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Well, hello, this is Kimberley's episode 313, and I'm so thankful that you are here and listening today. We're talking about an important topic today, and that is what to do when your business starts feeling really heavy. And it almost feels like a burden and it's not fun. I don't want you to be in this position. So we're going to talk about some things that you can do to get out of that and start loving your business again and loving this career that you've chosen as a business owner, whether you're just doing this part-time or, you know, full-time, it doesn't matter. This is for you. And whether you have a product, business, service business, coaching, consulting, whatever it is, this is for you too. I'm so happy that you all are here. Just real quick before we kick things off, I want to make sure that you know that I have resources for you that are going to massively help you along this journey. So, first of all, you've got this podcast. So make sure you hit subscribe or follow whatever it says in the app that you're using so you don't miss out on any future episodes. Then I've also got printables for you that can help you for free that you can use right now. I have my 16-step checklist for starting your business. I have a free workshop if you're trying to grow your business and even if you're trying to start a podcast. And then I have some programs that will massively speed up your whole journey. I've got a just getting started boot camp to help you get your business started from idea to open already. Like let's do this in the most time-efficient, cost efficient way possible. So make sure you snag that. I do have a best business idea workshop if you're kind of struggling in that phase, and even a mini business plan workshop. So make sure you check out everything down below. I also do have a program that's self-paced that you can use to right now to get your podcast started. If you want to use a podcast as your way to connect with people around the world. So, anyways, check all those out. And I'm so happy you're here. Shout out to all my loyal listeners. Y'all are amazing. We've got a lot of new listeners that I've been getting notified about. And I'm just so glad you all are here. And I hope you're loving the podcast. Okay, on to the episode. Well, hello, friends. How are you doing? How is everything going? I need to know. I need to know all the scoop. I need to hear. I'm just so happy. So many of you are really, really taking the leap. You are being courageous enough to pursue this. So many of you have full-time jobs already and you're pursuing this on the side. And I think it's just so commendable and so awesome. It doesn't matter what you're offering. I'm stoked that you are brave enough to do this and that you're following your dream and you're pursuing more for your life. I'm so excited for you. But the reality is at some point in your business, here's the truth. It's going to feel heavy. It's going to feel like a burden. And, you know, I hate that that happens. I really shouldn't even use the word hate. I don't like that word. I dislike that that happens for many of you because I think it puts a bad taste in your mouth about business. And it shouldn't, but you have to know any career is going to come with ups and downs. And our goal as business owners is to maximize the ups and to keep it mostly on the up. But there's going to be hard times. If you've listened to me for any amount of time, you know, I had online boutiques for 16 years and I've had all kinds of issues. I've had website issues, website crashing not working, certain codes that were for special that day that weren't working. I've had us ship the wrong things to customers. I've had people scam us and just use their advantage as a credit card holder to say that we didn't ship or we didn't do and it wasn't true. I've had all kinds of things. I have people that were unhappy with me or whatever. Luckily, it's not very much. It's a very, very, very, very, very small percentage of all of the orders and people that I've helped in my life. But the truth is they feel so inflated, like in your brain. You know, when you have something go bad, like you could have a million things go good, but somehow that bad thing is like taking over your brain. Have you ever had that happen? Like literally takes over your brain. We've cried before. My sister-in-law, I've told you before, has worked for me for a long time. And we would have a rude customer every now and then that would just like literally make us tear up.

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We were like, why are they being so mean to us? These are just baby clothes. Can we can we chill on this? We're doing everything we can to rectify it. You know, that happens.

