5 Rules That Saved Me From Entrepreneur Burnout

Sophie

As an entrepreneur who burnt out really badly in the first two years of running her business, there are five things I will never be doing again because I never want to burn out again. In today's episode, it's three podcast. We're going to be talking about all of the things I will never do again as an entrepreneur in my business because I literally never, ever want to experience some of the things I experienced when I burnt out in my business.

Sophie

Back in those early days, it started. Now, in case you haven't met yet, my name is Sophie Bickerstaff. I'm an online business mentor and I've been running online businesses for the past six years. I started my business right at the beginning of the pandemic. I actually quit my 9 to 5 job before we even went into lockdown, and I had the goal to go travel in run Latin America.

Sophie

We then get chucked into lockdown and I was jobless in the pandemic, living in London with a mortgage to pay. So I had to figure something out. So I started my own online business, using the skills and experiences that I'd had in my fashion industry. Career. I started freelancing and consulting for e-commerce brands. Now I didn't know how to set boundaries at that very beginning part of start my business.

Sophie

I didn't know how to set myself systems. I didn't know how to set myself structure. I'd just come out of a 9 to 5 job. I did not know how to work as a solopreneur. On top of that, we were in lockdown. What else was there for me to do except work? So I worked 24/7. There was an element of fear driving me working 24 seven, because obviously I didn't have a 9 to 5 job anymore.

Sophie

I didn't have a salary, so I needed to continue making some money so I could pay my mortgage in central London. So on top of the fear, on top of this need to make money, I also was very passionate about what I was doing. I knew I was good at what I was doing, so I was working a lot and completely ignoring all of the signs that my body was giving me to slow down.

Sophie

Sophie

That my business was out of alignment and things actually what working for me, even though I was making consistent for seven months every single month. So I'd actually come to this really big realization that I have actually built myself a business. I'd built myself a full time job because my business was unable to operate without me showing up 24 seven, and I built my business on London time in lockdown, in the pandemic.

Sophie

But now I was living on this tropical island and I wasn't able to enjoy it because I was exhausted. I had no motivation to show up and was completely burnt out. And I said, please go out and live my life. But my body was telling me it was time to slow down. That burnout was the biggest wake up call in my life and in my business, and it completely transformed everything that I've done from here on out.

Sophie

And now I've set myself five very clear rules that I will never do again. As a solopreneur running an online business. And I want to share them with you. I don't want you to make the same mistakes that I did that now is preventable. In fact, the cure to burnout is prevention. And to go down the route of prevention, you're going to need to get a little bit more self-aware, because you're going to have to start recognizing some of those bad behaviors, the bad habits that you've picked up in the first year, six months, however long you have been running your online business.

Sophie

And we are all guilty of it because, as I said, from me and from many other entrepreneurs, there is this fear. We've lost the salary. We want to make money. We're also really passionate about what we're doing. So we want to invest our time, energy, but at what cost to us? Now, burnout for me has shown up for way longer than just that 12 weeks that I was bedbound in Bali.

Sophie

I now struggle with multiple chronic health conditions that are a byproduct of cortisol in my body, inflammation in my body, which is a byproduct of burnout. Not to mention, on top of that, the mental health issues that I have had, thanks to the burn outs and the detrimental impact that that also had on my business, because obviously, if I'm not operating at full capacity, how on earth am I meant to show up for my business at full capacity?

Sophie

So burnout is not just this. Like one isolated incident? Burnout will take over your entire life if you let it. But the thing that we need to be on the same page about here is that you are in control of whether you burn out or not in those early years of building your online business, but you have to set yourself rules like I have now.

Sophie

Set myself rules to know how to show up in your business to prevent a bad out from happening. Something else to consider is knowing the signs of burnout. So for me, what was really prominent in my body was that I was physically exhausted all the time. No matter how much I slept, I was tired. I also started losing my memories.

Sophie

A really simple things like what did I have for dinner last night? What was I wearing yesterday? I could not remember any of it, and I noticed the difference because I normally have quite a good memory and I'm normally quite energized. The other thing you might not notice is more inflammation in your body. Now for me, that actually showed up as joint pain.

Sophie

If I've got inflammation in my body, it actually causes my knees to swell up and I find it really difficult to walk sometimes because cortisol raises inflammation in our body and it can impact our bodies in so many different ways. Everybody is going to have a different experience of what that looks like for them. And then the other thing that showed up for me was physically not being able to do anything.

