Overcoming Overload: When Giving it Your All Feels Like it isn’t Enough
Hitting the wall. It is never a good feeling. You feel stuck, exhausted, demoralized, ready to give up. What can you do? You are putting in the work, the hours, the sweat, and it can feel like its not enough. Running a small business is hard. You’ll hear you have to wear many hats but in reality, you wear every hat. In my case, I am manufacturing, sales, purchaser, accounting, marketing, photographer, packaging, shipping, delivery, moving, installer, website developer, content creator, customer service rep, project manager, research and developer, and probably other things I’m not thinking about right now because my head is too full. I’d complain about it but I’m also HR and I try to limit how much I talk to myself.
What happens when it all feels like it’s too much? Recently, I was listening another small business owner talk about his switch from having a full time job and a side hustle to going full time in his business and I loved the way he described it. He said it’s like going from a team sport to an individual sport. In a team sport, if you have a bad day there are people around to support you, to pick up the slack for the success of the team. But in an individual sport if you have a bad day that falls solely on your shoulders. In golf, you are only as good as your next shot.
So what do you do when your next shot falls short? When you give it your all and it just isn’t enough, what next? I’m struggling with that right now. I have a vision to fight for and I'm working 12 hours a day to achieve it, making sacrifices for a brighter future but I'm also seeing my family and home responsibilities pile up. The constant drip of never ending tasks is filling my bucket to the point that it is overflowing. Unfortunately, I know the easiest way to solve the problem, stop working on my business. But to me that isn’t an option. I can’t stop. I can’t let my dream die. I started my business to chase a meaningful existence in my own business and I can't stop now. So what is the solution?
Help.
I need help. More importantly, I need to ask for help. I need to ask for support. We as small business owners put a huge burden on our shoulders and think we can do it all. But we can't. Thinking we can or have to do everything will make your business fail. We can’t do it all. I know I am not the best photographer, I am not good at packaging my products to make them look attractive, I’m not good at a lot of things. But my wife is helping me with tasks that she and I know I am not good at. She has a better eye than I do and can tell me what picture I should post versus which need to be deleted. And that is saving me a lot of stress. I would spend too much time picking a picture out to post to Instagram. I never know which one looks best. I’ve heard Cam at Blacktail Studio say the key to success on social is posting content you would click on. Apparently I will click on anything.
One of the keys to a small businesses success is knowing when to ask for help. It is hard to give up control, but other people will have new, different, and better ideas in areas where you are weak. I learned in my MBA studies is to hire people who have skills you do not possess. We have a tendency as humans to gravitate toward the familiar. When meeting someone for the first time who shares our own interests we like them more than someone who we have “nothing in common with” but that different person is good for us. They can help us learn and grow, show us something new that we didn’t know we were interested in. Diversity broadens our horizons and helps us relate to more people. Surround yourself with capable people and you’ll go far.
I know what you are thinking, “but Keaton, you were just talking about how a small business is an individual sport. I don’t have the money to hire someone.” Neither do I. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get help to take some of the burden. We all have chores around the house whether that is mowing the lawn, cleaning the floors, or walking the dog. These things have to be done, but we don’t have to do them. Maybe you have family member or friend who can lend a hand, or you can hire a lawncare service. It’s hard to do for me because I have always been a do-it-yourself type person. But if hiring a lawncare service saves me two hours per week , it may be worth it. I’ve heard the spending money to make money argument where the $100 lawncare saves two hours that I can then be used to make $60 an hour in your business. Personally, that doesn’t resonate with me. To me, it’s about the peace of mind that my lawn is mown and I don’t have to think about it. A weight off my shoulders, a drop removed from the bucket.
So that’s it. My simple solution to overcoming overload and avoiding burnout. Ask for help. I am still a work in progress and am learning how to ask when I need it.
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