When you start your own business you are full of passion, drive, determination and dreams.
If you’re lucky all of those things stay with you (most of the time). But, it’s very easy to lose sight of why you started out and keep your drive and determination going.
Overwhelmed
It’s very common to feel lost and overwhelmed, and even to feel like ‘jacking it all in’. I’ll be honest, I have felt like that too sometimes.
Life as an entrepreneur can be very lonely. There are no colleagues to sound things out with, no manager to lean on when times are tough. You’ll often work from home and spend lots of your working week alone.
In the first few months of your business, this can be really tough. Especially if you’re used to working in a team with regular meetings and ‘check-in’ sessions with your colleagues and leadership team.
I also transitioned from the corporate world to becoming a business owner. I went from working in senior leadership with a whole team of people and lots of resources at my finger tips (I never realised I’d miss the IT team so much).
There was so much to learn and understand. Could I really have been working for 20+ years, yet feel so underprepared to be in business?
Remember Why You Started
It sounds obvious but it’s so important to remember why you started!
That team of people and manager might have felt suffocating and controlled. That 9-5 corporate life wasn’t bringing you any joy and you felt trapped, undervalued and uninspired!
Maybe you’ve switched careers completely to do something that you love, rather than something that just pays the bills.
if you’re stuck in a slump and need to find your passion then writing down the reasons that you started will really help.
- Why did you start?
- What do you want to achieve?
- How do you measure your success?
Maybe it’s time and freedom that you are looking for or a sense of accomplishment. Whatever it is, you need to reconnect with it and hold on to that purpose.
You Need To Find Your People
As well as reconnecting with your purpose and passion it’s important to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Nobody can do this alone, and most of us don’t want to. However, it can be difficult to find ‘your people’. Especially when you’re used to walking into a ready-made group of colleagues at your workplace.
There are lots of amazing networking opportunities for you to take advantage of, both online and in-person.
I’ve really enjoyed meeting a huge variety of fellow business owners at various networking events. Some of these people are now part of my trusted network of suppliers and are people I will call upon if I need help or advice. Some of them are now friends, with the bonus being that they really understand what it is to be a business owner and everything that entails.
And some of them are now part of my amazing team! From admin, sales and social media I have met fellow business owners specialising in all of the things that my business needs.
I’m not doing this on my own, I’ve got a network of people keeping me going. And if I’m ever having one of those ‘jack it all in’ days I just reach out to one of them and they help me get my mojo back!
Keep In Touch
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