We tell ourselves we’re doing the right thing for our kids. We stay in the corporate job because it’s “stable.” Because it has benefits. Because walking away feels irresponsible when little humans are counting on us to keep the lights on and food on the table.
But let’s be honest about what that “stability” actually looks like: Missing bedtime four nights a week because you’re stuck on calls with the West Coast. Spending Saturdays catching up on emails instead of at the soccer field. Using your precious PTO for a sick kid, then having nothing left for that family vacation. And then, after all that, watching your company announce layoffs in a Zoom call where you’re one of 500 tiny squares.
Here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud: corporate life isn’t as stable as we pretend it is, and it’s costing us way more time with our kids than we realize. In this era of quarterly earnings pressure and economic uncertainty, that “safe” paycheck can disappear with two weeks’ notice and a severance package that doesn’t come close to covering the gap.
Meanwhile, you’ve spent years pouring your best hours, your sharpest thinking, and your creative energy into building someone else’s dream. What if you could redirect even half of that into building something of your own? Something that actually gives you control over your time, your income, and your future?
That’s where your Freedom Number comes in. Because most businesses fail not because the idea was bad, but because the founder ran out of money before they could make it work. And as moms, especially those of us carrying the financial weight for our families, we simply can’t afford to launch blindfolded and hope it works out. We need a plan. We need a number. We need to know exactly what it takes to make this transition without putting our families at risk.
What Your Freedom Number Actually Tells You
Your Freedom Number is the total amount of capital and income you need to support both your personal life and your business as you launch and scale. It’s not just about start-up costs—it’s about keeping your family fed, your mortgage paid, and your sanity intact while you build something that matters.
This number covers three critical areas:
- Your available capital (what you’re starting with)
- Your family and personal expenses (what you need to live)
- Your business and start-up costs (what it takes to launch and grow)
Here’s what makes this so powerful: once you know your Freedom Number, you stop making decisions out of desperation or fear. You know exactly how much runway you have. You can plan strategically instead of reactively. And you can finally silence that voice in your head asking, “Can we really afford this?”
The Four-Step Framework: Your Financial Foundation
Step 1: Take a Complete Financial Inventory
This is where you get brutally honest about what you’re working with. Pull together everything. Your savings accounts, your partner’s income (if you have one), potential grants or loans, and any safe-to-use credit. Then look at the flip side: what are your actual monthly expenses? Not what you think they should be, but what they really are. Include everything from your mortgage to your kids’ activities to that coffee habit you’re not giving up (and shouldn’t have to).
The goal here isn’t to judge yourself into financial minimalism. It’s to create a clear picture of your baseline reality so you can plan from a place of truth, not wishful thinking.
Step 2: Identify Your Capital Sources
Once you know what you have, explore where additional funds could come from if needed. This might include personal loans from family, investors willing to bet on your vision, traditional bank loans, crowdfunding campaigns, or woman-owned business grants. Women tend to bootstrap longer than necessary, but strategic capital can accelerate your timeline dramatically. Don’t rule out funding before you’ve even explored what’s available.
Step 3: Map Your Start-Up Costs
Break down what it will actually cost to launch your business, including setup and legal fees, space and equipment, marketing and operations, and yes, people costs if you’ll need help from day one. Be thorough here. Underestimating your costs is one of the fastest ways to blow through your Freedom Number before your business gains traction.
Create a realistic 12-18 month financial projection. It won’t be perfect, but it will give you guardrails to work within and help you spot potential cash crunches before they become crises.
Step 4: Calculate “Your Nut”
This is the magic formula: Total Start-Up Costs + Monthly Life Budget = Your Nut. This is your baseline—what you need to keep both your business and your household running. Then map out how you’ll cover it using your available savings, reliable income streams, and any borrowing you’re willing to take on.
If there’s a gap between your nut and your resources, you now have a specific target to hit before you leap. Maybe you need six more months of savings. Maybe you need to secure a small loan or bring on an investor. The point is, you know exactly what you’re working toward.
For the Primary Breadwinners Reading This
If you’re carrying the financial weight for your family, the thought of walking away from that steady paycheck probably feels impossible. We get it. But here’s what we want you to know: being the primary breadwinner doesn’t disqualify you from entrepreneurship. We thinkit actually makes you uniquely qualified. You already understand financial discipline, risk management, and the weight of responsibility. Those skills translate directly into building a sustainable business.
You don’t have to quit tomorrow. You can build strategically. Nights and weekends at first, then maybe negotiate part-time, then make the full leap once your Freedom Number is covered. The key is planning intentionally so that when you do jump, you’re doing it from a position of strength, not desperation.
Your Freedom Number gives you something invaluable: control. Control over your timeline, your decisions, your financial future, and most importantly, control over your time with your kids. It transforms entrepreneurship from a terrifying leap into a calculated, strategic move that could actually give your family more stability than that corporate job ever did.
Ready to Go Deeper?
Understanding your Freedom Number is just the beginning. If you’re ready to dive into the complete roadmap—from validating your idea and building your MVP to pricing strategy, finding your ideal customers, and scaling sustainably—join us in The Female Maverick’s Launch, Build, and Scale course.
We’ve packed everything we learned from building multiple seven-figure businesses (and making every mistake in the book so you don’t have to) into a step-by-step system designed specifically for moms who are serious about building something big.
