enjoy my new family, without the constant distraction of work, because those early moments are fleeting and work will always be there.
If you know anyone in a similar business stage, please share this post with them. Otherwise, happy sewing!
Emily
