Burnout

Being an entrepreneur brings rewards and at the same time it also brings its own set of unique challenges. One of the most overlooked aspects of building a business is the necessity of preventing Entrepreneurial Burnout. Entrepreneurial Burnout is defined as the process of extinguishing the light of enthusiasm by tirelessly pursuing the dream of financial independence, one of the primary motivations most people take the entrepreneurial leap.

A true story relived time and time again by newbie entrepreneurs.

Jim Payson, a successful corporate executive, after considering many of the aspects of an entrepreneurial lifestyle, made a decision to become a franchisee in a service related business concept. After a year of struggling to adjust to the demands of an entrepreneurship lifestyle, he was finally able to get into an entrepreneurial groove and begin to understand three key factors of success and creating momentum for his business.

1. Sales and marketing is essential.

2. Controlling events vs. having events control you is critical.

3. Burnout is insidious slow process that drains away positive entrepreneurial energy.

After over eight months of non-stop 12-14 hour days six and seven days a week, the ability to hit the office with enthusiasm each day began to ebb. Nearing the two year mark, it was downright difficult to focus and stay positive. Not want to yield to his inner voice that he needed to take a much needed break and renew his batteries, he just kept plugging away.

Sound familiar. If it does not, it once you become an entrepreneur it will.

It is essential an entrepreneur take time off on a regular basis - at least every 12-18 months to recharge the batteries. In our business, that slower a sales time is a 6-8 week window between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Other times work too, it just takes planning. The ability to take time off is essential to long term success. However, taking time off can only become reality when three things happen:

1. There is at least one key person that you can trust the business with while you are away – for a day or for 2-3 weeks.

2. Planning. It is important to set things up well in advance, sometimes as long as 3-4 months in advance.

3. Willingness to actually make the commitment and do it (which is much harder than it seems).

My recommendation is that you make a plan to take time off, begin with putting things in place well in advance and then ‘just do it’. Recharge those batteries and return with vengeance.

Jill Chioino and John Choe began planning their vacation, which they are enjoying as you read this blog posting, a year ago, worked on putting in place a team and then even when things did not look like they could make it happen they just stuck to their plan and ‘made it happen’.