Sophie

I was procrastinating and procrastinating, had no motivation. I was completely like, I just can't do this right now. Start my screen and nothing would happen. So before I even tell you the five rules that I've set myself, I also want you to understand some of the symptoms of burnout so that if you are experiencing that in your business right now or in your life right now, you can start recognizing them as things that are not actually that normal.

Sophie

And the biggest way that you can tell that is looking at what your life, your energy levels, how you show up in day to day basis is usually and really being conscious of what happens if you're feeling stressed or if you're feeling burned out, if you're feeling tired in your business, demotivated, like how big is that contrast and how long has that been going on for?

Sophie

And the more severe the symptoms are, obviously the worse the burnout is going to get and the faster you need to intervene to prevent the burnout from happening. So going on to the five rules I have personally set myself, this is all things that are going to help you prevent burnout from happening. If you have already started feeling like you're going into burnout, or if you just want to set your business and life up right now to never have a burnout, never go through the experience that I have done, which I highly recommend you do.

Sophie

Okay, so moving on to the five things I now refuse to do as an entrepreneur who has gone through burnout. The first one is work with clients who drained my energy. Now this is a really subtle one that can suck the absolute life out of you. Because at the beginning, when you first started your business, as I mentioned earlier, you are in that fear mode.

Sophie

You're a little bit scared of not getting the clients, not getting the money coming back in, especially if you've had that financial security from a 9 to 5 job in the past, which I did. So obviously there is that fear based element so that when clients come to you, when you get customers work with you, especially if you're working with them one on one, you're going to probably say yes to a lot of things that you don't want to say yes to.

Sophie

And I would highly recommend that you make a list of who your ideal target customer actually is, and who is the dream person that you would work with. And if people start coming to you and they ask if you can work with them, I would go back to that list and say, hang on a minute, does this person for this criteria?

Sophie

And I'm not meaning like your ideal customer profile here, I'm more meaning how are the values of this person? How does this person operate? How is this person showing up? Because, for example, if you get on that first discovery call to see if you want to work with this person and the energy is off and you're not bouncing off of each other, but they still want to work with you, you could take that as a sign to say, hang on a minute.

Sophie

This might not be quite the right fit. Or if they're asking you for 101 things with a really light deadline that you need to turn around in the next 24 hours, you can start thinking, hang on a minute. Is this something that I would really want? Is this person really working in the way that I would want to work as well?

Sophie

Because if there's working mismatch, it's going to be really hard for you guys to actually worked together in harmony. And it's probably going to benefit your client more so than yourself. And over time, work with people that you've got to the end of the day where you're like, oh my God, like, I don't want to hear from this person anymore.

Sophie

I don't want to get on the call of this person. I don't want to do this work that over time is going to build and build and build and slowly you're going to be burnt out and working with this type of client. So it's really important to identify the types of people that you actually want to work with.

Sophie

What are your non-negotiables for when clients come and work with you? Because that is going to help you identify whether these clients are going to be a good fit to work with or not, whether these concepts are going to burn you out in the process of you working with them. Because honestly, no amount of money is actually worth your house in the long run.

Sophie

It's not worth you burning out in the process of working with someone that is misaligned for you. Now, of course, everything that I teach on the Walking Free podcast is to help you build a business that is in alignment with you, the last that you want to live in. A business that works for you, not feels like a job that you work for and your kinds are such a big part of your business.

Sophie

So it's really important that that part of your business works for you as well. Now, the second thing that I will never do as an entrepreneur, that burnout in the first couple of years is business is under charge. My value, trade all of my time, some money. Trading time for money is not scalable in the long run that all business models that that can work for you.

Sophie

But in general, if you are a solopreneur trading all of your time for money, you're going to get to a certain point where you hit a ceiling and you cannot go any further, or money because you don't have any more time. So it's really important you think about what do you actually want your life to look like in the grand scheme of things, whilst you're building your business?

Sophie

Because if you build a business that sucks all of your time and trades that for money, it is not going to give you the freedom that maybe you want in the future, because all you're going to be doing is and it's going to be really hard to get out of that vicious cycle, because you're never going to have time to build something more scalable.

