How to Avoid Burnout as an Entrepreneur (And Grow Your Business at the Same Time!)
There is a misconception that once you open your business, you’ve achieved your goal and the hard part is over. I hate to break it to you, but that is the furthest thing from the truth.
In reality, as an entrepreneur, once the business is going is when the hard work truly begins. You now have to navigate gaining and retaining customers, managing employees, maintaining a positive business reputation, making a profit, and somehow not running your body into the ground. How do you avoid entrepreneurial burnout and grow your business at the same time?
Even with the above laundry list of daunting tasks and the statistics being less than favorable for starting a small business (about 50% are forced to close within their first 5 years), there are still about 31 million entrepreneurs in the United States and a whopping 582 million across the world.
How do they do it?
They prioritize their wellness by using helpful resources. Entrepreneurs understand that in order to run a profitable and well meaning business, they not only need to be on top of their game in business, but perhaps more importantly, need to be in control of their mindset. Once you can control your mindset, anything is possible, and you can grow your business.
Here are a few tips to avoid entrepreneurial burnout:
Keep Clear Working Hours
One of the biggest draws of starting your own business is the flexibility to be your own boss and work whenever you want. However, when the work becomes too much, it is easy to slip into the hustle mindset, losing track of time just to get everything done. We know that as an entrepreneur, you are most likely predisposed to the work, work, work mindset as many entrepreneurs fall into overwork without even noticing. That is, until it is too late.
You want to be a good boss and you wouldn’t expect your employees to clock out from work, only to go home and continue working through the night, ruining their work/life balance. So why should you? Don’t forget that you are equally employee as you are boss, and your mental health matters.
Set clear hours for yourself, put your name on the schedule alongside your other employees, go home when your storefront closes, or if the bulk of your work is online or at home, use a time tracking tool. Using helpful resources like these can show how you spend your time and allow you to set clear start and stop times to help you control your mindset.
Quiet Your Mind in the Morning
Simply starting your day in an environment of quiet and control can help you avoid entrepreneurial burnout. The fate of your business and other people’s livelihoods are in your hands, so why get consumed and frazzled by that pressure and be unable to perform to the best of your abilities? Taking the time to sit in peace and control your mindset before diving into the pressures of the day works wonders on how you approach the stresses of the workday.
It doesn’t have to be an unattainable hour of meditation (aiming for that actually causes more stress than relieves it!). Just five minutes of quiet after you get dressed, listening to a few minutes of classical music, a five minute morning meditation, or even just having silent time with your morning cup of coffee is all it takes to reframe your mind and get yourself ready to grow your business.
Feeling extra mindful? This Five Minute Morning Mindset Mastery Routine can up your relaxation AND your productivity.
Foster a Fun Work Culture With Your Employees
Every business is different, especially small businesses, so this may not be the easiest or most obvious solution for you, but no matter how you achieve it, make sure to get plenty of stimulating human interaction. You spend more time at work than with your families and friends, so why would you suffer at work if you can help it?
Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, and even when you have reached the point in the journey where you have partners and employees, the heavy burden can still cause you to work through extra responsibilities alone. We’ve known that humans function better in social groups, but post pandemic research is making it even more clear that human interaction is an essential need.
Not only will your employees have more fun and loyalty to the business, you as the boss will control your mindset and have a more positive experience at work, helping you avoid entrepreneurial burnout.
Using Helpful Resources to Manage Your Online Presence
The best way to avoid entrepreneurial burnout is to work smarter and not harder. But what does that actually mean? You’ve heard this phrase time and again, but have never applied it because you know from experience that hard work is what got you there in the first place. That is precisely why it’s time to work smarter! The thankless hard work is done, and you want to grow your business and benefit.
As hard as it is for entrepreneurs to admit, you can’t do it all. The best way to grow your business is to Delegate, Delegate, Delegate. You have employees to take care of the day-to-day while you focus on the high level strategy, so using helpful resources is a way to delegate. Have your storefront all set? Add an online store!
Having an online store can make or break your business. You can reach many more customers at all hours of the day, and communicate with them more efficiently online, compared to just in person.
Don’t know how to code? Not too comfortable with technology? No Worries! This is where your personalized team at LincSell helps you build an easy to use, easy to manage online store that can grow your business in your sleep. They work with you to focus on your priorities and give the best online shopping experience possible to your customers. Check out our pricing options to see what works best for your business!
Conclusion
Being an entrepreneur is hard! It’s easy to go from nurturing a passion project to becoming overworked, overstressed, and unhappy without even realizing. The best way to keep your business from failure is keep yourself physically and mentally strong and healthy, and that can bleed into your business.
The best tips to avoid burnout include keeping clear working hours, giving your brain peace and quiet in the morning, fostering a fun and social work culture, and delegating extra business building projects to other people or softwares. With these simple steps, you can control your mindset, grow your business, and avoid entrepreneurial burnout along the way.
