Burned Out Entrepreneur
Offering some space for reflection and reconsideration of regular income if being an entrepreneur and growing your business has become energetically draining.
If you ever see a favored entrepreneur/thought leader/practitioner working a regular job at a regular office, or even a Starbucks or wherever, give them an extra smile. They have likely chosen to get guaranteed pay and set hours for 1 job, vs hoping to get paid for the possibly 15 jobs an entrepreneur does at unlimited hours.
Add to that the cost of being an entrepreneur, the many services, subscriptions, experts, and other fees that are necessary to be open for business.
At the beginning there may be a sense that it will pay off, that the audience will grow, that clients will find you, that it will become enough people being reached and hopefully enough profit to make all the effort, all the hoping, all the time and expense worth it.
And then you look around and notice the sea of others, doing the same thing… building… trying to reach customers, trying to grow, to help/serve more, hoping “they” will come.
But sometimes, it is what it is.
And that may be enough.
And it may not.
Here is a thought: the passion, the purpose, the dreams can remain, without trying to monetize it. It is one thing to have a side gig you charge for. And it is something completely different to build a business.
Can you imagine if Jesus had tried to build a business around his gifts, his messages, his gifts? Or the Priests and Priestesses in Egypt?
Monetizing passion-based businesses may have an even higher failure rate than the already high failure rate of small businesses. And it isn’t for lack of intelligence, solid planning and even business savy-ness. Sometimes it is simply because:
- there aren’t enough others who share your passion
- those who share your passion are fellow practitioners (possibly also struggling to grow/be profitable)
- there aren’t enough paying clients
- comparable services or substitute results are available for free
- potential clients feel entitled to receive your passionate work for free
- the market demand for your services is insufficient to support all those trying to make a living from it (or even just be profitable or have extra cash flow from it).
“But the market demand will grow” Says who? Has it? What if it does grow but it isn’t enough growth for your business to be profitable/make your desired income? What if it does grow but so does the amount of providers, making it still improbable to make a profit/desired level of income?
What about the possibility that in some niche markets those making the decent money are in service to entrepreneurs (entrepreneurs are their customers), while the entrepreneurs providing products and services to end customers/non-practitioner clients struggle, even after years of dedicated effort.
The persons teaching Reiki, training yoga teachers, offering certifications it seems have a more lucrative business than those dedicated to serving every day customers.
“But I just got that training for my own enjoyment.” Wonderful, then it isn’t necessary to call it a business nor invest in it like a business.
Additionally, many trying to make it as an entrepreneur have no business background. They are told they have a unique offering, that they can make it profitable, that their success is fully within their control and they believe it. They are optimistic if they create a website, create an offering, build a business, clients will surely come, in sufficient numbers to cover their costs and make money. When the business possibly doesn’t grow as desired, they invest more money, trying to fix what they feel must be missing. But there may not be anything they can fix… there just isn’t the market to support their business idea, no matter what social media expert they hire, no matter how perfect their website is, no matter how strategic their pricing, no matter how much effort they put into SEO, no matter how incredible their gifts and talents.
There are so many of us trying to make it work, trying to grow, trying to offer our passions and ideally help as many people as possible. Entrepreneurs know what a professional business looks like and feels like. We may regularly do what we can to look and be as professional and successful as possible. Because of that dedication, the industry segments often making better money are often the businesses we are buying from!
So, what to do? Here is a wild idea: your passion can be a hobby… If you need or want income, you and I could get a regular job. For pay. Not for passion.
My daughter texted me from her first job, 16 yrs old, putting shopping carts away at a local super store. She found, got and accepted the position on her own. It was winter, she was cold and she texted me that she didn’t like her job. I wrote her back “it is called a job because no one would it for free.” She responded, “true.” (She did quit a few weeks later to work in a daycare which she loved.)