Sophie

So it's actually more beneficial for you to build something scalable from day one. And that's what I teach throughout all of my foundation's programs, where I teach new business beginners how to build a business with their ideal lifestyle in mind from day one so that this doesn't happen. You're not charging time for money. If you are going to be trading time for money, make sure you are charging a high price for that.

Sophie

Because your time is valuable. Your experience is valuable. We're not going to be pricing your offers based on time. We're basing it off of all of you as a package, as an experience. You are somebody that gets to work with clients, and your clients have the privilege of working with you because you've got all of this experience, you've got all of these skills, and you're putting your time in.

Sophie

So your pricing needs to reflect all of that. So if you are going to trade time for money, make sure your pricing reflects all of those things, not just the time that you're putting in. Personally, for me, I have completely stepped away from trading just time for money. I do still offer a few one on one session for actually.

Sophie

Now I have restructured my whole business to make sure that I am trading as little time for money as possible, and I've built my offers to be way more scalable. For example, I have my signature offer, foundations, which is really for beginners in business, and I help them start a business from scratch from just an idea and turn it into a reality within six months so they can build a business with really solid foundations, with all of these things in mind.

Sophie

So that business wise for them from day one, now that program is a six month prerecorded course plus a great coaching hybrid. So I can have an unlimited amount of people in this program. And because it's all prerecorded, I've already done the groundwork. I've already set it up. I now on a new day to day basis, I need to market it and then I need to serve on the group coaching calls and in the slack channel while we have conversations.

Sophie

But that is very scalable for me. I can have literally as many people join that program as I want and cap it whenever I feel is relevant, and I don't have to trade any more time for that. Whereas when I first started my business, I was working with everybody on a one on one basis, and I only had a certain amount of time that I was able to do that for before it getting quite exhausted, because being on calls and serving clients who days can actually be quite tiring in itself.

Sophie

So you really want to choose a business model that aligns with the lifestyle that you want to live? Because if you are just trading time for money and your business isn't scalable, it's going to be very hard for you to earn more money and work less time. Now, point number three that I will never do again as an entrepreneur who never wants to buy that again is not have any systems or structure.

Sophie

When I first start my business, I would say I was a quite organized, structured person and I did track all the things that I was doing. I would create blueprints for the work that was repeatable, but to be honest, it was still a little bit disorganized, a little bit chaotic. Now then I met an operations business coach and she taught me about how to write an s o p, which is a standard operating procedure, and that has completely changed my business.

Sophie

I have got a sort of a brain procedure for every task that gets done in my business. So if I am sick, if I can't show up, my VA could run any task in my business because she has a standard operating procedure to follow. That means I do not have to physically show up in my business every single day and work because somebody else could do these tasks for me.

Sophie

So this is something that I've set up once after I have nailed the process. Now to structure that, I'm going to be working to, and then I can either offload that into a human or I could also set it up. The task in AI is a skill. An AI and an AI agent could do this task for me, because they have a very clear, detailed instruction on how to do the tasks, meaning I don't have to show up every single day in my business if I'm not feeling up to it.

Sophie

I also have a whole business dashboard that I built in notion that literally is the board and all of my business. It has absolutely everything in there. And I built a second brain, an AI that feeds off of that motion dashboard so that it knows everything about me. So I have like a really clear ecosystem in my business, a very clear structure.

Sophie

Now, what happens if you work without structure? If you work without systems, if you work without sounds, operate procedures, you are having to start from scratch every single day, every single time you log on to your laptop, which is sucking so much energy from you in that moment. And it means you're stuck in the busywork rather than doing the things that move the needle.

Sophie

If you can systemize, automate, create structure in your business from day one, your business is going to be so much easier for you to run and you can have so much energy to shop and do the things that actually are going to move the needle. Not like marketing, like sales, because this busy work is the stuff that sucks.

Sophie

You change your energy. It's not that fun. Our enjoyable to do, in which case, again, more likely to burn out in the process. The fourth thing I will never do again as an entrepreneur who never wants to burn out again, is do things that I absolutely hate doing, because why are we building businesses that we don't like doing and showing up for every single day?

Sophie

I will say it over and over and over again until this message grows into people listening, building a business that works for you and that you love showing up for every single day, is making your life a hundred times. That are 100 times easier, so much more enjoyable. Because if you love the things that you have to show up and do every single day, you are going to be way more consistent out, then you're going to feel way more motivated to do them, more inspired, more creative, and it is just going to be such a nicer place to work.

