How I run multiple businesses from home without burning out

Today I’m going to be looking at how I run multiple businesses from home. So, let’s dive in! 

Starting my first product-based business – which was the corporate gift hamper business – back before the millennial, everything I knew back then was really my first venture into entrepreneurship.

I didn’t know about the art of outsourcing. I tried to do everything myself, which unfortunately led me to suffer from burnout. I was basically just trying to put in so many hours and physically and mentally, it became a little too difficult. Unfortunately did lead to me suffering from numerous autoimmune issues which started for me in my mid-twenties and were quite debilitating because they are triggered even more. 

I was quite unwell. I was on strong autoimmune medication that I was taking in order for me to switch my immune system on.

I did hire a great business coach which allowed me to put in place some really clear boundaries on both personal and business in terms of the hours that I was keeping and how I needed to work on building my team. But also become less reliant on doing so many physical tasks.

In terms of how I now manage two businesses – one business is eCommerce predominantly a baby brand in collaboration with a gorgeous past client of mine. We produce organic baby swaddles and little cuddle squares and a teether.

I have been able to successfully scale it to have up to 24 stockers and two of them are based in the United States.

I also have my product-based coaching for creative women, which is now six years old and I think I have been able to successfully manage the two businesses right from my home office.

Tips for running multiple businesses

Set your priorities straight

The secret to anything is to really know where you’re going to focus your energy and attention. On a larger scale, that means managing both the businesses really well. So in terms of being able to prioritise, just break things down from most important to least important, that would be my biggest suggestion.

Create a schedule that you can religiously stick to

In terms of working out a schedule, it’s much easier with blocking out hours within the day that you devote solely to each business and looking to avoid distractions. So that means no phone calls, no emails, no zoom meetings, and no social media interactions. You have to be disciplined to not get caught up in non-related productivity tasks.

Make a to-do list of everything that needs to be done for the one work week and then classify those tasks according to importance and urgency, which ones do you need to finish the soonest and which ones can wait? 

One really fabulous tool that I use with my team is called Trello. Trello allows you to visually set up boards and lists and cards. You can add other team members in to assist you. You can set up dates, you can add links and images so that if you are actually working with others to help you to support you in the businesses, then it’s a great way of communicating in one spot. 

And lastly, remember to stick to the times that you’ve set. Once you give yourself a bit of time, you can eventually get into more of a system of structure so that you can actually assign the right amount of priority to your schedule for building a really great work schedule so that you can actually feel less overwhelmed and it’s not eating up more time. 

Take breaks

I’m a big one for being able to create fabulous holidays, but not everyone can take holidays, but if you’re working too hard for too long, it can really sap away your motivation. So make sure you take a breather on a regular basis and carve out some time for some self-care. Remember self-care doesn’t need to be selfish. 

If you’re working too hard for too little time, you might be finding that you’re not resting and that’s when mistakes can happen. If you’re looking to balance work with businesses, it’s really important to devote time to yourself with some self-care and to the people who matter the most to you. 

Accept that not everything can get done all at once

I am quite an impatient person which I’ve been trying to manage for a long time. No matter how much of a hard worker you are and no matter how good you are at doing your job, you are still just one person. 

Multitasking is not the same as overworking women. Well, it’s one of our hidden talents that I think we’re able to switch our brains quickly onto a number of different projects throughout the day and it’s the same when you are selecting to go down the path of covering off your target schedule for the week.

To keep your businesses in tip-top shape, you have to give your best to each and every specific aspect and that can be hard if you’re wearing too many hats or you’ve got your feet in too many camps. It can be difficult to be operating at your best and it’s also knowing what efficient tools you can get your hands on.

Outsourcing

Managing multiple businesses has really taught me firsthand the dangers of trying to do everything on my own.

I am a big advocate for outsourcing and building a really great team around you and as a result, knowing when to outsource for help and delegate tasks is something that I have learned to do over the past 25 years and you can do the same. 

Having a virtual assistant is really like having a clone of yourself. The VA will take care of all those tedious but really important details and tasks that will free you up a lot more and give you much more time to focus on those income-generating tasks.

I would have to say it is the biggest, most successful way that you can scale up. So work smarter, not harder and this has been my mantra since I’m working my business back at the age of 24 and I believe it makes a huge difference in my efficiency and my productivity, and also my enjoyment of being an entrepreneur and working with other passionate, creative business women who I coach.

So it’s about steering your passions in the right direction and doing everything you can to make things happen in the process but don’t sacrifice yourself as I did in the very early stages when I started out in my corporate gift hamper business.

I thought I was the only person that could actually manage everything and that no one else could come in to add value. So I learned the hard way to have health-related issues, to be mindful of self-care, of keeping balance but also to look at how you can become more productive and how you can learn to create a business of your dreams that compliments your lifestyle. 

It’s time to pull up your big girl pants!

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