You Don’t Need to Do More. You Need Better Support.
A gentle rebellion against doing more
You’re doing the work.
You want it.
You show up.
And yet it still feels… stretched.
I know this all too well, I’ve worked all the hours, burnt out and had to find another way.
Most business owners don’t need more effort - They just need better support structures.
The Three Types of Support We All Actually Need
Structural support
We need systems, rhythms and clear priorities to work with. Not remotely sexy but seriously necessary.
One of the biggest problems I see in growing businesses is the lack of process structure. They become big overnight and rely on the founder to spin all the plates with no real system, structure or operating processes. Standard Operating Processes or SOPs may feel like a lot of work to establish or too advanced for where you are, but they save so much time long-term and ensure all your customers get the same service or experience. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen a customer complaint because there isn’t a process in place to deal with an issue, or even worse, there are issues in the business that could have been ironed out if there was a SOP in place. After working inside huge multinational businesses, I can safely say SOPs are the foundation of their success.
Understanding the rhythms of your business is just as important. Knowing when you’ll likely need extra help or when the perfect time to take a break is helps you, as the business owner, to stay sane.
Taking time off in slower periods or using that time to develop new ideas is a great example of working with your business's rhythms. Knowing and anticipating where these gaps might show up also stops the 4 am scaries from kicking in.
And understanding your own rhythms can be just as powerful. Knowing which weeks of the month you are most suited to different tasks can make your efforts so much more effective. Try having to do outwardly social things in those last few days, when hibernation is at the front of your mind, or sit and do admin when you're feeling most inspired, and you’ll quickly realise your attempts are futile.
Clear priorities can be the making or breaking of a business. Having no real aim or not having long term strategy can make everything a lot harder. Say you’re marketing a business and you’re sending out sporadic emails with no real plan, being reactive and not joining up the campaigns across all of your options, you’re going to get less impact than if you’d planned out a well thought out stratigic campaign. Same if you flit around doing different things month on month without it being part of the bigger plan. Flying by the seat of your pants is good for a time, but at some point, it will mean you are missing opportunities. If you want your business to grow, you need a strategic plan that highlights all the priorities and someone to deliver it. That may not be you, so think of that as part of your plan.
Emotional Support
We need to tap into our self-trust and create firm boundaries. It’s great to have a community of people around us, or a work bestie to cheer us on, but what we really need is that inner knowing that comes from self-trust. That instinct that we can take a leap and it will all be ok. No matter the outcome, it will be ok.
Self-trust isnt easy to come by. We can be confident and have a good understanding of where we want to go, but it’s often when we try the new thing that the self-trust waivers, and we fear the leap.
It’s something we need to constantly work on, something that’s built like a muscle. The goal is to get to a place where if things go wrong, we can detach the outcome from ourselves, because we believe in ourselves so deeply that we know we did our best. We can find room for improvement without it being about not being good enough.
Boundaries also tap into this. You may well be reading this and thinking, oh yeah, good one, I’m a founder/business owner, I don’t have time for boundaries. But burnout and dislike for a business are often found where boundaries haven’t been put in place.
We can be passionate about our business, hungry for it to grow and still put boundaries in place. Boundaries give us time to rest and allow ideas to formulate, they give you structure to work within, and they make you a better leader, friend and family member.
The people I admire most are those who are transparent about their boundaries with no hint of guilt. I’m looking at you, if you say ‘I’m collecting my child at … so I can do’, or ‘I don’t work Fridays’ or ‘I don’t work through August’, or ‘I’ve got therapy then so I’m not available’, etc.
You guys are leading the way in creating a work-life balance that works for you, not one that works for the corporate machine. Because we all want a successful business, but we weren’t born to just do that. No one is going to say ‘Ahh, she was great, she worked so hard and ran that really successful business in her 40’s at your funeral.’
Strategic support
We need clarity on what actually moves revenue, not to-do lists with endless tasks that might work, if we stand on our heads on a Tuesday at 3 pm.
When we want to grow our business, we are hungry. We will download the thing that promises results, read another book, sign up for another course, and find another guru to pin our hope on. And there is nothing wrong with any of that, but we need to be tuning into the things that actually work for US.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy for every business. EVERY business is unique. Because every business is run by someone like you. With ideas, hopes and big goals, all unique. Of course, if you run courses, you can learn things from other course providers, or if you are an e-commerce business, you can gain insights by looking at the competition, but so often businesses become diluted by trying to be like others. What makes a lot of businesses successful is how they stand out from the competition, how they rebel, gently.
So whilst generic business advice is sound, and courses, coaches, programmes that give you an overall picture are great. You actually need support that is specific to you and your business. Now I would say that as a coach, wouldn’t I, but I have generic courses too (they need a dust off as I created them a few years ago now!!) and believe you can get support in many forms.
But if you combine structural, emotional and strategic support, you will grow faster, with more ease and more joy.
A Simple Weekly Support Reset
Choose one practical shift:
Define your 3 most important outcomes - pick the ones that will create the most impact.
Protect one CEO hour - work on your business, not in it.
Remove one unnecessary task - delegate it, move it to a later date or just delete it altogether.
Schedule it for this week, now.
You are not behind. You are under-supported.
Cheering you on, always!
Claire
