Having your hand in every part of your business is an exciting (and sometimes exhausting) part of leading your own company. Owning a business comes with enormous responsibilities, but being stressed constantly can cause burnout, something every owner should avoid at all costs.
These feelings of burnout often show up with familiar signs of mental and physical exhaustion, loss of motivation, and a high level of stress. It’s no surprise that burnout is happening at record rates. A new study found that nearly 60% of business leaders feel depleted at the end of the workday which is a strong indicator of burnout.
Research on burnout shows that pre-pandemic, an astounding 42% of employees were already feeling burnt out. That number dramatically increased to 72% in August. It’s more than just the pandemic that is causing these feelings of burnout. Some factors already existed such as a large workload, not enough time to get everything done, and feelings of stagnation.
Rest assured that you’re not alone in your feelings. Even better, know that there’s something you can do about it. In this post, we’ll share ways to make your life as a business owner easier while still maintaining your success.
Back to the Basics
Think of it like the movie Back to the Future. You’re Marty McFly but instead of hopping in your DeLorean, you time travel back to when you launched your business. Maybe you framed that first dollar or clicked launch on your online store.
26% of entrepreneurs say their biggest motivation for starting their own business was the idea of being their own boss and 23% wanted to pursue their passion. Go back to your why and contemplate it. Revisiting your past can help you reframe your present. Reflecting gives you a new perspective and maybe the glimmer of hope you need to get out of a rut.
Busy ≠ Productive
Let’s do some basic math. 60 hours of work + five hours of sleep does not = productivity. It just adds up to being overtired and spent, eventually leading to burning out. Stop wearing the demands of your business as a badge of honor.
To be truly productive, you need to be efficient with your time and energy. Consider these approaches to maximize your workdays:
- Cut the clutter: End each day by organizing your office, desktop, and computer. Then you’ll start the next day fresh from distractions and have clarity about what you need to accomplish.
- Learn to say ‘no’: Turn away any projects that will take more time than your normal work hours. Start setting boundaries with the projects that make you feel the most stressed.
- Get a healthy mind and body: Create a plan for exercising, eating right, and getting better sleep. These improvements will help alleviate your stress and increase your energy levels.
Square & Shopify integration is an inspiration
Take the busy-ness out of your business. You have far too much happening to spend your hours on time-consuming activities such as inventory management, accounting, and customer retention. Map out these processes and focus on the ones that you could automate.
A good place to start is by syncing your Point of Sale (POS) and eCommerce store. By automating your inventory, products, and customer data across Square and Shopify you’ll save time, resources, and prevent burnout. Here are ways connected inventory can help:
- Send bulk product listings with SKU IQ from your POS to your eCommerce system and vice versa.
- Avoid overselling by getting automated alerts when stock is running low.
- Use Square POS to collect your customer’s data such as email, phone number, and birthday to easily create targeted promotions.
Relegate & Delegate
A common cause of burning out is being overloaded by work and not having enough time for your personal endeavors. A lot of small business owners have difficulty removing themselves from key aspects of their business because they don’t want to give up control. Start delegating your work little by little and you’ll start to see the benefits of having more free time.
Build trust and empower your team by delegating to them. By giving your employees more responsibility, especially with integral tasks like inventory management, you will be encouraging them to develop their own skills. Most inventory tools like SKU IQ let you easily add and remove employee permissions.
Bottom line on small business burnout
You’ve probably heard the saying ‘burning the candle at both ends.’ There seems to be a lot of burning going on when it comes to stress! The words have a similar meaning to burning out and refer to working late into the night and beginning again early the next morning.
But you can start causing that candle to flicker and eventually extinguish it altogether. Peace and harmony in your business is possible with the right mindset and tools!
