Survive the Madness
As we relax in the typical calm of a new year, many of you are looking for a way to grow your business. But what happens when the time comes and you’ve grown your business too much? Do you cave and break down? Wish you never grew your business? Or put on a helmet and prepare for battle? If you’ve ever experienced a point where you felt like everything was crashing in because you were too busy, then you’ve likely answered yes to all of those questions. I know I have. And for those of you who wish you had these problems, I’ve laid out the top five ways I’ve managed to make it through the madness without imploding.
The idea that as a small business owner you have a 9-to-5 job, Monday through Friday, is laughable. For me, it is laughable to even have a conversation about work/life balance. There is only a how-much-can-you-work-before- your-life-falls-apart balance. No one wants to be at that point, but you know when you hit it. Astonishingly, what you can handle is usually much more than you initially thought. Sometimes you may feel like you’re drowning. The tunnel vision for what is on your to-do list makes you feel you cannot come up for air. Is this temporary or permanent pain? It’s probably temporary, and you can get through it by working hard. Pushing through the pain can be difficult. It can put strain on your personal relationships, and it can make you feel like the light at the end of a tunnel is a train. Keep telling yourself that the pain will indeed end, and focus on running your business at a sustainable pace. Do whatever it takes to get out of your hole. Make adjustments and create processes so you never find yourself back in that same situation.
