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THE REAL MVP

4 ways to better support your team’s working moms

No one said being a working mom was easy. But in recent years, it's gotten a lot harder.

In 2021, the average mom works the equivalent of 2.5 full-time jobs between their career and parenting (roughly 98 hours per week). And they only have 67 minutes to themselves a day – which is little over a lunch break.

And that's not even considering the hours spent parenting and working simultaneously. Cringing at every slammed door or little voice calling for mommy while navigating their regular workload.

But the workload isn't the only problem. Since life went remote, moms are in higher demand – balancing motherhood and work at all hours of the day. As a result, they're now 3x more likely to experience anxiety or depression. And they're a lot more likely to burn out.

That's where you come in! Here are 4 easy ways you can support your team's working moms (and protect them from burning out):

1. Offer a generous parental leave policy. Bare minimum, your policy should include: who it covers, how long the leave is, what the compensation looks like, and how to request it.
2. Show a little empathy. When kids pop into Zoom calls or when moms need to step away to help their kids for a moment, don't sigh in frustration. Instead, smile and offer your genuine understanding.
3. Install flexible working hours. Meaning, when moms need to take time to care for their kids during working hours, you give them the option to make up that time later in the day. AKA ditch the 9-to-5 standard.
4. Keep a conversation going. Create a "moms only" club at your company where your working moms can openly talk about their experiences and challenges. And encourage moms to voice what kind of support they need from your business.

👉 Grab the full guide.

FOR YOU, BY YOU

9 expert tips every SMB leader needs to hear

A lot of lessons are learned the hard way. Especially when it comes to running and growing your small business. But what if you could fast forward over the mistakes and failures - and skip straight to the lesson learned? Well, that's what we're offering!

Last week, we asked thousands of small business leaders like you for the advice they wished someone had told them. And now, we're passing some of the best answers along to you (you're welcome). 

• Focus on possibilities - not probabilities. Because if you're always looking at what might go wrong, you'll never see what could go right!
• Set small goals that get you to the big ones. AKA stop looking at the top of the mountain. And start looking at the path you'll take to get there.
• Test everything (and we mean everything). Worst case, the new process doesn't work. Best case, you just found a faster, more reliable, or cheaper way to get your desired results!
• Capture every pattern. That way, you can identify concerns as they arise and react proactively - rather than waiting for them to become problems.
• Practice saying “no.” Especially to things that distract from your vision. Because saying "no" to distractions is really saying "yes" to what you want.

👉 Get the rest of the expert tips.

WHAT'S YOUR EMERGENCY?

Meet the startup rethinking how pets see their vets

Perhaps the hottest trend to come out of the pandemic is telehealth (AKA remote medical services). In fact, 46% of people said they used telehealth services in 2020, compared to 11% in 2019. And late last year, Animal HealthLink decided to extend this luxury to pets. 

The Alberta-based telehealth veterinary company provides a call service dedicated to your furry friend’s health. Staffed by registered vet techs with 15+ years of experience on average, Animal HealthLink provides remote triage to animals after-hours. And the startup couldn’t have launched at a better time.

Last year, animal shelters saw on average a 40% spike in pet adoptions as people were forced into isolation. And this pet pandemic boom left vets in short supply as new pet parents flocked to get care for their new friends.

For most clinics, wait time for appointments skyrocketed to 7 days out (compared to 2 days out pre-pandemic). And vets were constantly taking after-hours calls for worried pet owners who were dealing with urgent issues. Meaning, pet docs were overworked. But services like Animal HealthLink ensured vets get some rest, while animals still get the care they need.

According to co-founder and CEO Leilani Mustillo, the service was formed to support clinics that couldn’t match increased demands. All by making sure that clinical vets only take the urgent calls after-hours, while Animal HealthLink helps take care of the rest. Being on the cutting edge of this innovation, the startup has seen incredible growth.

Since January of 2021, Animal HealthLink has tripled its client list - almost exclusively on referrals. And much like their human-focused counterpart, there are no signs of this growth slowing anytime soon!

TL;DR

This week's highlight reel

• Zuck gets canceled. Only 4% of iOS users are opting in for Facebook cookies. Meaning, it'll now be tougher to target your ideal customers using Facebook ads.
• Penny for your Tweet? Twitter just rolled out a Tip Jar feature that encourages your followers to send you money "just because." 
• Return to the office or stay remote? That's the hot question right now. And as you choose which one your business does, your team has a few concerns they'd like you to consider.
• Amazon isn't the only speed racer in town. Walgreens just announced that they're offering 2-hour delivery on 24k+ products starting immediately.
• Bye-bye, Bitcoin! Ethereum (like Doge - but not a joke) hit an all-time high last Monday. And it's all but officially stolen the spotlight from the other cryptocurrencies.

🎉 Congrats to all the winners of last week’s National SMB Week contest: 
Animal HealthLink, VERVE Fitness, Loansteady, RentRedi, Learning Seeds, NetSupport, Third Ear Conflict Resolution, Motivated Maids, and Claggett & Sykes Law Firm!