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But the truth is, it happens in general with your business. Just like things start feeling heavy, almost like a burden. You're trying to make it work to fit it into your life. I've I've had clients that have done this, they had a full-time job and they're like, my dream is to do this full-time, and they start this part-time. And then maybe at some point it's just not happening. It's just not working out. And I think that that's hard. I think that that's frustrating because you know, there's so much in the media geared toward us. And I'm talking about like YouTube and social media that's like, if you just put your mind to it, you can do it. If you just believe, um, there's even stuff about manifesting. There's stuff about, you know, you just have to have the courage and do it. And you know what? Sometimes there's more to it than that. I would argue that most of the times it's a lot more than just you thinking whether you can do it or not. I think there's a lot of you out there that I have no doubt are highly intelligent and clients that I've worked with, super smart, super creative. Many of you are very creative and you have what it takes. But there's other factors at play here. And we have to recognize recognize those and quit like letting the social media and YouTube and all that saying, well, you just don't believe enough. That's the problem. You don't believe that you can do this. You you don't believe it. I don't think that's true. From the I'm speaking from the clients that I've worked with and even myself. I knew that I could do it. It was just figuring it all out and like what what needs to be the right configuration of this business, right? And so I want to talk about these things that's super important to me to share this with you because I want you to know that it's okay if you are feeling down about your business, frustrated, burdened, things feel heavy, that it's okay. It's going to happen. It's like saying when you raise a child that you're never going to have, you know, a fight with your child or something's not going to go wrong or in a marriage, right? I mean, come on. We know things happen. So let's talk about these today. I actually had three written down. And as I was talking, I realized there's actually four things I want to go over. So let's go over the first thing about you feeling heavy in your business. So many of you tell me, like, as I said, many of you have full-time jobs, or you may be homeschooling, volunteering, home with kids, all that stuff, and you are super busy and you are super time constrained, but you have this vision that you want this business as your full-time career. You don't want to have a boss, you want to have the freedom of time, and you need to make a certain amount of money. And that that right there is enough pressure for anybody because we put that pressure on ourselves, right? We do that because we want to succeed. But the first thing I want you to think about, really think about is is this the right timing for your life? Because I have found that with some clients, this is not actually the right time. And you're probably thinking, why is she telling me this? She's a business coach, she's in the business of helping people start their businesses. And I do. I I think a lot of people procrastinate and get scared. And that's why I'm like, no, you can do this. You've got this much time, you have this amount of money set aside. This is what you're hoping for. This is the right season for you. But the truth is, for some of you, it is not the right season. It's a small percentage of you. I'm gonna be super honest. I don't think this applies to the majority of you listening, but I want to make you aware, and I didn't want to miss it, is that timing is everything. And if you are already massively busy right now, know that this is a season. If you're already busy, like forget the business with life, maybe you're homeschooling, maybe you need a certain amount of income. So you have to keep your full-time job. Maybe you're volunteering, you have a sick parent that you've got to help with, or even a sick child. It could be anything, but you have been yearning to feel more purpose in your life and importance and achieve your goals and and you just want to live a more fulfilling life. Realize that there are seasons in life when this may not fit into it. Okay. Now, again, I'm not trying to be negative, I'm not dissuading any of you. I'm telling you all to look in the mirror and actually ask yourself, is this the right time? Knowing, knowing this is very important. I'm gonna say it again, knowing that the season you're in right now will change. So if you are super busy, you have a full-time job, you're trying to keep your marriage down, you're going to all kinds of sporting events, you're doing all these things, and you're trying to fit a business in, it's going to feel heavy. It's going to feel like a burden. It is going to take away time that you had for personal stuff. So you have to be ready for that. Okay. And if you have a clear plan for maybe how you could just work a limited amount of hours per week on this business in addition to your full-time job and all that, then it can work. And that's what I would say for you to do is if you are super busy and you really do think this is the time to kickstart things, I would put a time limit per week that you can work on this business. And it literally may only be a couple of hours a week. I'm not even kidding. I have clients that only have a few hours a week to work on their business. And that's fine. But you know what? They are super productive because they don't waste time. They do only what they need to be doing. They don't do extra stuff. They do what they need to be doing and they kind of get their business flowing. So that is a way that you can love this in your season of life when you put limits on it, because it's not going to be fun. If you have a full-time job, you're trying to hold down a marriage, you're you're carpooling kids to sports, you're trying to volunteer and you're trying to do this. It is going to become a burden and it will probably cause arguments in your family. So timing is everything. Realize that this season of your life will adjust. I improve. I have gone through many seasons of my life. I never thought I would actually say that, but I can start feeling like even for