Can you have a business or a family?

Is there anything more ecstatic and exhausting than having your own child in this world? No, but the feeling of creating a company is very similar to this feeling, in fact, many entrepreneurs do both at the same time.

This seems incredible, and I have chosen this kind of life. When my second son was 9 months old, I resigned from ebay's high-paying job and then created http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/29786.html ">citrus Lane. A specialized operating mother and child products E-commerce Company. The start of the period of time, indeed very hard, I remember one night my son will cry every few hours, that night I only slept four hours, but the next day I will continue to participate in the venture capital conference. The next day, when I attended the meeting, I found that the coat was glued to the child's vomit, and that there was snot on the trousers, but I could only erase them and continue the meeting. What I've created is a company that makes it easier for a newborn parent to live, which seems ironic.

Believe me, I have made many serious mistakes along the way, but I have learned a lot of lessons, and I hope that through my own experience, I will provide some help to the founders who have just been parents.

Focus on the most important things

I used to run a product for a start-up company, Marvell, when I joined a company with no more than 10 employees, and then helped the company expand to more than 250 people. Work is really exciting, but it's always endless. I often work until 9 o'clock in the evening, and at least one day a week is working all day. I am very proud that I have never missed any details. I can't devote too much time to my work because I have children to take care of at home. Now, like most working mothers, work is very efficient.

Maybe I didn't respond to emails immediately, but I have a keen instinct to help me judge the most important things. I will focus my attention on the most critical areas-such as recruiting key employees, developing important strategies, or canceling business transactions. This state also extends to life, and my husband and I decided to do as little housework as possible so that we could spend all our free time with our children. Something interesting happened when we decided to do it. Last week, the dentist called to tell us that we had not paid for 4 months, which is probably the price we never read. We have a bit of a mess at home, and the low-level toys are everywhere because we only put our time on children and jobs.

Develop a motivating goal for yourself and your team

I usually leave the office at 5 o'clock in the afternoon 30 or 6, but I will be in the car to talk to people and sometimes work at night. Of course, I also allow the team to have such a flexible work schedule. But I've found that this flexible mode of work works only when you or your employees have a goal that motivates them, and requires everyone to be responsible for achieving those goals. At the beginning of the new year, we will make a number of star indicators, it seems difficult to complete, but each year to achieve the goals of the beginning, sometimes even more than. Instead of trying to figure out how long employees and managers are working, it's better to let them be responsible for their work--and, at the same time, to increase their sense of trust and cooperation, which is essential for business success.

Ensure partner support

I grew up in a single-parent family, and it's hard to imagine how she did it when my mother raised me and my twin sister to adulthood. But luckily for me, I had a great husband who fully supported my business. When I started to create Citrus Lane, he had an ideal job at Arizona, State, who worked 5 days a week and returned to his home in Silicon Valley on weekends. We've been doing this for almost two years.

But it's very hard--you need to keep a balance between kids, two nannies, job responsibilities, giving each other more time, etc. One day we looked at each other and realized that something needed to be sacrificed. He quit his job and found a job close to home. So I can get "preferential treatment", a few days a week to work late home.

Work and family must be hands-on

Perhaps the hardest thing about creating a company and taking care of a child is to miss out on some of the kids ' life pieces. Like most working moms, I sometimes get asked by the child, "Why not come to pick me up in the afternoon like the other moms do?" These problems make me very sad every time, I decided to spare time every day to accompany the children. Most evenings I go home for dinner and make sure that the time is "present".

I'm not going to work all the time (unless, of course, in a critical period of funding). And, every weekend I spend time with my family, playing football in Saturday, making a special breakfast in the morning of Sunday, telling my kids stories and so on. Of course, they will also attend the children's birthday party. I am also at work, if I am working, I will devote myself wholeheartedly.

Tell your child what you're doing

I've found that telling my kids about my work every week can really deepen our relationship, and I'll even explain to my four-year-old son how risky investing works. He quickly understood the basic concept and said, "I understand they give you money, but you have to work very hard, or they will take the money away."

Of course, I will also send some very cool box toys and other children's products to the children, in fact, these things our company sent to the United States every month, mom and dad (they do the product evaluation is very serious!). Children may not understand why I didn't pick them up earlier, but they understand that hard work is to provide them with a better life.

I have never been more energetic than I am now, and of course I will feel very tired. Leading Citrus lane and watching it grow as if raising my third child. People often say that 3 is a lucky number, I think, there are two children and a start-up company, for me, really enough.