Is it your entire identity? Or, just a part of who you are?
I have noticed small business owners express a range of emotions through this pandemic. And, those emotions have swung back and forth like a pendulum. From happy to sad. Frustrated to hopeful. Stressed to rested.
We (business owners) seem to be used to riding roller emotional coasters. But, it’s those roller coasters that are wearing us down and burning us out.
There are two conclusions that some small business owners have come to through this pandemic that make me the happiest, because it means that these people understand that something was wrong and needs to change. It is the folks that have said:
- I didn’t realize how stressed out I was, some things have to change when I reopen. I am spending this time making those changes.
- After much reflection, I have decided to close my business. These last few weeks have shown me how much of life I have missed out on and what my business was taking out of me.
How could I be happy that someone has decided to close their business? I’m not “happy” that they are closing their business. I am happy that they have realized that it doesn’t bring them joy, fulfillment, or call to their strengths. And, they are taking charge and doing something about it.
While there could have been some intervention – maybe there was – the answer isn’t always to close.
I am writing this because I want you to realize a couple of things. As a business owner we don’t always feel like we have a choice in how we run our businesses, or continuing to run it for that matter. We get into a “I’m stuck with this” mindset.
Your business does NOT have to be your whole life and your whole life should not be your business.
You do have some choices. The implementation of doing something different seems impossible because of your perspective. Consider:
- How can my business function as a part of me, rather than taking over my entire identity?
- What would it look like to do less, enable others, and work on my business rather than in it?
- What can I do differently so that I don’t continue to burn myself out?
How can my business function as a part of me, rather than taking over my entire identity?
Remember when your business was a baby and you would do anything to get it up and running? You may not have powered out of this initial cycle. You got used to doing so much and powering forward at all costs, but never put that mindset to the side when your business became more self-sufficient.
If it feels like you are working too hard – you probably are. You may not have taken the time over the years to invest in yourself, in others, and in systems.
When you invest in yourself: you make better decisions and become more confident in them.
When you invest in others: you enable other people to take responsibility for their work and effort. In the long run, this saves you time, energy, and money.
When you invest in systems: you become more hands off and allow your business to start running itself. Yes, there is a point where some things should happen with the push of a button, rather than you toiling for hours.
It’s when you have not done those three things that your business becomes your identity, it swallows you because you don’t trust the very business you set up. If you cannot take a step back for a day or two, you have not set your business up to become a viable business. It’s not viable because it will eventually burn you out or kill you – so your business will not survive. #hardtruth
None of this makes you a terrible business owner or a bad person.
What would it look like to do less, enable others, and work on my business rather than in it?
The answer to this question is personal. It will look different for everyone because we all have different strengths, goals, and energy.
Here is what it looks like for me:
- Design a business that calls to my strengths
- No longer work 24/7
- Take at least one good vacation a year
- Hire out the work I like the least
- At least 2 professional or personal development courses a year, OR once a quarter
- Make time for myself for exercise, healthy eating, massages, and pedicures
Most businesses owners usually work in their business and don’t make time to work on it. What does that mean?
If you want your business to grow, if you want to grow, you need to work on and pay attention to its foundation. Here are some examples:
- Do the systems you have in place allow it to run efficiently?
- Do you have enough or too many employees?
- Are you offering the services your clients want, or are there additional services you could provide?
- What type of marketing and advertising would be beneficial? What business relationships do you need to develop
- Is it time to hire someone to do my share of the day-to-day work because their cost as an employee is less than my time is worth now?
What can I do differently so that I don’t continue to burn myself out?
So. Many. Things.
In fact, it won’t be just one thing you do differently. Go back to that list you made of what your life as a business owner would look like if you didn’t allow your business to run your life.
One of my best suggestions, of course, is to take a CliftonStrengths assessment. Find out what you do best so you can do more of it. Your strengths will provide you a path to move forward.
Another question to ask yourself: what have you been avoiding?
I believe that deep down we all know what we should be doing – we just don’t want to do it. Why?
When I was allowing my business to run my life, I didn’t trust employees to get their jobs done. If I made good hires, had a good system to train each employee, and placed some checks and balances in their job… why didn’t I trust them?
Because I lacked the confidence to fail and allow them to fail and recover.
What I should have done to build my confidence in myself, the business, and the employees is to refine my hiring processes, re-organized the training, and been on top of reviews and accolades.
Those things were not happening because I was too wrapped up working in the business – not on it.
Get back to WHY you own and run a small business
If your activity and your feelings don’t match your why, then you aren’t going to be happier, more fulfilled, and doing more of what you do best every day.
I think the small business owners I mentioned at the beginning were wise enough to see something wasn’t balancing.
Here’s your homework:
- What is your WHY ?
- Does your current activity and mindset align with your “why”?
- If it does, go back through this post and answer the questions along the way.
- If it doesn’t, stop. What needs to be rebalanced? Do you need more rest? How can you eliminate some of the daily stress?
- Do you need to change your mind about how a business – your business – “should” run? Because if you have negative feelings, you are stressed out, and/or burned out, what you are doing isn’t working and something needs to change.