me, my new season coming on right now. So I'm in the middle of it and I get it. And I often am thinking about what do I want this season of my business to look like in this podcast? Like things are changing for me. My youngest child is driving now. I am not needed as much. I've been to able to do lots of other things that I wasn't able to do before, namely like pickleball and stuff like that. So I'm super excited about it, but I can feel it. And my husband's like, come travel with me more because he has to travel for work a lot. And we're going to Europe in a couple of weeks, we're going to be gone for two weeks. So I'm super excited about that. Like, there's all these things. So, in order for my business to not feel like a burden and feel heavy, I have to plan like what's the reality for this new season. Now, six years ago, I didn't feel this way, right? I didn't feel that new season coming on. I had two kids at home, and then my son was going to be leaving soon. I was still toting Ava around everywhere. And I still had time for what I wanted it to be. And it was perfect. It's been perfect. It's been great. But I feel a new season coming on. And I'm just being frank with y'all because this is the real deal. It almost seems like every five years or so is like a new season. I don't know if you feel like that. I don't know if that's going to change and it's going to be different. I don't know what it is for you. Maybe it's just every few years you have a new season. And it may be like if you have toddlers or maybe you're pregnant. But that is its own season. So my point for this, number one, is really think about the timing before you start your business and realize that you may not have to start it right this minute. If you can already feel like you're going to be cramming it into your life, if you don't have time, I would wait a few years and see if this season is going to change. And then you can start it. That will give you time to learn, to listen to my podcast, for example, and learn from other business owners and then get it going, but without taking time away from your family and the ways that you need to be present. Okay. So I am telling you, some of you need to wait. Some of you need to wait. Some of you don't need to wait. You just need to limit the amount of hours that you work on your business per week. Okay. So that's my solution for you. Either wait or massively limit the hours that you need to be working. You know, maybe it's four hours a week, five hours a week, two hours a week. I don't know what it is for you. 10 hours a week, you limit it and that's it. And that's what you're doing so that you can still be present at this season of life. And if this season of your life is totally open and you're like, I get to do whatever I want, then heck yes, let's get this business going. I'm super excited for you. Okay. So that's number one. Number two, um of you are feeling really heavy with your business because stuff isn't selling like you had expected. And it is so hard because you're like, I know what I offer is valuable and what is wrong. And what I want to offer to you today, if you are feeling heavy because things aren't selling and you are showing up, like let's just assume that you're showing up either on social media, you are legit showing up locally. And if I sat down with you right now, you could honestly tell me that you are showing up a lot of places that feel comfortable to you, and that's great. I would then say, Do we know that this is a popular product or service? Do we know that this is something that someone wants to pay for, that a lot of people want to pay for? Is there demand for this? That's the conversation I would have with you. And you would say, Yes, there's demand. And I would say, okay, what proof do you have that there is demand? And you might say, I know other business owners that offer this. Great, there is demand. Then I would say, okay, and is this something that you think is going to continue to be in demand, or is like AI going to take it over? Or do they have other options that are on the horizon where this is not going to have a future? We would verify that. And if we verify that there's a future, I'd say, okay, what does the future look like for this? And then we would really assess is this a good business? What you're offering? Do people want to pay for this? And if they do, there's all sorts of things you can do. You can raise your prices and become a higher tier of what it is you're offering, a more personalized approach, right? You could offer one-on-one help versus group help, or you know, your products could be made in some better way with better quality materials. Maybe you deliver faster, maybe they're handmade, whatever it is. You have to make sure that what you're selling is actually something people want to buy. Y'all, I talk about this all the time. And if you listen to me at all, you've heard me just say it on a recent episode. I don't even remember which one it was, but I was just talking about this. And I think people feel heavy when their stuff isn't selling. And usually it's because that stuff is either outdated, it's just not in demand, or people don't want to pay for it right now. And so if this is you, sit down with yourself and just say, okay, what does this and what does this market look like for what I'm offering? And where is it going? What is on the cusp? What is the trendy thing? And for a lot of you young people may know, like my son that's in his early 20s and my daughter, like, they know what's coming. And I totally trust these people in their 20s. I really do, y'all. And even the highly intelligent, you know, 18 and 19-year-olds, they know where the future is going with things. And so if you need to consult with someone like that in your life, do it. If you want to know the future of something, because I remember being in my 20s and I knew the future was the internet and online selling. And some of the older generations did not get me. They thought it was scammy. They thought it was some kind of fraudulent thing. They didn't understand online business. And I was like, this is where it's going. So I totally value young people's opinions. Okay. And you should too. And anyone in your industry. If your industry doesn't have anything to do with the younger generation, then talk to a mentor in your life. Talk to someone around you about how where you think this