Do you worry about how long your business will last given current levels of income?
Are you so focused taking appointments day, night, or weekends just trying to make ends meet, that you don’t have a life?
In this post I will share the cost that an unsustainable business has on life and what to do about it.
The third pillar of the Creators Code is one I totally resonate with and one that tends to be a huge barrier to wellness entrepreneurs on many levels. It is…
I support sustainability and I vote consistently with all of my resources.
For an excellent view on his take on sustainability, watch this 3 minute video by my mentor and coach, Jay Fiset.
Sustainability is about the big picture of your life and what is and what is not sustainable. It relates to your job, health, relationships, business, career, finances, and environment. Everything!
For us, I want to specifically relate it to career and business.
In my first business we were not very good at attracting new business. At times it took 2-3 years to convert a new company into a paying client. We had good services, made a great impact with the companies we served, and those that used us loved us. Still we struggled.
Without an effective business model we had no plan. Add no strategy to attract new business and no effective means to convert quickly and it meant limited income. We borrowed and spent to set up out business. Our income could not cover our operating expenses, paying us, and keeping the business afloat.
Stress mounted. Cuts could only go so far. Borrowing further from ourselves and the bank only stopped the bleeding in the moment. Each time we did so it gave some semblance of relief as did occasional surges of work from existing clients. Just enough to lead us to believe all was going to be OK.
Just cut a bit more. Just hold on a little longer.
It went on and on and on. For me it took an immense toll on key relationships in my life. It took it’s toll on elements of my health. It left me a shadow of my normal vibrant self. I did not like who and how I had become.
It was UNSUSTAINABLE!
Until I woke up and saw this it would continue on. I was merely enduring my business and my life.
Jay speaks of a stat that says 76% of people just show up for their jobs hating every day of it. WHY?
Change to be sustainable is not an easy fix but it is an absolutely necessary one. It starts with one step leading to the next and the next after that.
I rose from the ashes of a broken business and a broken life and, with support, I rebuilt both. It hasn’t always been forward movement. There have been set backs. I am not here to BS you. It’s been hard but wow what a difference between now and then and what an even bigger difference next year will bring!
I needed to start telling myself, and those that needed to hear it, the truth. I needed to open up to help. I needed to make hard decisions and make tough action steps. One after the other. I needed to stay the course. I needed to forego instant gratification, instead seeing the freedom I am building to.
I made big changes to being sustainable. I continue to grow in this respect. I am here to show that change is possible and to offer to support in any way I can.
Why?
My tagline quote below says it all.
I believe it. I have seen too many wellness colleagues suffering needlessly in their careers or businesses. I know it doesn’t have to be that way.
Sustainability before freedom!
What do you need to do today to begin to be more sustainable in your life?
Remember…
“Life is meant to be embraced, enjoyed and fully lived, not merely endured!”
To your success,
Brent
Be an advocate of Entrepreneurial Freedom and the global movement of conscious creators. Please share this with anyone you feel would enjoy the content. I appreciate your support in growing our community of entrepreneurs!
Beginning with a degree in exercise science and kinesiology, Brent Haydey has evolved over thirty years as an entrepreneur; building four businesses, and as a health, executive, and life coach.