4 Ways to Battle Overwhelm as A Small Business Owner
- Jacqueline Beltran
- Mar 30, 2023
- 4 min read
I'll be honest I feel a little silly writing this as I am dealing with some overwhelm myself, but usually (for me) writing from a point when I am actually going through the experience is more useful.
Overwhelm as a small business owner is REAL, honestly if you own a small business and say you've never been overwhelmed you're lying, and you probably don't need to be reading this 😂
Overwhelm for small business owners comes in many shapes and sizes, here's the deal just because you own a small business doesn't mean there's anything small about what you're doing.
Whether it's just you, or your man managing a team.
Whether you've sold 10 products or 10,000 products.
Overwhelm can and will happen.
Here are somethings that can cause overwhelm and how I battle them:
1.A backed up to do list
You're probably thinking, what? Isn't this your whole THING, Jackie...aren't you the one always talking about finishing other peoples to do list, and the answer would be YES, I am, but that doesn't mean I'm not human, or that my todo list doesn't sometimes get backed up.
Battling a backed up to do list:
Write out a list of EVERYTHING you need to do, things that have close due dates (in the next day or two) and things that due dates have passed.
Organize that list in order of importance (which isn't always the same as due date)
Now break it down into things that MUST be finished today, must be finished tomorrow, and can be pushed off a day or two
Start tackling these tasks - ONE AT A TIME, as uninterrupted as possible (if you struggle with staying on task set a timer)
2. External Overwhelm
Do you feel overwhelmed but not exactly sure where it's coming from? You're blaming it on your business maybe because business is busy OR maybe because it's not. But is that actually what's causing your overwhelm? Here's how I determine what is overwhelming me externally and how to battle it!
Battling External Overwhelm:
Guess what, make another list 😂 Seriously though set aside 5 minutes and brain dump everything on a piece of paper or in a document but you can't include anything business related.
This doesn't have to be a to do list per say it's just a dump of everything that's on your brain. It could be feelings, worries, thoughts, and also to dos.
Decide on a plan to tackle these, is your paper filled with mostly words like frustration, stress, sadness, anger? It might be time for a self care day (or a self care hour) Is your paper filled up with a million non businesses related tasks? (See above for how to tackle this todo list)!
3. Low Sales/Clients
Maybe you're struggling to get the sales or clients you used to (or maybe you're struggling to get up and going). Either way this can cause overwhelm, you might think no if I'm not busy I shouldn't be overwhelmed - but think again, when losing clients or sales you can be overwhelmed with feels like: What if I can't pay my bills? What if my business is failing? Was this business even worth starting in the first place?, etc.
How I tackle overwhelm from low sales/clients:
Here's the deal, worrying about the clients you're NOT reaching or the sales that aren't happening isn't going to help you reach new people so STOP thinking about those missed sales / clients it's time to focus on something else
First, if you were previously retaining more clients or sales - Have you changed something in your business? Think back, even something small - was there a pivoting point? Take a look @ your outreach and social media - was there a change in what you were doing that directly effected sales / customers?
If that's not the case maybe you need to make a change to what you're currently doing. If your business has not seen the success you were hoping for since the beginning take a look at what you have been doing and decide, is it time to pivot?
Lastly focus on your current clients/sales how did you get these clients/sales? How can you keep them happy? The only thing worse that not getting new clients is losing your current ones, don't let your quality of work lack because you're focused on the stuff that's not happening in your business.
4. My business is BLOWING UP
I mean this in a good way; but even good thing can cause overwhelm. Sometimes your business can get huge overnight (sometimes it takes years and years of hard work) but either way if your business is booming it can cause overwhelm, well because you're only one person right?
Battling growing business overwhelm:
What can you delegate, if you're too overwhelmed with work or orders the truth is quality will start to decline and you don't want to lose your clients or customers so it's time to delegate tasks to others, this could look like hiring an in house employee or maybe someone virtual like a virtual assistant (let's chat! - shameless plug for myself 😂), or maybe you need an OBM (online business manager), Pinterest Coach (check out @hilltophelp on Instagram). There are SO many different support systems available for small business owners, utilize them!
Maybe you need to automate and streamline more of your tasks, check out my blog post: 7 Tools You Should Be Using As A Small Business Owner bhttps://www.jbsocial.co/post/7-tools-you-should-be-using-as-a-small-business-owner for more information about how I've implemented these tools to streamline!
Overwhelm comes in all shapes and sizes, sometimes it's hard to pull yourself out of it. Honestly I've been struggling this week, but after a few reminders from friends and family I am starting to feel the weight lifting. I have started implementing the strategies I know and love (see above).
If you struggle with small business overwhelm, know you're not alone!
Xoxo,
Jac, Owner
JB Social I Virtual Assistant Services
Want to work together? Let's chat about how I can support you 🫶🏼
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