is headed. You can even ask ChatGBT. ChatGBT can help you with that, right? So again, when your business feels heavy, it feels like a burden, it feels difficult. Number one, really look at the timing of this in your life. Is this the right time to be doing this? Okay. Number two, look at what you're selling. Is this something people actually want to pay for? And does this have a future for the next few years at least? Does this have a future? Okay. Number three, a huge reason why people feel like their business is a burden because they're doing so many things. There, they may be doing everything. This may be you. You may be doing every single thing in your business, wearing every hat from accountant to customer service to website designer to logo designer to graphics to your content manager. You do the social media, you make the products, you offer the products, you ship the products, all that stuff. You may be doing all of it. And a lot of it is out of your zone of genius. And that's why you feel burdened. That is why you feel burdened because this, some of this stuff you should not be doing. Okay. Many new entrepreneurs that I talk to are trying to do it all. And I think it's amazing because I'm that person that will try to do it all because I'm like, I got to get this done right now. I'm like a doer, like, let's do it now. But the problem is certain things may be taking me longer than it should because this is not my zone of genius or things won't look as good. It's just like when I told y'all a couple of years ago when I hired a home decorator to help us remodel our downstairs. It wasn't a huge remodel, but it was new floors and all kinds of stuff. Redid our powder room, our kitchen counters, and all that stuff. And so it was super fun. But like I always look down there and I'm like, if I hadn't had Laura to do all of this for me and I hadn't been willing to pay for that, my house would not look this good. It would not look this good. It just would not. We would not be as happy. And when I say look this good, I mean me feeling comfortable in my home, feeling like it looks stylish, it looks done, it looks put together, and I'm happy. Am I telling you it's some bazillion-dollar model home? No. What I'm telling you is that I feel like me in this home and it's very comfortable to me and my family. And so if I had not had her to do that, I could have decorated. It would have taken me a long time to piece this all together and it would not look as good as it does now to me. Okay. So you have to think about that. What are the things in your business that you're doing that make you want to throw your computer against the wall? Maybe it's doing taxes, maybe it's the accounting side, maybe it's doing social media. I don't know what it is for you, but that may be why you feel like this is a burden. And maybe it's time for you to pay for help. Maybe it's time for you to pay for help and get somebody to do these things. You can hire family members, you can hire college students, you can hire high school students, you can hire neighbors, you can hire nieces and nephews, you can hire friends, you can go on local Facebook groups and try to see if you can recruit help. You can get people to help you ship, you can get people to help you do all kinds of stuff. And then I'm sure AI is going to be getting better and better, and you can have customer service with AI and all that stuff. But there are things that you can be doing that will get it off your plate. Like, get it completely off your plate. No more of you, you know, wearing every single hat. It will feel heavy if you're doing everything. It will literally feel so frustrating. You will want to bang your head against the wall. You'll want to throw your computer against the wall, and you'll want to run out the door, and you'll be like, this is not the business that I signed up for. I don't want that to happen to you, and you don't want that to happen to you. You can easily get help for people who love it. It's just like my daughter, my oldest daughter. She works with numbers and data, and she works for Lab Corp and she does all kinds of data, I don't even know, aggregation, sorting, figuring out stuff. And the other day she was like, Mom, remember when I was in high school, I used to say, I wish I could find a job where I got to do spreadsheets all day. Well, I'm getting to do that. And I'm like, how many people in this world would say that that I get to do spreadsheets all day? But that's what I'm saying. There's people like her that love spreadsheets and math and figuring data and stuff like that out, which I know AI is coming and I hope it doesn't take her job away later. But that but that is coming. And there's there's things that are gonna be coming for you and your business. Like I'm sure all of our taxes and accounting and bookkeeping is gonna be so automated. It's gonna be so easy and so wonderful, right? But if your business feels heavy and you are becoming miserable working on your business every day, it's time to outsource. It's time to get some help. And there are so many ways that you can get help. You can go on Upwork as well and look for people to help you and ask other business owners in your area or in our Facebook group or anywhere where you can get some recommendations for people to help you, whether it be logo design, accounting, graphics, helping you with social media, et cetera. Okay. So let's review before we go to number four. So when your business is feeling heavy and difficult, number one, really look at the timing. Is this the right time in your life, the right season? I like to say season because new seasons come around every so many years, right? Is this the right season for you? Number two, are these the right products or services that you should be selling? Like, do people want to pay for them? And is there a future for them over the coming years? Number three, you if you feel heavy with all the things because you're wearing all the hats, it's time to outsource. You will feel so relieved, you will be so happy, you will sleep better at night, and you'll have more time to do the things that are within your zone of genius. And number four, I I didn't want to say this one, but I'm going to say it. I'm going to say it. And it kind of ties in with number two, with what you're selling, but it is this. Maybe business isn't for you. And I don't like saying that, but I