Listen, lovelies: Burnout doesn’t have to be inevitable, or some sort of crazy badge of honor in the online space.
It absolutely baffles me when my fellow entrepreneurs seem to “brag” about how overwhelmed and overworked they’re feeling. Aren’t we all trying to work smarter, not harder?
Of course we are!
And all this needless burnout can be avoided when we learn to leverage our time and outsource key tasks.
Once you understand how to run your business like clockwork and hire the right team, you can stop working yourself into exhaustion and start working toward big, thrilling goals.
In my opinion, hard work is being busy, but smart work is being productive. And I want to see the entire online community working smarter.
So, with that goal in mind, here are the 3 things you NEED as a business owner to avoid burning out.
Avoid Entrepreneurial Burnout with Strategies
Strategies happen at multiple levels. You may have a strategy that guides a specific product launch, and a larger strategy that guides ALL of your product launches, and an even larger strategy that describes how your product launches fit into your overall revenue-generating plans.
At every level, though, strategies have to move you toward your end-goal.
Every action you take needs to be strategic, and every project you undertake should contribute to your larger business purpose. If there is a “to-do” in your process that is not aligned with your end-goal, it’s a waste of your time.
As the business owner, creating strategies falls firmly in your court.
However, your VA can help ensure those strategies are being used by your whole team, and help you keep them updated. For instance, your VA can be in charge of developing and maintaining ICA research, tracking progress, collecting and interpreting metrics, and making suggestions for improvement based on findings.
Avoid Entrepreneurial Burnout with Processes
Your processes are the structures that guide your day-to-day activities. Having solid, time-tested processes in place around all the major elements of your business eliminates the guesswork and saves TONS of time.
Why?
Because every time you have to stop and think about what you’re supposed to be doing, you open a window for procrastination. Creating structure and codifying clear, easy-to-replicate processes allows you to create consistency within your workflows.
Processes are usually bite-sized: a set of steps that help your contractors create brand-aligned graphics, or upload a new blog post to your site. Since your team members are the ones executing these processes, you can definitely enlist the help of your virtual assistant in capturing the details.
And since the processes themselves are typically internally focused, you can also outsource and delegate the ones that you don’t need to handle personally, especially any that aren’t revenue-generating.
Not sure what to outsource? Check out this list of 11 tasks that your VA can take over right now!
Avoid Entrepreneurial Burnout with Systems
Your systems keep your processes and your strategies running smoothly.
Think of processes and strategies as the cogs within the larger business machine of systems! Systems primarily help your business run when you’re not around so you can focus on what you enjoy doing while your audience and income grow on auto-pilot.
But they also unify the elements of your business into a cohesive whole.
For instance, you may have a system for generating new leads that includes a strategy of targeting only audiences who have shown interest in your niche, and codified processes for pursuing those leads that include sales funnels, email list-building tactics, and partnerships.
To get your business systems in tip-top shape, ask your VA to document the client/customer experience, your entire marketing suite (including emails, funnels, and social media), and any troubleshooting systems your team may use.
Then work with your VA to set up a standard operating procedure (SOP) manual so she and your entire team have a solid resource to consult when they have system-related questions!
If the mere thought of streamlining your business systems makes you want to run and hide, don’t worry!
My project kit titled Automation & Systems for More Clients, Cash, and Freedom will help make any updates and adds feel easy and fun.
And once those changes are in place—and you’ve got strategies, processes, and systems that work for your business—you’ll never have to worry about burnout again!
