In this episode, I’ll talk about how to take maternity leave as a business owner.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Black Friday

I just dropped the 2024 SK Black Friday catalog with the exact deals I’m running this year! These are super juicy deals not seen any other time of the year (not just a little 10% discount – I’m talking BIG), so click here to check them out!

Maternity Leave Recap

I’m going to review what happened during my maternity leave, how much my business made, what I spent, and what the business profited during the six weeks I was completely off.

My third baby girl was born at the end of July. I took six full weeks off, and since coming back, I have been slowly working back up to my regular 15-20 hours per week. The following information was observed from July 22nd to September 9th.

Expenses vs. Revenue

During those six weeks, my business brought in $22,710. These sales came from evergreen (passive) offers such as my digital products, courses and affiliate offers as well as one live promotion. 

During this time period, my business did not profit after paying myself, my team, my contractors and other recurring expenses. Payroll added up to $15,000. This included my team, my bookkeeper, my accountant, and anyone else I pay monthly. Some payments were due twice in this time period, leading to this high number. Though I was not working during my leave, my team member plus several contractors were working daily to keep my business running.

While I was on leave, I had only two 0 sale days for my own products. Thankfully, I put a lot of work into my affiliate income, so in reality, there were zero days that I did not make money.

Sales & Where They Came from

I sold 161 digital products and courses from evergreen marketing (YouTube, Instagram, emails) during my leave. My team member posted daily feed content. I did not post anything new on YouTube or Instagram stories during this time. Still, my previously posted YouTube content performed well and continued to gain leads.

During my leave, I spent $4,638.07 on ads. The ads were for my course, YouTube for Business. I had a 1.3X return on ad spend. I’m fairly new to ads, so I am proud that I did better than breaking even, made money, and gained some valuable new email leads.

Four Observations from Maternity Leave

1. My Business Can Sustain Itself

Truthfully, I did not prepare a ton of content or marketing plans before taking my leave. My team continued working and my evergreen funnels were in place in so that the business continued to make money. Even though it wasn’t a huge six weeks in terms of sales, I am glad I could step away while the business ran soundly. 

2. My Team is Amazing

When I’m available, my team often gets feedback from me on projects. However, it’s great to know that when I’m available, they make great decisions on their own. They have such a great handle on the brand and how to represent SK, and they did a wonderful job of running things while I was away.

3. Emphasis on Profitability

I broke even financially, but it made me realize that I needed to increase my profitability. Now, I’m working on my evergreen strategies and ways to make money that do not require a live launch. 

4. Gaps in the Business

My offers are mostly low-mid ticket, and because of that, it’s important for me to continually bring in new leads or help my students to find new ways of learning from me. This year, I plan to diversify my marketing to do that.

Planning Your Leave

It’s so important to know how to take maternity leave as a business owner! I encourage you to make plans for times that you need to be away from your own business! Consider your marketing, your business structure, what needs to happen in your absence, and how to make it happen. I hope this gives you hope that it IS possible to take time away as a business owner and it’s something you need to do, too!

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See you on Monday at 7AM!