How to avoid burnout as an online service-based business owner

Want to know how to avoid burnout as an online service-based business owner? When you are running your own business it is easy to end up burning out, especially if you are providing a service. But just because it is easy to happen doesn’t mean it is inevitable. Keep on reading to find out how to avoid burnout as an online service-based business owner.

 

 

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Why is it common for service-based business owners to experience burnout?

Burnout is discussed a lot amongst entrepreneurs and business owners for a good reason. Running a business is demanding and as a result there are a lot of business owners that burnout. Some business models are more susceptible to burnout than others and service-based business are one of those business models. This is because if you are a service-based business owner who is actively delivering the service there is a direct relationship between you working and the income you are able to generate. This results in some business owners working themselves into the ground in an attempt to keep on making more money.

 

As a result there is a lot of talk about moving away from delivering services actively and instead building a business with passive incomes. Passive income sources are great, and I recommend everyone has some sort of passive income stream, but what if you want to deliver a service (just like I do). It is possible to have a successful service-based business, where you are actively trading time for money, and still not burnout. You just need to be aware of how to avoid burnout.

 

6 WAYS TO AVOID BURNOUT AS AN ONLINE SERVICE-BASED BUSINESS OWNER

 

1. Take enough time off

When you are an employee the company you work for they  will ensure you take adequate annual leave, but as a business owner there is no one there telling you to take time off. Instead you have to make sure that you do it and unfortunately most business owners are not taking enough time off. It is vital that you take time off from your business. In the UK it is a legal requirement that full-time employees have at least 28 days off paid annual leave per year (20 days plus the 8 bank holidays). So I think that is a good place to start as an absolute minimum for yourself in your own business.

 

I’m not going to pretend that taking time off as a business owner is as easy as when you are an employee, especially if you are the only person in your business and you are providing a service. It isn’t easy, but it is possible, and most importantly it is key if you want to ensure you avoid burnout and are  able to run your business for years in the future.

 

My top tip for taking time off is to plan in advance when you’ll take the time off and block those days out in your calendar. Otherwise your diary will continue to be busy and there will never be a good time to take time off.

 

For more tips about being able to take time off as a solopreneur or small business owner click here. 

 

 

2. Regularly take time to recharge

Holidays are great for taking extended periods away from your business, to recharge, but it could be months between your time off. In between you need to ensure that you are regularly taking time to recharge. As an online service-based business owner you are key to the business success. In most cases you’ll be delivering a service based around your skill and your expertise. In order for you to give the client the best experience you need your cup to be full. As the saying goes “you can’t pour from an empty cup” so the question is “What are you doing to refill your cup?”

 

You can look at different stages of recharging. For example, you might decide you have different ways to recharge on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. It could be that on a daily basis you meditate, do yoga, walk outside in nature, talk to a friend or cook yourself a lovely meal. On a weekly basis you might spend time with a friend or family member, have a night in or even a night out. . On a monthly basis you might have a weekend away and on an annual basis you might have your annual holiday.

 

Recharging looks different for everyone. You need to work out what helps you to recharge and then commit to ensure that you do those things on a regular basis.

 

 

 

3. Be realistic about the other tasks you have to do in your business outside of client delivery

 

One of the reasons why burnout is common with service-based business owners is because the business owner is actively working in their business. There is usually a direct correlation between the amount of hours they work and the income they generate. This results in business owners continuing to push themselves to work more hours in order to keep revenue growing. However, there is another reason that online service-based business owners end up working excessive amounts of hours that result in burnout and it isn’t discussed enough. That reason is that they didn’t properly account for the amount of time it would take for them to successfully run their business.

 

If you are running an online service-based business then you will most likely have considered how many hours you need to work with clients to hit your financial goals. But have you taken into account how much time you need for admin, marketing, sales, finance etc. If you haven’t and you want to avoid burnout then start accounting for that. Ensure that when you set your financial goals you have properly thought about everything you’ll need to do in order to achieve those goals and see if that feels manageable or not.

