Y'all, being a business owner isn't easy.
Ya’ll, being a business owner is hard. Especially if your an empath. Fortunately, I have learned from my mistakes and I want you to learn too! Hopefully, this these tips will be enough to save you from heartache, stress, financial issues.
Do you ever feel like you are everywhere but nowhere all at the same time in life? I have started writing several blogs but just can’t finish them… I have a million projects going on and once again, can’t finish them. I am in this weird place in life where I don’t know what I want to do, I don’t know what I want. But what I do know is, I am just all around BURNTOUT and tired.
Ya’ll, being a business owner is not for the faint of heart.
It is TOUGH. Being an Empath business owner is quite frankly Bullshit. (Sorry for the language). And you would think I would have figured this out years ago considering I’ve been in business for over 12 years. But NOPE, my big damn heart💗 keeps getting in the way and in the end, I am the one suffering. Honestly, it has made me someone that I don’t even know how to be or if I even want to be.
2024 was a year of changes and growth. Some good, some I could have done without. I have fired some of my biggest clients, I have put up boundaries, and now, I am trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I will share some of my biggest lessons of what NOT to do.
trust me when I say, save this and come back to it. It will save you so much stress.
I made all the mistakes so you don’t have to.
Don’t do the following.
What not to do:
1: Business is business. I don’t care if you have been with this client since day 1 of your business. At the end of the day, yes, you may have become friends but if you are connected because you are working together it is a business relationship. And the second something starts to go bad in either one of your businesses, it will be affected.
Pro tip: Don’t work with friends. Don’t hire friends. It will ruin relationships. Trust me, I have lost several good friends trying to work together.
2: Do not and I repeat DO NOT let anyone go out of scope on their contact. If the contract states that payment is to be made within 10 days STICK TO THOSE TERMS. The second you bend the rules, they will continue to try and bend them. I am not just talking about payments, but anything in regards to what you are offering them. The contract is there for a reason.
3: Set clear boundaries about work times, especially if you are working from home. I cannot tell you how many times I have had clients calling and texting me from 6 am - 9 pm. If you are not in your office, you are not working. Period. There are a few ways to handle this when they do text/call before or after hours.
Don’t respond until the next day.
Respond saying you will get to it the next day, it is after business hours.
4. Build out processes especially as you are starting out. It is the last thing that seems important because you are a one man show. But before you know it, you are slammed, missing deadlines etc. and it is time to hire someone. But what do you give them as a document to follow when you don’t have anything other than what’s in your head?
Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way and I am so very thankful for my employees who have helped and stuck by me and the craziness. In addition to the work, I also had to take extra time to write the processes and train them. It was a shit show.
5. Know your worth. Don’t let anyone take knowledge from you especially for free. You have a business because you are offering a service to someone who doesn’t have your knowledge. It is okay to charge for that service at whatever the going rate is!
This also applies to knowing what you don’t know. Just because you are the business owner doesn’t mean you know every single aspect of it. I don’t know marketing. I mean if you are reading this then I did something right. But I am not going to continue doing it when my time is better spent in the areas I know.
6. To hire someone make a list of all of the things that you either don’t like doing, or aren’t good at. When you are making their job description use the list and that is what they will be doing. I have done this for the last several years when hiring employees and it has worked beautifully! Throughout the years, as some things get shifted around I will add responsibilities to my employees of things I still don’t like doing or I am not good at doing. I always admit to my them when they are better at something than I am. Which has helped with open communication and they are honest when they are doing tasks that they don’t like doing or even struggle with. It isn’t just about what I don’t like doing, if we can figure out a way to evenly divide the things that we struggle at or really don’t like we will all be happier and more efficient!
Team work makes the dream work!
What to do:
I hope and pray you are not in the same place I am pulling myself out of. But if you are, it’s okay! As I said before, owning a business is hard. These are the natural cycles of business and I believe in these cycles is when we are able to fix what is broken or hasn’t been working.
I am not going to lie, all of the things mentioned about left me in a mental and financial bind. Before Thanksgiving, I did not want to do anything when it comes to my business and honestly, even thought about closing shop. BUT over the last couple of days I have focused on what I want for my business, side hustle, and overall life. My new handy dandy notebook and I have been turning some pages… The lists below I have been doing for business and personal:
My Goals.
What I want for 2025
What my needs are
What my wants are
What went right in 2024
What went wrong in 2024
Things I need to change
Since then I feel a little better, not as burnout and almost revamped to get back into it. I am not feeling so scattered and I a little clear path as to what. All of my ideas, wants, wishes and dreams are written down and I have a map of how to get to the next chapter. I can go back and check things off as I get them completed.
I hope these tips save you heartache and stress if use them as a guide of what NOT TO DO.
Please let me know if this was helpful or if there is any other things you’d like to chat about!
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