Getting paid. Being an employee. Having a boss. Receiving a schedule to see when you are on it. Having a salary to provide expertise/support with a set pay schedule, a guideline of hours to work and agreeable expectations of you.
I’m not sure when that became undesirable.
But maybe a lot of that “be your own boss” vibe was just incredibly savvy marketing, from all of those businesses making money by selling to all of us entrepreneurs, helping us “be successful” and “hustle” and “have the best tools”. Maybe those businesses are making better returns than those of us trying to make the world a better place, offering our soulful passions to the world, while making some money.
To me, there is no shame in earning a living. It can feel amazing to get paid to work, vs. working/paying to have your own business and *hoping* you’ll get paid. Because it can regularly feel that way for an entrepreneur.
I’ve said for years that if needed (or even if desired) I would go back to HP in a second. I loved the people, enjoyed the professional collaboration, deeply respected the company, was really good at the work and the pay was great. My per hour actually was dreamy compared to the actual hourly rate I get as a “successful entrepreneur” given all the jobs I do myself, all the payments made to keep everything running, all the time, energy and passion I put into my business. And at HP, there was an IT department and a Marketing Department. I feel as if angels are singing as I recall all of these expertise areas being available, versus me trying to do all of that myself. Could I pay others to do those roles in my business? Of course, and sometimes I do.
I’ve probably had 5 different “website design experts” over my 12+ years in business. A couple of the site designs I never even launched, and one was truly cartoonish. Some IT experts I hired ended up creating problems – ugh. Hiring someone else just increases my expenses, making me need to work even harder. Usually I do everything I can to figure stuff out myself. And, when I’ve tried to hire some things out, especially things that are presented as helping my business grow, the results are negligible or even non-existent and can feel like an additional full job for me as I work with them.
I just want to be the chef. Why can’t those of us in service-based businesses be more like a restaurant, where the chef might just get to dedicate themselves to making incredible food? One huge reason is that everyone knows what a chef is, what a restaurant is, and customers visit restaurants regularly. Customers of restaurants, and of chefs, are clear what is being offered. They visit restaurants regularly. They know many people in all facets of their life who also visit restaurants regularly. They know what a chef is and their role in the restaurant scene. They are clear about the offered service and it is easy to say yes to a chef’s service, and they may purchase regularly.
Conversely, many of us in niche businesses may have incredible gifts, but potential customers don’t know such skills exists, don’t understand, don’t believe in, and may never hire. We are not mainstream like a chef, like a place to get food. And our services aren’t sought out as regularly as food! And even then, the failure rate for independent restaurants is high.
Business success is not a formula. And an entrepreneur’s success is not all up to us as entrepreneurs. But those actively selling services, solutions, tools, upgrades and “coaching” to entrepreneurs either don’t know that, are lying to themselves or are deceptively selling to us.
I really don’t love all the other roles I play. But if I don’t, no one will do them, without being paid, which I understand. Because it’s a job. All those jobs to do, just so you can be the passionate chef, can be truly exhausting.
Maybe not at first. Maybe over time.
I am cheering on anyone who is willing to really step back and look at the actual energy and hours you put into your entrepreneurial venture, the actual net positive cash flow you earn… and possibly consider whether that is better suited as a hobby, as a past time, even as a side gig, while you make solid money, for a solid job. Like an amazing cook that has occasional dinner parties, but closed the restaurant for good. I will definitely not be shaming you, or making you feel like a quitter or a failure. Starting, growing, running your own business is sometimes not as rewarding, doesn’t reach as many as you’d like and isn’t as satisfying as it once was, or as you thought it would be. And now, you know more than you did when you started.
I’m here. Running the whole restaurant. Too savvy or maybe too cheap to hire a staff. Loving cooking the best food I can for you.
And if I ever elected to become an employee again, so I could get a set amount of good money
to do one job, then I’d probably host the best dinner parties, cook my food with all my soulfulness, and be delighted that you are present.
With love,
Jill Renee Feeler
