Your Home is a Business! 4 Homemaking Skills you Need to Run the Business of Home
Explore the 4 essential homemaking skills for managing and supporting a fruitful home. These 4 homemaking skills allow you to be the solopreneur of the business of home.
Every new homemaker struggles with overwhelm and feelings of “falling short.” It can take several years for a new homemaker to find her stride in caring for her home. This is because homemaking skills aren’t being taught and passed down through generations as they once used to be.
In today’s modern society we educate girls to have success in their careers outside of the home. Though it is important for girls to have the same education and opportunities as men, this approach leaves women at a disadvantage when it comes time for them to focus on their homes and families.
Homemaking and the domestic arts have quickly become endangered over the last 30 years. Modern feminism has deemed homemaking skills and a role at home as demeaning. They have convinced young girls and their mothers to leave all domestic skills behind in favor of pursuing skills that fit into a traditional male role.
The problem with completely throwing away a whole set of domestic skills is that it handicaps women when or if they decide to have a family. The need to care for and curate a home for a family doesn’t just go away because a group of people say that it’s not worth a woman’s time. People continue to mate and have families and create homes and lives together. So the homemaking role still needs to be fulfilled.
Luckily, I believe that all of the skills women are learning in traditional schooling can be helpful to homemaking. Traditional homemaking skills combined with basic business skills make the best recipe for fulfilling, supportive and valuable homemaking.
In this post I will show you how homemaking is simply the business of home. Read on to learn the four homemaking skills essential to creating and supporting a joyful and peaceful home for you and your family.
What is homemaking and how is it like a business?
Homemaking has been through a number of iterations throughout history, evolving with the development of technology and social and political movements over time.
With women’s issues being an important topic in politics and social reform since the 1840s, it’s not surprising that homemaking and how it’s viewed by the greater society has changed a great deal. However, there are parts of the homemaking definition that have sustained.
Homemaking has always been about the care of the home and the people it shelters. Homemaking skills like cooking, cleaning, and mothering have endured the test of time and ever-changing political landscape. Whereas homemaking was the sole focus of women during the 1800s and early 1900s, after WWII, out of necessity, this role often has to share time with careers outside the home.
Modern homemaking, in contrast to more traditional homemaking, often needs to be done in the short amount of time provided before and after working hours. For this reason, and due to women achieving higher and higher levels of success in their careers, homemaking is now the most basic of tidying, cleaning, cooking and transporting of children.
The homemaking skills of the past, proudly called domestic arts once upon a time, have been left behind as factories and corporations have replaced those skills with their mass production. This lack of necessity to learn traditional homemaking skills and constant pressure from modern politics to achieve more and more outside the home has created a necessity for homemaking to be redefined.
Homemaking definition
Before I dive into the analogy of homemaking being a business, let’s explore the homemaking definition. As we can see economic and technological development as well as social and political movements have greatly affected the role of homemaking over time. Despite these big changes in how we see the homemaking role, the essence of homemaking remains the same.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists the homemaking definition as:
“One who manages the household especially as a spouse or parent.”
Hmmm….pretty vague!
In the book Theology of Home II: The Spiritual Art of Homemaking, they describe the homemaking definition in a more value-driven way:
“…the deeply purposeful art of sheltering and nurturing the souls of others, offering them a place to grow into the people [they are] intended to be.”
Wow! I’m sure when you consider the many roles and responsibilities you hold as a homemaker, it is this latter definition that more closely captures the extensive and significant contributions you make to your home and family.
The first homemaking definition underplayed the seriousness and importance of the role. Such a short-sighted homemaking definition makes it sound like anyone could play the role of homemaker.
But we can see in the second homemaking definition that homemaking carries with it a great weight and responsibility. Homemaking is more than merely a role, but a purpose. Homemaking is the fabric from which our society grows and develops. A homemaker bears the responsibility for creating the nourishing foundation from which children will grow into their own purpose.
In this way, homemaking has the ability to produce a generation of people who can push our world in a positive direction. But homemaking, or the lack of, also has the ability to produce a generation of young adults who lack the cognitive skills and emotional capacity to see such positive change.
How is Homemaking like a business?
According to Investopedia “The purpose of a business is to organize some sort of economic production of goods or services.”
In the case of homemaking, we are producing the most important economic goods: people. Homemaking skills are services that are being rendered that can benefit (or hinder) our society through their ability to produce citizens that push the development of our species and society in a positive direction.
