A few months ago, during one of the live (+ recorded) planning calls in my marketing programme Grow, a participant shared that she felt stuck. How, she asked, do you get going again in her small business, after a break, illness, or if things simply are going slowly? If you’re wondering how to restart your small business after a break, illness, or slow season, you’re not alone. In this post, I share some of my favourite gentle strategies.
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How to get back on track with your small business
Be gentle and kind with yourself
So often if we feel behind, unmotivated or if business is going slowly, we beat ourselves up. We tell ourselves that we should’ve done things differently. Or we start to feel hopeless.
It can be really hard to break this cycle of thought, but if you’re feeling this way right now, try to take one small step. Try to be gentle with yourself. Try to be kind. The classic advice of speaking to yourself as you’d speak to a loved one can help.
There is a slower, gentler and more profitable way of running your business.
Discover your way of doing your business with my 1:1 mentoring support.
No hacks, no hustle.
Instead: marketing and launching that is slow, gentle and gets results. Clear boundaries and priorities that encourage you to live a life next to your business. Accountability and support to help you create the live and business you crave.
Small steps always build up to bigger things.
Regroup and reprioritize
If your to-do list feels endless, you’re coming back from illness or a break, or you’re dealing with other things that limit your time and energy, you might feel paralysed. With so much on your list, and everything feeling urgent, where do you start?
Some suggestions to regroup and get going again
- What is one (small) thing you can do to move your small business forward today?It might be brainstorming a topic for your newsletter, or simply breaking your to-do list up into smaller steps;
- What feels urgent, but isn’t really?
- What one thing can you focus on right now? If everything feels urgent, you might as well pick any one thing to start with.
Radically reprioritize: what are your core priorities in your business? And of these, what is the most important? For instance, for me, my clients are more important than marketing—so when I have very little time and energy, marketing has to wait.
Take small steps: they always build up to big things
The small step can be making a list. It can be reviewing your art supplies if you’re planning on creating new art. It can be sitting down with a notebook and jotting down ideas for your business.
Work in small bursts, even of just 20 minutes
Or, indeed, bursts of 15 minutes, which I’ve done during chronic fatigue flares. We might think that a small burst of time contributes nothing, but it does—practically as well as mentally.
Remind yourself that there’s absolutely no reason to feel shame or guilt
You’re not alone for wanting and/or needing a slower pace. In fact, all 3500+ of you reading this newsletter probably signed up because you want a slower, gentle and more profitable business. Going slow, especially if you have to, can feel frustrating, annoying and disheartening. I’ve been there. I still am there frequently. But you can build a thriving business slowly and gently, I promise.
I’d love to know what resonates with you from this post.
Please feel free to share this post it with business friends, in your newsletter or elsewhere. 💛
I’d love to support you in all phases of your business. Providing clarity, focus and next steps is something that my clients tell me I’m really good at. If you’re curious about how we can work together through 1:1 mentoring, check out what I offer or send me an email–no strings attached. I have payment plans available, and flexible options for mentoring calls.
Join the newsletter club for more like this
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