For when it’s all just too much

I had a rough couple of days last week. Being a business owner is hard. Don’t get me wrong, I love that I get to create pretty things in my studio, and I still pinch myself that this is my JOB. It’s what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little girl drawing pictures and hanging them all over my room.

BUT. The business side of things can be completely overwhelming. There is bookkeeping to stay on top of, and liability insurance, and worker’s comp for a new employee we just hired, and taxes to pay, and the list goes on and on. It’s the stuff that makes me want to just forget that I’m a responsible human being and go binge on Netflix. Can I get an amen?

Aside from the business stuff, we are working on some new products for this year, and I’m working on licensing some of my designs with an international company. There are a lot of moving parts and most of the time, I feel like I don’t know what in the world I am doing.

There is a lot of new territory that feels BIG and a little bit scary. We are experiencing growing pains and, while it’s exciting, it also feels risky and hard.

Thankfully not every day is so hard, but when it is, here is what I’ve found helps to get me through:

• Talk with someone who understands. For me, I texted my lady-boss friend Janelle. It is so helpful to have someone in my life who understands the challenges of running a business and encourages me to keep going. Sometimes you need people in your life who have faith in you and can see the potential in you that you just can’t see for yourself.

• Do the next thing, however small it might be. Make the phone call. Write the email. Make the decision you’ve been putting off. This gives me momentum to keep going and makes me feel like I’m making progress, even if it’s super small.

• Don’t look at what other people are doing who are in your field. For me, when I start comparing what I am doing with what someone else is doing, I feel inadequate and defeated. It just isn’t helpful to me.

• Do something completely different. Go outside. Take a walk. Read a book. Getting my mind off work stuff helps to refocus me and gives me new energy to come back and tackle it again.

•  Get enough sleep. This is super hard for me. I love to stay up late after putting the kids to bed. It’s the only time in the day where I can feel like I can relax, and I want to soak that time in. But sleep is so important. Especially since I’m not a coffee drinker (much to the dismay of my husband who would love for me to drink with him).

This business-owning thing is never going to get easy, and I’ll never have it all figured out. There is always more to learn and someone will always be further along than we are. We’ll make lots of mistakes and go through highs and lows and make things up as we go along. There will be days where it feels like it would be so much easier to give up.

Be encouraged. You aren’t alone. We can totally do this!