4 strategies to avoid service business burnout

As the owner of a small business you are never “off the clock”. Not only do you often wear all hats—service professional, social media director, janitor, admin assistant, bookkeeper, blogger, marketing director etc—you are always thinking about your business. Even when you lay down at night your mind is still buzzing, thinking about how you can improve, how to gain more clients, who to hire, etc. There is very little rest for the mind of a small business owner, especially in the early years when you are getting your business off the ground.

If you are newly in business you might not be fazed by the workload. You are full of excitement, energy and passion. You are eager to implement your ideas, and build the business you’ve been dreaming of for years. You are in the honeymoon phase of small business ownership. You stay up late, get up early, and even spend most of your weekends doing work on or in your business. However, even at this early stage it is important to implement strategies to maintain balance in your life and protect yourself from being consumed by your business.

Service businesses are demanding in their very nature. Aside from the general business duties, there is the need to always be “on”. You aren’t sitting at a desk with your headphones on and a cup of coffee in your hand, you are working with people. Your schedule is often full of back-to-back appointments. And while you may love your clients and your work may be gratifying, it’s important to recognize how you gain and lose energy and take the necessary time away to allow you to recharge. An extroverted individual, who gains energy from being around a lot of people, can thrive in the service environment. But even extroverts can reach burnout if they don’t find ways to balance the demands of the business and the energy demands of their clients. If you are more introverted in nature you will find you need to be particularly protective of your quiet time, as you need more of it in order to fully recharge.

Some simple strategies to avoid burnout:

Outsource. To the degree that your business can afford it, outsource! Keep your primary role what you do best and find and pay other professionals to do the rest. This way when you are done with your appointments for the day you can actually go outside or do something non-business related that you enjoy. Things like bookkeeping and payroll are two of the first to outsource!

Play/Learn. Maintain and explore other interests. Keep time in your schedule for at least 1 non-business related hobby. If you are a fitness trainer, take up guitar lessons or Italian lessons. If you are a guitar teacher, keep up your tennis or jiu jitsu game. Choose something that interests you and allows you to completely shut off the ongoing chatter of the business head.

Connect/Share. connect with other business owners and share ideas. As business owners we often carry the weight of our business on our shoulders. Simply having someone in business but outside of “your” business, to collaborate and share with can invigorate you as well as help to alleviate stress.

Take A Vacation. even if you put your sleeping bag in the back of the car and drive an hour to the mountains or other car camping location, it’s important to get out of town and decompress. A long weekend is good, but a full week away is even better! Often this requires having staff and infrastructure in place that will allow you to step away. Make it a goal to be able to take at least 1 week off each year in the beginning, and ultimately more as you develop more infrastructure.

Robb and I didn’t take our first legitimate vacation (no computer, no cell phone, completely unplugged) until 2008, 4 years after opening NorCal Strength & Conditioning. I wish we’d prioritized it sooner! (By the way if you’re adventurous and enjoy off-the-beaten-path locations and want to drop off the map for a week or so, I highly recommend Little Corn Island, Nicaragua).

It is ever so easy to bury yourself in your business, overwhelmed with To Do lists and appointments. Prioritizing your down time is a must, or it will get edged out for something seemingly more “important”. Of course there are circumstances when you absolutely have to drop everything. But make that an emergency occasion, not an “I’m too busy, I've got too much to do” situation. Your business is important, but so are your health and happiness.

What are ways that you’ve found to help maintain balance and avoid burnout? Please share in comments!