Sophie

Like you would not stay in a job that you hate it. So why are we building businesses that we hate? I've used the example some times before that I really didn't like showing up on Instagram, so I've completely switched my marketing strategy to not have to use Instagram as my primary channel. I now use channels that actually, genuinely, I enjoy showing up on.

Sophie

And because I've got so much more energy and so much more enjoying that process of creating that comes across in the content creation, and it comes across to my clients that are then seeing that content. They can feel that it's a process that I actually love, rather than, oh my God, I had to create this piece of content cause I need to market my business.

Sophie

You see, there's a big energy shift here, so if you can genuinely do some things in your business that you love, at least for 70% of the time that you're running your business on a day to day basis, then you are going to have so much more energy to show up for those 30% of tasks that you don't love doing.

Sophie

Because if you're doing 70% of the things that you hate doing the daily basis, you are going to quit your business very, very quickly because you are going to not enjoy the process of building it. Why are we building businesses that don't work for us, that we hate showing up for every single day? Blows my mind that some people do this.

Sophie

I guess that making a lot of money, that's still for me, it's not worth it. No amount of money is worth it if your life sucks. And the last thing, the number five I'm never going to do again as an entrepreneur never wants to burn out again. And her business is not. Take time off. Now. Hustle culture has conditioned us to believe that taking time off this week, that taking time off in our business means that we're less of an entrepreneur, that we should take our laptops on holiday when we're supposed to be relaxing around the pool, and that we should focus 24 seven on our business.

Sophie

And that is simply not true. That is literally the fast track to burnout. That is probably the worst thing that you could do for yourself. And I think it's really dangerous. Misinformation on the internet. Taking time off does not make you any less of an entrepreneur. It makes you a better one because once you arrested, once you slept well.

Sophie

Once you're energized and remote isolated, which you take from rest, you are going to show up so much more efficient and productive in your business with loads more ideas than you would if you're showing up every single day. Really stressed, really demotivated, really tired. If you haven't got the energy to bring to your business, it is going to be really hard for you to get the work done in a way that really works for you.

Sophie

So showing up rested while slept, having taken a vacation, and actually taking the vacation, rather than looking at your emails every single hour is going to give you so much more energy to bring into your business. And right now, rest is one of my favorite things. I will personally take at least 2 or 3 days off a week, and I also structure my working week, so I have rest factored in throughout the days.

Sophie

I know that I have to rest, and this is one of the things I was so guilty of in my first two years of business is I didn't rest. I lived and breathed my business. I was working 24 seven. I never stopped and never took time to rest. And that was my biggest regret in that first two years of business, because I would not have burnt out so hard.

Sophie

How do I listen to my body? Your body gives you all of the signs it needs to tell you. For you to know when to stop is up to you whether you choose to listen to them, I highly advise that you do so. Those are the five things I would personally never do again as an entrepreneur who is really trying not to burn out ever again.

Sophie

And I don't want you to burn out either. I know how detrimental burnout can be to your life, your business, to your health, your mental health. It is. Nothing good comes from burning out. It is not a badge of honor to be burnt out. I see so many people on LinkedIn, Instagram or other social media platforms bragging almost that they feel burnt out, but they're powering through, they're powering through.

Sophie

They're still going to be on their laps at whilst they are holiday. That is not cool. Passive culture is not cool. Hustle culture is dangerous. Burnout is dangerous. Please, if you take anything away from this video is do what you can to prevent burnout in your business. Because like I said, prevention is the only cure for burnout. If you felt inspired or motivated to take action today to build a business that doesn't burn you out when the set up, but really solid foundations and genuinely what's the you, the life that you want to live?

Sophie

Go and check out my program foundations. It is my six month online course and great coaching hyper program I mentioned earlier, and I'm literally going to guide you through taking your idea and turning it into reality. We're going to a mindset work. We're going to look at building you solid foundations in your business so that you can't physically burn out, and you want to set up for business with all of that systems and all of that structure.

Sophie

So it really, genuinely does work for you, and you don't have to show up 24 seven every single day so that you can launch a business that you love from day one, rather than having to go back and fix it like so many of my clients do, and like I had to do as well. If you love this episode, please make sure you like and subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and I'll see you in the next one.