Small Business Burn Out - Your thoughts?

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by TamaraKleinberg

Hey entrepreneurs. I'm doing an article for LaunchStreet (https://www.gotolaunchstreet.com/blog/) and Huffington Post on why Small Biz Owners burn out and how we can avoid it. Here are some thoughts I have so far and I would love more - maybe even some personal experiences to share.

- treat it like a sprint when it's a marathon
- think they can do it all versus getting help
- try to be all things to all customers and get spread too thin versus focused
- lack of family/community support
- work all day every day and lose balance - rejuvenation time

Disclaimer - LaunchStreet is my business. I would LOVE to share your name and even link to your business once the article goes live. I recognize that I don't have all the answers and would love some of your advice and experiences - especially how you avoided or got over the burn out

Thanks!

I guess my burnout would fall under your last category; work all day.

My side hustle and passion for a couple of decades was teaching golf. Then, the opportunity arose to turn my passion into my business.

Today, I no longer tell people to follow their passion. I went down that rabbit hole and found life destroying monsters.

Although I had built a successful golf training facility, and had 5 PGA Pros in my employ, and a couple of other employees, taking care of business was a 60 to 70 hour a week nightmare.

And students I once enjoyed seeing once a week, became annoying when I saw them daily. Rather than tell the story again (I have several times over the last 18 years, it is in the archives somewhere) let me cut to the chase.

Here are my top takeaway points I pass on to people who might face burnout from their business.

MAKE time for family, fun and friends just as important as your bottom line.
Hire good people and let them grow and be flexible.
Delegate the mundane mind killers to the pros and pay them (those hidden partners like CPA, lawyer, insurance agent, etc.).

Develop systems and checklists to make life easier.

Those were some of the top lessons I got from burnout. As my pappy used to say, "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it."

GordonJ