168. I'm pregnant! How I'm preparing my business...

I've been keeping this huge secret for several months now! But I'm ready to share all about how I'm preparing my business for my maternity leave, what will change and more... Long story short, this was a huge surprise. And it's one thing to wrap your head around maternity leave while working a 9-5 job, but the prospect of making this happen successfully as a business owner takes it to a whole new level. Luckily, I'm due in February, which is normally a pretty slow time for me. And since I've already started outsourcing quite a bit in my business, I'm feeling confident that all will be fine. Kate, my inflator, has continued to improve and I know that she can make things happen if one of my big "pumpkins" comes up with an event. I've also got my bookkeepers to help my finances stay in order, and as we talked about in the book club last month, I now have a virtual assistant to help me with my leads as well! I'm so grateful I already had most of these things in place so that the transition doesn't feel rushed and hectic. Right now my plan is to push as many Grab & Go Garlands during my leave as possible. I'm also exploring other items that could make sense for pick up or leave behind, and have fully changed my mind about hiring help to install if it can save me some of the physical labor. Some other things I have in place (that I think can benefit anyone) are: pre-scheduling social media & newsletters to my balloon customers, along with episodes for the podcast hiring other local balloon decorators to fill in for me a great cash flow system in Profit First that has helped me build my savings health insurance All of these safety nets have helped make the pregnancy pretty stress-free, and I believe these ideas can also be applied to those who are caring for parents or a spouse, are healing from a surgery, etc. It might take a mindset shift to get there, but the ease that they can bring into your life is totally worth it. In the UGlu Hotline this week, we get a cool tip about how to respond to leads while you're busy doing other things! And what great timing - I'll definitely be using this tool while on maternity leave!   RESOURCES MENTIONED: 17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)  Balloon Suite  Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)  UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)  Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514 ‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit   PremiumConwin Ep. 150 - Finding Profit Ep. 80 - Profit First Revisited with Elizabeth Fiore Ep. 162 - Protecting yourself and your business | Erin from Country Financial ___________________________  Join the book club  50 Ideas for Email Marketing | Join the Bright Balloon email list  courses | templates | planner  @thebrightballoon  The Bright Balloon on YouTube