|
Author: Caroline Jordan Article source: http://thejordanresult.blogspot.com/. Used with author's permission.
That sizzling sound you're hearing may be a symptom of a major hidden cause of businesses closing their doors. It's called burnout. And you may be its next victim. Often the last thing a business owner considers is his or her health and sanity. The burnout that results from overwork and stress can deliver a death blow to the very enterprise you've been giving your all to create. Setting a course for your business that includes the proper care and feeding of the business owner is a critical success factor in every business.
Burnout occurs after prolonged periods of stress and physical and/or mental fatigue. It leaves business owners feeling hopeless, powerless, cynical, and resentful. It creates an atmosphere of failure, stagnation and reduced productivity. Burnout carries throughout your business showing up in your relationships with your clients and employees and ultimately impacts your bottom line and the growth pattern of your business.
Typically, burnout occurs in situations where you feel:
• overworked
• like no one understands what you're going through
• confused about priorities and direction
• resentful about tasks that you don't feel rewarded for performing
• concerned about financial survival and security
• you have more on your plate than you feel you can handle.
In short, self employment and burnout go together like salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, and Donald Trump and real estate. The result is often a very unhappy, unfulfilled business owner who finally decides to throw in the towel and get a nice simple 40 hour a week job.
Recognizing that burnout is a serious threat to the survival of your business is a critical step in preventing or bouncing back from burnout. Burnout steals your passion, the very passion that caused you to start your business. Without that passion, your ability and willingness to do whatever it takes to make your business a success quickly diminishes. You find yourself resenting your customers instead of wanting to help them. You dislike your employees because of their constant demands. You snap at your spouse when asked how your day went. And you constantly feel pressured and unable to relax.
Understand that you have two roles in your business. You need to play both the role of employer and the role of employee. If you worked for an employer who expected you to work non-stop, never allowing time off, paying you far less than you're worth with no benefits, you'd soon have your resume updated and be out the door. And yet, that is the daily reality for many small business owners.
Remember, you are your employer. Are you creating a work environment of tyranny and maltreatment? Treat your help like you would want to be treated—incorporate benefits like flex time, comp time, and regular time off. Review a list of job duties to see if it's a fair and logical distribution of work. You need to take care of the talent just as you would if you had actual employees. Your business depends on your health and sanity.
Preventing burnout is a critical piece of your business plan. How will you keep yourself fresh and engaged with your business? What do you need to do to keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed? What tasks are overwhelming you? Develop a plan to outsource those tasks or find easier ways to do them. What adjustments do you need to make in your business so you can take regular time off?
Often business owners insist they can't take time off and can't afford to hire help. Regardless of where your business is today, as the owner of the business you have the power to chart the course of your business. If you feel you can't step away as things stand right now, begin to plan a direction for your business that will allow you to do so in the future. Caroline Jordan, MBA is adept at helping self employed professionals create successful businesses without losing their minds. She provides advice, training, coaching, and services to help her clients Get Knowledge…Get Focus…and Get Results. If you are a self employed professional who is really serious about wanting to end the stress, frustration, and confusion you feel trying to run your business, visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com for more tips, articles, and services designed just for you.
IRS Adjusts Revenue Procedure on Mileage
Recent gas price trends have impacted the standard mileage rate allowed by the IRS. Small business owners should be aware of the latest adjustments and take ful...
Speak Up: Your Job Is At Stake!
Nice guys finish last in the work place. If you are meek or unwilling to speak up to defend yourself or your ideas, you will be passed over. Provides hints on...
Business Succession Planning
One type of business planning which is often overlooked is business succession planning. Business succession plans map out the strategy for a company upon the r...
Rhinoplasty (Nose Job) Information: Worth the Cost
Many people with high, wide bridges, drooping tips and large nostrils are highly self conscious about the way their nose looks and how others perceive them beca...
Tips for Performance Reviews
If you employ people in your business, you're going to be faced with a number of tricky management issues - dealing with tardiness, sick leave, and keeping your...
Wholesale Convenience Store Items: How To Find The Best Wholesale Convenience Store Items Deals
Wholesale convenience store items are a good seller for the business to business eBay market.
Abdominal Training - Abs
Everyone wants a six-pack of abs right? Well, maybe not everyone, but you get the point! Most people think that training their abs will somehow make them appear...
Carbon Nano Tube Sheets for Pipelines
The applications for materials like carbon nanotube sheets are endless, yet one application seems almost to good to be true. Nanotube sheets are light, flexible...
Menopause Symptoms
Menopause, Menopausal Symptoms...
A Proven Way That Women Can Quit Drinking Without AA
Examines the differences between the programs of AA and Women for Sobriety. Explains why women need a different program than men due to their unique emotional ...
Violence in the Media—Effects on Child Behavior
It's no secret that we're living in a violent world. While you probably can't quash violence in the media, bring a halt to terrorism, or even stop the school bu...
Wedding Flower Ideas
What flowers to pick? How should they be arranged? Can they really be the color I want?
Macrobiotics: Diet and Lifestyle for Long-term Health
A frequent misunderstanding about macrobiotics is that it
is a diet sick people use - cancer patients especially - in
order to heal. While it is true that a ma...
The American Age of Inflation is Over
This type of refrain is common. We often hear that this or that is ended - that such things only happen in the past, and that our new, more advanced time is abo...
Inflatable Pontoon Boats
Bryce Whitmore designed the modern whitewater inflatable pontoon boat, and in fact designed several models. The one that has been produced the most is a three-...
Secrets of Getting Free Advertising
The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or services are limited only by your own imagination and energies. There are so many proven ways...
Guide to Choosing Plush Toys for Children
A basic guide to choosing the best plush toy for your child.
Off the Shelf Small Business Mapping Software
All small businesses can benefit from inexpensive off the shelf CD Rom mapping software. If you own a business you need to where your customers are coming from,...
The Best Diet/Way To Lose Weight
The way I lost weight, my idea of the best diet ever.
If You Want Business - Throw a Seminar!
If you want to clean your house, you throw a party! If you want more business, attract more customers by throwing a seminar and providing true value for your pr...
Is there anything new under the sun? Heres how to find out if your bright idea is unique.
Do you have a bright idea you want to turn into the next hot product? Before you spend thousands of dollars that may be wasted, you will want to know whether or...
How To Avoid Injury From Poor Exercise Performance!
Another key secret is your exercise form. Perfect form is critical when performing any specific exercise in your own routine. Look at it this way. The amount o...
Starting a New Business in a Small Town
Q. I am a former pastor who left the ministry after sixteen years to spend more time with my family. We moved to a very small town (less than ten thousand peopl...
Phishing – Its Signs and Your Options
Phishing is the act of some individual sending an email to a user in an attempt to scam the user to release personal information. Is it easy to determine if it...
|
Print this page