PSA for sole traders and founders: Your business has to actually work for you as a human.
So many of us got into business because we wanted to *avoid* corporate burnout/exacerbating chronic illness/never having time for kids/etc.
And then it turns out that you are the worst boss you’ve ever had. Your business demands long hours AND it demands that you wear all the hats, including doing the tasks that drain you.
There are so many expectations you put on yourself: admin, response times to emails/DMs, posting consistently, creating content, being contactable outside of business hours, networking.
Is it working for you? Like, *really* working for you as a human?
Let’s talk about it. But let’s not talk about it in a “haha, isn’t it ironic?” kinda way. Let’s talk about it in a “let’s burn these expectations to the ground and rebuild from scratch” kinda way.
What’s an expectation you feel as a business owner, that doesn’t actually work for you? What would it feel like to question the expectation rather than endlessly searching for ways to squeeze yourself into that mould?
I’ll start: Consistently posting on social media did *not* work for me over the last 12 months. There was too much going on personally, and I didn’t have that sort of energy.
So I just… didn’t. And the world didn’t fall apart. My business was fine. I was fine.
Now I’m starting to feel my way into a social media strategy that is built around my levels of energy and inspiration, rather than shoehorning myself into expectations that don’t work for me. It’s going to be a journey, because I can’t just turn to an “expert” to see how it’s done, I have to work it out for myself.
So, even if you don’t know what the solution is yet, I challenge you to ask yourself: what’s an expectation that isn’t working for you?
