Maternity Leave and Pre-Revenue Startups: What’s the etiquette these days?
By month three, I definitely realised I’d been doing it wrong. Friends who had taken maternity leave from large corporates were blissfully making sensory toys for their children and having long (isolated) walks in the park (this was still covid-times so no large gatherings at baby activity classes). As a freelance consultant and the owner of a business, I took a “sort-of” maternity leave, which wasn’t really, and I looked jealously at friends kicking back and having nothing pressing to do whilst they raised children.
The maternity not-leave was ostensibly my choice. I stockpiled from my job as a consultant, knowing that I would have months where I wouldn’t be working. Within my business, we were at a crunch point — the shoes we had been gestating for the last 18 months were due to be signed off at any moment. I knew I would take “some time off” after birth but what that looked like I hadn’t really thought through. I had myriad worries and arguments that ended up being quite complex and interconnected.
How could we offer maternity leave to entrepreneurial women and co-founders in startups, and particularly those that are pre — revenue?
I hope to unpick the decisions I made to start a debate around this topic as it’s not something that gets talked or written about very often.
Firstly, there was the practical question of finances. As a startup we were pre-revenue and had bootstrapped the company so there wasn’t an opportunity to take a salary yet, let alone maternity pay.
To highlight a counter argument, we were pre-revenue so maybe technically we didn’t yet ‘deserve to exist’ as a business. However, there are many small businesses around the world where cashflow is lumpy. I’m of the view that it is not necessarily the sign of an unsuccessful idea that the business cannot afford to fund salaries, let alone maternity leave. However, it is a serious short term financial concern. Pause or wind up the business in order to have a child?
We could have given up equity, sought a capital investment and paid a salary. However, we would have realised a lower equity value because we were pre-revenue. (It didn’t help that lots of investors were very sceptical about our business, possibly — probably? — because we create products for women). For my business at that stage, it wasn’t a viable option to take on investment. And, as a society, should we be forcing small businesses to take low value cash injections?
Then there was my working character. I didn’t want to lose my identity as an entrepreneur and become solely ‘a mum’. In my mind, that equated to endless discussions of nappies, sleeptimes, playtimes and developmental milestones. I had an expectation that motherhood would be reductive and steal things from me, yet I added a richness that I hadn’t been expecting.
I am entrepreneurial to the core of my self — I can’t give up this passion — and I am also a loving parent, who wants the best for her son. Should we be forcing entrepreneurial women to make a binary choice?
I think a balance can be found. Part of my new identity was working and keeping my brain motivated. I kept unusual hours at the beginning. Fine, I was awake in the middle of the night anyway. But gradually, sleep deprivation began to take it’s toll and you realise why many cultures have a period of adjustment after the birth of a child. Planning for this would have benefitted both babies.
Finally, I worried about the fundamental idea and whether the business would continue if I didn’t put my all in for a period of time? I had invested so much energy and resources into it that I didn’t want to let go. What if it failed before it really kicked off? Should I have set the business up for success better so I could have taken more time off?
I gave birth to my son and the final sample in the same week. Both had a significant pregnancy and I want both to grow up healthy, happy and living their best lives. My god it was hard.
By month three I was asking myself, could I have done things differently? Now, at month sixteen, I’m asking if the system could be different?
Is there something we can do better to support women in my situation? Surely I’m not the only one? I believe it is in society’s interest to explore ideas to make this work.
Are we surprised that fewer women go into entrepreneurship and set up their own business when this juggling has to occur? Are we paying attention to the fact that, statistically, the most successful entrepreneurs are in their 40’s (in general, after child-bearing has been done but smack bang in the middle of child-rearing)? Are we noticing that female entrepreneurs and diverse teams are outperforming all-male teams on profitability?
How do we balance between the moral and social benefit of having children and providing maternity leave, yet from a practical entrepreneurial perspective being unable to pay the cash?
Is there some magic fund to enable female entrepreneurs to take time out?
Should we tell women to not build businesses at the same time as having children?
So I wonder as I build the next phase of our company, how could we honour our commitment to our staff and ‘do the right thing’ by maternity leave as well as build a profitable, sustainable business?
Answers on a postcard please.
