Are you suffering from Business Adviser Burnout?
One of the challenges that Business Advisers face is knowing when to quit or slow down. We get caught up in the excitement and enthusiasm of early start-up. We work and coach our clients through some very challenging decisions. We guide and pour our energy and souls into the work we do. We give a little bit of ourselves to each and every client? The payback? Fulfillment in helping new entrepreneurs. A word of thanks, and if you are lucky, financial compensation.
However, oftentimes, there is no reward waiting at the end of the day, except for knowing that you did your best.
As business advisers we need to ensure we are taking care of ourselves, and building a business/career that will exist for years, and not burnout within a year or two. Social workers are taught as part of their profession, extensive self-care. No such training is provided for business advisers—many of us fell into this profession and do it out of passion. How can you know if you are in danger of “business burn-out”?
I would say the top 5 signs of burnout are as follows:
1. Difficult time focusing– you sit in front of the computer and you just cannot focus. You start on one thing and end up on a webpage 30 minutes later. It is officially a time-warp!
2. No energy-You no longer have that ongoing energy that kept you going. It is like the Energizer bunny losing its batteries!
3. Hard time sleeping– You toss and turn at night, don’t sleep well
4. You no longer care– It is like you stopped caring. Work and clients that used to excite you, now leave you feeling drained.
5. You stop prospecting and growing your business.-You don’t have the energy left to keep going.
So what can you do? Is everything lost?
Not at all. It is at times like this that advisers need to remember the advice they give to their clients. You need to take some time to re-think the strategy you have, the services you offer, the commitment you give.
1. You need to do less, so that you can do more. What do I mean by this? Begin by finding the one client you have that you still care about, that you want to see succeed, you focus on them. Help them to grow and flourish and your passion for what you do will begin to trickle back.
2. Do some deep thinking and strategy– What brought you to this job, why did you choose this as a career in the first place? Focusing on that will help you to identify the ways you can find your energy again.
3. Set the Ground rules: Re-examine what you do and set boundaries and rules. What hours will you work? When? Will you take it home with you or leave it at the office? How can clients contact you? How many nights per week will you work late? By setting ground rules, you take back your power you can dictate how your office or business will run.
4. Surround yourself with positive family and friends– You need to make time for those in your life that are not business clients. Surround yourself with family and friends. Create social outings and leave your business cards behind. By unplugging from your professional life, even for a few hours per day, you will find the energy to keep going.
5. Make sure nothing more serious is wrong</em>-If your burnout lasts more than a few days or even weeks, you need to speak to a professional to ensure nothing more serious is wrong.
Remember, this is your profession. For many of us, it is our identities. Make it last for as long as you need to work, and you will reap the rewards of a long and prosperous career.
Carmen is the Founder of SMEGurus- a platform for small business advisers and Reimar Group Consulting, and she is a passionate business adviser. Follow us today on Twitter-@Smegurus or Facebook @SMEGurus
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