think it's the truth. In fact, if y'all listen to me, I think it was a couple years ago, I was talking about how I saw a neighbor who had started a business, and then I saw her later and I was like, oh my gosh, how's your business? And she was like, Oh my gosh, I ended that. I am not meant to be a business owner. I went back to my full-time job and I love it. I get a paycheck, I work my hours, I know what's expected. And she was overjoyed. She was overjoyed. And I was like, you know what? Good for you. That's amazing. You know what the cool thing is? You went for it. And so many people would never ever go for it. And you went for it. And now you know. Now you know that's not for you. Right. So when you like when you try a new ice cream flavor or try some weird seafood dish that you never tried or a sushi or something, and you're like, you know what? I'm just gonna try it. And you go, you know what? That is not for me. I don't like that octopus or whatever it is that you're eating, right? You don't know it until you try. And I commended her because I was like, that's amazing. You went for it, and it's all good. We need people that have full-time jobs to help run the companies that support the world. So it's all good, you know, no shame in the game. And I want to tell you that today that sometimes business ownership doesn't end up being good for you. It's too stressful. You don't have a secure paycheck. I mean, that's the truth. You do not have a secure paycheck. You have to work really hard to make sure you're making the income that you need. It's really hard managing a whole business and the customer service and all the things. And sometimes it doesn't end up being the right move. It just is not it. It's not it for some people. And you know what? It's okay. It's okay. Doesn't mean that you're like a failure. It just means, you know what? Entrepreneurship isn't for me. I mean, I've even had those thoughts at times because I remember like my businesses were so seasonal. I mean, we would make money all throughout the year, but the chunks of money came in November and December. Like a huge portion of my yearly income was November and December. So the other months, I'm kind of like, ah, I need to get more revenue. So you kind of felt a burden because you're like, if the holidays don't end up being as good as I hope, this is going to be difficult for my business, right? And so there is that, you know, and like my husband doesn't have to worry about a paycheck each month. He's getting his paycheck every two weeks, and our family can depend on that. If you cannot weather that, if you can't weather the ups and downs, if you don't have money in the bank to be able to support the months that are down, this may just not be for you. There's a lot of organization, there's a lot that you're expected to learn, and it can be hard. And now y'all are thinking, what am I doing? Why do I have a business? This is hard. You know why you have a business? Because you've been yearning to do this and you have something to offer the world and you want to do it. And a lot of you, again, like I said, are just doing this part-time. And I think it's amazing because you have this creative outlet, you have this way to feel more purposeful and impactful in your life. And it's awesome. Okay, it's awesome. And you may feel that this is the season right now where you get to do that. So today, I just I had to say number four, I had to say it that business ownership isn't for everyone and it may not be for you. Okay. So let's review again one more time all these four things so you don't forget. When your business feels heavy and burdensome and difficult, number one, ask yourself, is this the really the right time for my business? Cause I I could wait a few years. Or I'll put boundaries on my time and know that my revenue may not be sky high, that I'm only gonna work a few hours a week or 10 hours a week or 20 to get this train moving, but I may not be making the full-time income that I yearn for yet. Okay, so that's number one. Number two, you have to make sure that what you're selling is actually something people want to pay for and know that it has some life ahead of it. I know with technology, everything's changing so fast, but you have to ask yourself for the next few years, is this something that's gonna be hot and do people want this? Number three, you have to realize that you are expected to wear a lot of hats as a business owner. But the great news is you have the freedom to outsource. I highly recommend that you do not do it all, that you outsource the things that make you want to throw your computer against the wall. Okay. And number four, for a very small portion of you who are here, I want you to realize that it's okay. And I want to give you permission to not be a business owner. If this just the whole, all of it, all the tech, all the content creation, all the product or service offering, running around, doing all the stuff, website design, email marketing. If that is not for you, it is okay. You can gladly bow out and go to a career where you can have your secure paycheck and know your hours. You will have a boss, but that is okay. I give you permission. Everyone is not meant to be a business owner. But if you know in your heart you're meant to be a business owner, then you can do it. You just need to be able to feel purposeful with this business. I think if you don't feel purposeful, then it's not gonna be fun. I think you really have to say, but I want to help people with XYZ, and that's why I'm gonna do this. So I hope that makes sense. Y'all are awesome. I'm so happy for you. I'm so proud of you for listening to this podcast and getting help from someone who has gone before you. I hope that this guides you, makes you feel better, and gives you the truth about business ownership and doesn't sugarcoat it because that's what I'm here for. And to put it into simple terms, so you realize it doesn't have to be that complicated. So I'm so happy for you. That's it. Y'all have a great day. Until next time. Bye now.

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Now, this may be okay. But our relationship does not have to end here. Head on over to Kimberlybrock.com, and yes, you can get more valuable information for your journey, and you know what? You don't need to go through this alone. I would love to help you. Thank you so much and have a great day. Bye.