Investopedia also explains the distinction between 2 types of businesses: “Businesses can be for-profit entities or non-profit organizations fulfilling a charitable mission or furthering a social cause.”
Obviously homemaking is a non-profit organization, but a business entity none-the-less.
Unfortunately, due to modern feminism, this critical value of homemaking has been buried.
I explain the importance of homemaking in my blog post “What is homemaking and why is it so undervalued?”
4 Levels of homemaking skills for the business of home
As you can see, homemaking is a non-profit business that is furthering the development of society as a whole. And like any other business entity, it functions by having an organizational structure that allows for skills at a variety of levels.
Homemaking requires skills at four different levels. If we look at homemaking as a business, and the homemaker as the solopreneur maintaining all of the roles within that business, it’s easy to see how multifaceted homemaking is.
Homemaking is intentionally directing effort and skill at the following 4 levels:
- Visionary/CEO
- Systems Creation/Director of Operations
- Overseer of Daily Systems/Manager
- Task Performance/Employee
Homemaking skills at the level of Visionary
The visionary is the person who must always be looking to the future while holding the agreed upon values in mind. It is the job of the visionary to see where the organization wants to go and help others see the same vision for the future. They inspire everyone else within the organization to continue striving for that vision by engaging in activities and behaviors that meet the values of that goal.
The person within a business that typically holds the role of visionary is the CEO. Without a CEO, a business would cease to grow and move forward. The CEO holds the greatest responsibility for the success of the organization and its people.
Homemaking requires this same level of vision. A home is not merely a box that provides shelter and a place to rest your head. A home is a place where the most important types of living, learning and development occur.
“Rather than merely a box for souls to be stored, home is where body and soul are nourished, protected, comforted, and known.”
Theology of Home II: The Spiritual Art of Homemaking
The critical homemaking skills applied here are seeing and understanding the type of living, learning and development that we want to occur inside our homes. A vision for the type of influence we want our homes to have on our children and spouses starts with a defining of values.
One of the first and most important homemaking skills is being able to clearly define and communicate the greater values through the home. Defining the important values of your home is something that should be done with your partner and can develop and change as the people in the home grow and change. Though values must be agreed upon by all, it is the job of the visionary/CEO homemaker to hold those values as sacred.
Once the values have been defined, the next homemaking skills that are required is creating a vision for those values. Values are the directions, but the vision is the destination. A homemaker must determine where those values will take the home and it’s habitants.
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
Yogi Berra
A mother and homemaker is a vessel for holding all of the hopes and dreams for her family with the utmost care and love. She reflects these hopes and dreams back to her family through her homemaking skills that give them the foundation to believe in their imminent success.
Homemaking skills at the level of Systems Creation
No successful organization or business happens without the creation and use of systems. Systems increase efficiency and consistency.
Consistency is a critical component to a human’s feeling of safety. If things in our lives are unpredictable, then we feel anxious and stressed. People who are anxious and stressed are often stunted in development and unable to focus on finding and living their purpose.
Efficiency creates an abundance of time and resources to be allocated to non-essential activities. It is through the exploration of non-essential activities, like hobbies, that the greatest experiences and living come from.
Systems are created inside the home that provide the consistency and efficiency that help a family engage meaningfully in life. The homemaking skills required include creating systems for:
And so many more!
Now I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here. The creation of systems does not mean that a home must be organized and run in a strict and perfect way. As a matter of fact, I hate strict systems and structure! I find them to be stifling. Systems should be flexible and malleable.
I lived a large portion of my life creating and recreating strict structures and systems to live by. In turn, I tried to force these very systems and structures on my children. Each time I inevitably failed in carrying out these systems to perfection, I felt like a failure. By expecting my children and husband to be perfect in carrying out any systems I had created led to resentment and conflict.
Ugh! It was not an enjoyable way to live! And, perhaps more importantly, it did not align with my values and vision for my home and my family.
I’m guessing you’re like me and you want to create a home where people feel loved and nurtured. A home where confidence and curiosity is grown in order to allow individuality and acceptance of the self. You want everyone to know that they are enough and special for their uniqueness.
Well, flexible structure or rather, systems, allow for the consistency and efficiency that allow such values to thrive.
