If you have ever felt like you wanted to quit your business, this is for you.
“Things would be easier if I could just close this business down”
“Things would be easier if I never started this.”
“What would my life look like if I no longer had the stress of this business?”
Before we talk about what to do when you have feelings like this, we need to back up and talk about WHY this happens.
I’ve witnessed businesses that admittedly are making really good money decide to close abruptly. Why does this happen? And how can we safeguard our businesses?
They’ve created a business that they don’t love.
They’ve created circumstances around their business that they don’t love. In my experience, it’s not usually one thing, it’s multiple things.
Offers that just don’t light them up.
They’re not making the revenue that they need or want to make.
They’re working all the time and it doesn’t feel worth it.
Their business feels like more of a burden than a joy.
If this is you, let’s talk for a minute. You want it to get to a point where you feel like you are making more money and working less. And instead you are on a never-ending merry-go-round of work, work, and more work.
Ultimately, it comes down to this: Your business structure doesn’t support your goals. Everyone wants to feel in control of their lives, and businesses. And so when we feel like the control is slipping away – especially if we’ve created our businesses for freedom and flexibility and joy – THAT is the recipe for wanting to quit.
Sometimes, it feels like it would be easier to just stop, instead of systematically going through all of the areas of your business that need changing.
The hard stuff…
This is the hard part for most people, because that change that needs to happen doesn’t just involve you. It might mean setting and enforcing boundaries that you’ve never had. You might have to have tough conversations with people that you love and respect. It might mean firing a client that you love but that isn’t a good fit for your business anymore.
In order to make a pivot, you have to get vulnerable and that can be a very, very difficult thing to do. In fact, if you are wrapped up in what other people what or need, it actually feels easier to just close your business.
I truly believe that this is why people shut their businesses down, especially businesses that are making money and can make money. In order to make the changes necessary, it requires so much discomfort that we just throw in the towel
The good part…
We are in control of what happens in our businesses. If you’ve gotten yourself to a place where things feel chaotic and messy and out of control this is critical to internalize. You’ve gotten yourself where you are and you can get yourself out.
Applying this radical responsibility to our lives is weighty, there’s no doubt. But it’s also incredibly empowering!
A business you love….
When you are making money, but you don’t love what you are doing…the writing is on the wall. You are setting yourself up for burn out, and for this inevitable conflict between what you want your business to look like and what it actually looks like.
I encourage you to think about what it would mean for you if you DID quit your business. Would you have to re-enter the workforce as an employee? Does that thought of THAT light you up inside? If the answer is NO, then are you losing one stressor just to replace it with another?
What would it take to transform your business into something that you love? What kind of work would you be doing? Would you have different clients than you have right now?
A business refresh…
Making changes in your business will be uncomfortable. But understand that it is easier to chip away and systematically go through the areas of your business that you don’t like and change them than just stopping altogether.
This isn’t about burning it to the ground and rebuilding it. It’s a refresh. You need to reprioritize and get really, really clear on your vision. That vision then becomes your filter that you can run all the different facets of your business through. Ask yourself: What has to change in order to get to that vision? What conversations do I need to have and what actions do I need to take?
It won’t happen in one day. But piece by piece, you’ll be able to get to a place where you start to see and feel the changes in your life.
Remember, challenges are what shape us and create the complexities texture to life that make it worthwhile. We should not, as a rule, be shying away from doing difficult things.
The next step…
If I’ve struck a chord with you today, and you can see yourself in these scenarios, I hope this gives you some hope. If you don’t love your business and everything feels out of control, remember that change is within your control
But listen, if you KNOW you need to make changes, but it feels completely daunting and overwhelming, I want to invite you to come inside Grow Business and Marketing Academy.
This program was created because I didn’t want to give people quick fixes. I wanted to give them permanent fixes. I wanted to give my clients solutions in a systematic way – a way that can create sustainability and scalability.
