Managing your well-being as a small business owner is just as important as managing your small business itself. The more motivated, energised and supported you feel, the more energy you’re able to pour back into your core business functions.
But that’s definitely easier said than done in the world of entrepreneurship!
If you’re running a small business and finding it difficult to find time to manage your own well-being, give these top tips a go to help keep things running smoothly…
Set Boundaries
It’s natural for your small business to consume large portions of your life. It takes a lot of time and effort to build a business from the ground up, so it’s not something that you dip into occasionally. But what you also should try to avoid is tipping the scale in the other direction.
Part of managing your well-being successfully as a small business owner comes from setting boundaries for yourself where working hours are concerned. Try to avoid replying to emails at all hours or working late into the night. Establish a working routine for yourself with manageable hours and try to shut off from work outside of those hours.
Not only does this create a solid routine for you to stick to, but it also allows you to carve out time away from work, leaving room for relaxation and rejuvenation.
Remember, your business is only as good as you are – to ensure you’re on top form and managing your business to the best of your ability, it’s important to not let your small business consume every aspect of your life.
Monitor Work-Life Balance
Even when you’ve established some working boundaries for yourself, it’s important to keep tabs on your work-life balance. When you’re running a small business, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind. Before you know it, you’re breaking your boundaries and work is encroaching on your personal life again.
Keeping track of your work-life balance means catching the scale tip before it leads to more serious issues like burnout.
To keep on top of work-life balance, schedule in time to indulge in hobbies, spend time with friends and family and engage in self-care. Your business will still be there when you get back, we promise!
Outsource Where Possible
If finding time for yourself sounds great but is proving difficult to put into practice, it might be an idea to consider outsourcing. When your workload begins to feel overwhelming, stress can begin to bubble over and hurt your business overall. Output quality may suffer, important opportunities might be missed, and deadlines overlooked.
Outsourcing takes some of the pressure off, giving you some breathing room to recalibrate and focus on core business tasks.
When it comes to outsourcing, it’s helpful to make a list of tasks that you don’t necessarily need to do in-house. This may be admin, like inbox management or data entry. It may be accounts-based, like payroll or credit control. Or it may even be creative tasks, like social media management or content creation.
Choose tasks that take up a lot of your time and delegate them to outsource professionals. This way, you can rest assured the assigned tasks are being completed to a high standard while also freeing up some of your precious time – it works wonders for well-being and work-life balance!
Find a Support Network
When it comes to managing your well-being as a small business owner, one of the best things you can do is cultivate a network of supportive individuals who can relate to what you’re going through. Seek out networking groups for small business owners – either in person or online – and take the time to form connections with those in a similar position.
This will allow you to air any frustrations, gather advice and top tips and feel less alone on your entrepreneurial journey, which, we all know, can feel quite isolating!
By doing so, you’ll find you’re able to share your mental load effectively, enabling you to feel motivated, supported and prepared for any further challenges you may face, and your business continues to grow.
Practice Stress Management
Stress is inevitable as a small business owner. Overwhelming workload, financial concerns, and the pressure to do it all yourself can all contribute to extreme feelings of stress and anxiety, hurting your well-being overall.
One of the best things you can do here is learn strategies for stress management. Start by identifying the big stressors within your business and break them down into smaller, more manageable chunks. This helps to take away that feeling of overwhelm and dread when faced with a large task – it makes the light at the end of the tunnel feel a bit closer!
Couple this with relaxation techniques like meditation, mindfulness, and deep breathing to help take the edge off in stressful situations. If you’re feeling particularly overwhelmed by your small business, don’t be afraid to seek professional support.
Small Business Support with The Edwards Company
Your small business will perform at its best when you’re feeling your best. Prioritising well-being isn’t only necessary for your health, but for the success of your business overall.
If you’re looking for ways to help your small business run smoothly, we can help – we offer a range of professional outsourcing services for small businesses like yours. From admin to credit control, data entry to content creation, we step in so you can take a step back.
For more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.