Homemaking skills at the level of Manager
Okay, now that our business has a vision and systems to help that vision be carried out, we need someone to manage those systems. Ahhh! Yet another set of homemaking skills that we must master.
A manager is the person who is directly in charge of the people in a business. They make sure that the people have everything they need to succeed and grow in the environment of the business. They constantly evaluate the effectiveness of the systems and make adjustments as needed. The homemaking skills of a “momager” are to oversee, communicate, coordinate, motivate, foster and, at times, delegate.
Phew! This is a big one!
The homemaking skills that a “momager” carries out at this level ensure that things move in the right direction from week to week and day to day. It is at this level that constant adjustments are made based on what each of the members of the family have going on. The “momager” ensures that the focus generally remains the same from week to week and day to day allowing for one-off projects and events to happen.
The most important of the “momager” homemaking skills is the development of the team. In this case, the team is a homemaker’s family. It is the manager’s job to ensure that each person is being provided with the necessary opportunities to continue to develop in the areas that are meaningful and fulfilling. The homemaker organizes and reorganizes home life to fit the needs of each of its members. Including her own!!
If you want to learn more about the importance of self-care homemaking skills, read my post here.
Homemaking skills at the level of task performance
The basic employee is responsible for performing daily tasks that contribute to the overall success of the business. They simply carry out the tasks that have been defined in the systems and organization created by the Director of Operations and Managers.
Okay, now we come to the homemaking skills that homemaking is typically associated with: the daily work and tasks.
It is important to state that while the greater society views the daily tasks of homemaking as mundane and menial, I would argue that there are many homemaking skills that are just that: skills.
I’m sure we can argue that homemaking skills like
tend to be fairly mundane. But what about all of the domestic arts that make a house a home. These homemaking skills include:
and many more homemaking skills that create the life-giving aspects of a home.
I would argue that even the mundane tasks I listed are jobs that you can grow skill in. If anyone has ever let their husbands do the laundry or cleaning for them, then you will understand how true this is!
We know that this day-to-day work is critical to the functioning of a home. The problem is when you’re so entrenched in the day-to-day tasks, it’s easy to feel lost, bored and unappreciated. This is why we must revisit our other homemaking skills at higher levels, so that we may reacquaint ourselves with why we are doing those things.
Each and every one of the homemaking skills is important to and supports the vision of our homes.
The measure of successful business of homemaking skills
So in our analogy:
But what is the thing that is being earned? How is the success of home measured?
The 3 Intentions of Homemaking
No matter what your vision and values for your home and family are, homemaking skills center around 3 areas of intention:
- I take care of my self.
- I take care of my family..
- I take care of my home.
It is from these 3 domains or intentions that we can measure our success in homemaking.
Homemaking skills should create personal joy and fulfillment
Our homemaking is successful if we feel fulfilled and happy in our role. The only way to feel fulfilled and happy in homemaking is to know that
Homemaking skills should help all family members reach their fullest potential
One of the most critical measures of success for our homemaking efforts is how well adjusted and fulfilled the rest of the family members are.
We need children who are able to go out into the world with bravery and a willingness to fail forward. These are the people who will do and be great things as adults. It is through a child who can find and pursue their life’s purpose that we can see positivity magnified in our world.
In the same way, when we use homemaking skills to create a home of peace, calm and joy, our partners can spread that joy to others. When our spouses feel loved and supported, then they can go out day-after day and live out their own purpose in the world.
Homemaking skills provide a home for being our truest self
Fred Rogers said:
“The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.”
Fred Rogers
I actually keep the quote in my office to remind me of my homemaking “why”.
A home should provide a level of safety that helps each person living in it to feel like they can be their truest self. The more we get to practice being our true self inside the home, the more we can offer it to others.
If you’ve ever been around someone who is comfortable being their truest self and living out their ultimate purpose, you can’t help but feel an immense energy of joy and inspiration when around them. Being in the presence of someone who is so totally comfortable with themselves gives you the permission to accept and love yourself.
This energy of self-actualization, that starts in the home, is the very thing that will change our world for the better!
Homemaking is the Most Valuable Business
I’m going to make a bold statement here, but I believe it with all of my heart.
Homemaking is the most valuable profession within any society. Without homemakers and their homemaking skills, our world would cease to progress. Homemaking provides the nourishment human beings need to thrive.
If you are a homemaker or have homemaker friends who could use some inspiration and encouragement, share the image below.