 

WANT TO SUCCESSFULLY RUN A THRIVING ONLINE BUSINESS WITHOUT BURNING OUT?  It starts with strategically designing, and running, your business so it works for you and your clients. I help coaches, consultants and online service providers to build thriving online businesses without selling their soul or working themselves into the ground. To find out more about how we can work together check out my services here.

 

4. Outsource

Maybe you have taken the time as I suggest above to think about how much time it will take for you to successfully run your business and you’ve realised it is too much for you. You are then faced with two choices: adjust something within your business (pricing, financial goal, tech setup etc) or get extra support via outsourcing.

 

Outsourcing is a great way to avoid burnout as your business grows. You are breaking the direct link between your input and the revenue you can generate. Depending on how you decide to outsource it could be that your time is freed up to spend on activities that generate more revenue that it costs for you to outsource something else. In other situations it could be that you expand the capacity of the business as that person is able to do client work too. In another situation it could be that outsourcing enables you to be able to confidently take time off knowing there is something there to look after your clients in your absence.

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5. Have clear boundaries around when you will and won’t work

 

One of the downsides of having an online service-based business is that you can always be working. Gone are the days of leaving your place of work and not being able to do much or be contacted until you returned. In most cases online service providers run their entire business from their laptop  and mobile phone and in lots of cases those items are always near the owner. This means that you as a  business owner need to set clear boundaries of when you will and won’t work. This is similar to the conversation around time off. You have to decide what is best in advance and then stick to it.

 

This looks different to everyone and you need to decide what is right for you. It may be that you have sacred times of the day – don’t work before or after X. It might be that you only work on specific days of the week or month. Working out what is best for you will usually involve some trial and error. Think about how you best recharge and then try and design a work schedule that allows that to easily happen.

 

This is especially important for those who have clients who have ongoing support. This is fairly common in the world of coaching and mentoring, and something I offer to my mentoring clients (You can find out more about my mentoring programme here). In this situation you need to make it clear to clients what your working pattern is and when you are and aren’t available. And then you have to stick to those boundaries.

 

Find out more about setting boundaries in your business here.

 

 

6. Prioritise your health

This might seem obvious but if you want to avoid burnout you should focus on prioritising your health. Often when a business owner becomes burnt out it is because they’ve put their health to the bottom of their priorities. They’ve been focusing on business goals, pushing themselves to work harder, longer or both. They usually can see that it is having a negative impact on their health, but they are ignoring the early signs. They aren’t getting enough hours of sleep, regularly exercising or eating nutritious food, but they carry on regardless because they are prioritising the business. Most business owners admit to having the attitude of “It is a sacrifice I have to make in the short-term to have a bigger reward in the long-term”. The problem is if you burnout then there might not be a long-term for your future at all.

Instead you need to realise that health is your true path to business success as an online service-based business owner. Keeping your health a priority and ensuring you are able to provide a service for your years to come should be your focus whilst growing your business. Sustainable growth is much better than exponential growth that burns you out.

 

That’s it. You know now how to avoid burnout as an online service-based business owner

 

When it comes to running an online service-based business there is a lot of focus on finding ways to generate passive income and breaking the link between your time and revenue generated to minimise burnout. However, I believe that you absolutely can run a successful online business where you provide a service on a 1-to-1 basis as long as you understand the reality of the business model (how much time it really takes, what your income is capped at etc).

 

I would love to hear what your biggest takeaway is in the comments.

 

 

 

WANT HELP TO BUILD A THRIVING ONLINE SERVICE-BASED BUSINESS? I’m a Business and Marketing Strategist that specialises in supporting solo coaches, consultants and online service providers. I help business owners to improve their marketing, accelerate their business growth and ultimately build a business they love (and that pays them properly). If you are serious about building a thriving online business, but want to do it in a sustainable way (aka not work yourself into the ground) then I would love to talk to you and see how we can work together. You can check out all of my current services here.  You can book a free, no-obligation, introduction call to discuss your precise needs here.