KimOn this segment of Q & A Day, I answered a question from Susan, a business owner who feels as if she’s starting to lose the initial excitement and second guessing her business decisions. She says that she has all the necessary groundwork done, but is struggling to get consistent, recurring income and keep her joy alive.
This is a common problem for many business owners. A large part of being an entrepreneur is being able to let go of the ‘employee’ mentality and step into the ‘CEO’ position.
Running a business can be exhilarating, let’s face it setting up shop – your own shop – can be exciting!! There’s this promise of freedom that entrepreneurship offers which is why many people choose to start a business. However, it also comes with its fair share of challenges.
As an entrepreneur, I’m used to wearing many hats; prospecting, marketing, content development, customer support. Add to that the ‘fun’ stuff, Canva creations, website layout, social posts!! Yes, there’s a sense of freedom, but, as I learned early on, without the proper systems and processes in place, it can be easy to hit burnout.
There is a way though, to prevent burnout, maintain balance, and thrive in your entrepreneurial journey.
Here are three key items to help you avoid burnout in your business
1.) First, take an honest step back to re-evaluate your ‘why.’ Sometimes, it’s hard to maintain joy when you lose sight of the reasons you even started. It’s easy, especially in the beginning, to get caught up with everything that goes into creating your business, and forget to look at the reasons for starting your business and the aspects that brought you joy. The best thing at this stage is to step away and take a look at the overall vision.
This time away is crucial. It has the power to catapult your business forward. It’s important to understand what you want your business to look like. What do you want your typical day to look like? Are you a freelancer? Are you the CEO of a business with employees? Is your company virtual or do you need a physical office?
2.) Second, learn the art of delegation and automation. By mastering these skills, you’ll step into the meaning of CEO. Implementing automation for most of the mundane tasks could alleviate a lot of the built up frustration. There are many ways to implement automation into your business, for example; record answers to frequently asked questions, set-up a customer journey for potential clients, use a scheduler for social media posts.
When you’re starting out, it can become easy to ‘lone wolf’ it. Whether it’s for the lack of funds or an “I can do it all” mentality, delegation can be hard to adapt and often feel unattainable, “after all,” you may reason, “you’re still growing what can you possibly delegate??” However, the faster you can learn to delegate, the faster you’ll start to shift your mindset into that of a CEO and start acting like the leader of your business. Consider hiring a virtual assistant. I guarantee there is someone that works in your budget and can help you achieve your goals, you just have to take the leap.
Connect to your vision often if you want to avoid burnout in your business
3.) Take your overall vision and put it into clear attainable goals. Where do you want your business to be in one year? What does it look like? Break that down in quarterly goals, then monthly, weekly and daily action steps. Those daily action steps are going to move your business forward. Anything that is not helping your business grow is off your list. If it’s a must do item, like creating graphics for social posts, or writing customer support emails, find ways to delegate or automate those tasks.
It’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to feel overwhelmed and overworked, which can easily lead to a downward spiral of compare and despair. Adapting these techniques will enable you to become aligned with your business, making it feel much lighter and more joyful.
Have a question you’d like answered? Submit here: kim@kimkelleythompson.com with the Subject: Q&A Day
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