Starting a business can feel exciting and, if it’s successful, can absolutely change one’s life. However, most entrepreneurs end up leaving the rat race to create an even more stressful job for themselves, working 24/7. They sought to become an entrepreneur with freedom, but are anything but. Financial independence can make you time-rich as well as cash-rich, according to Rachel Ngom.
If you continue down the path of hustle, you face the real risk of burnout, with your kids resenting your business, feeling exhausted and miserable.
Make an Impact
As the founder of She’s Making an Impact, Ngom is dedicated to helping women in business unleash their God-given potential without sacrificing their health or time with their families in the process. Ngom understands the internal struggles that come with burnout. And the best ways for entrepreneurs to avoid putting too much of themselves into a project.
Ngom first entered the entrepreneurial sphere as a network marketer when she was 23, after struggling to find a job despite completing a master degree in social work. Before long, the ambitious but unfocused young woman was pregnant, in debt, and living off food stamps. She knew that something had to change.
Deciding to take control of her life, Ngom knew she had to learn how to build up her business properly.
“I realized that, up until that point, I literally had no idea what I was doing. But I knew I could work it out and began studying the best way to market my offers and regain my independence, financially and personally,” Ngom explained.
Making it Big
Galvanized by what she learned studying successful entrepreneurs, Ngom turned her small business into a hugely successful world-wide operation, transforming the once-flailing entrepreneur into a millionaire – all by the time she was 34.
Determined to give back to society, and specifically young women like herself who had difficulty building a company, Ngom established a new business, becoming the go-to expert, detailing her Pinterest strategies and how to make it big in the online space.
“I am super passionate about passing on everything I have learned over the last few years to other entrepreneurs, who are determined to improve themselves and the world around them. And by using the simple, logical steps that were so helpful to me, they can create their own online strategy tailor-made for their online business,” she shared.
To help you learn from her experiences, here are Ngom’s favorite tips for avoiding burnout while building your business.
Build With Vision
It is vital to know where you are and where you are going. Breaking down your goals and creating target points on your journey means you have a road map for your success.
However, it is just as important to build in time for rest, exercise, and family time to maintain the essential ‘you’ and avoid exhaustion. We often schedule our business priorities and try to squeeze in family wherever we can. If we started by creating the vision of what we wanted for our family life, then building the business from there, first you need to know what you want and create it.
In Ngom’s signature ‘Secrets to the 20-Hour Work Week’, she details how to create a million-dollar, freedom-based business where one can put their family first. The campaign takes a personal approach, highlighting her daily routine and her key growth priorities, as well as key ‘time-wasters’ she always avoids, and how to stop hustling and prioritize family and sanity.
Additionally, take a look at a simple spreadsheet she created for an idea of how to keep track of the hours you have worked to ensure you don’t miss your kid’s baseball game, or find yourself canceling a long weekend with your loved ones for the sake of your business.
Productivity, Not Overworking
Ngom suggests setting daily and weekly goals, and no matter what, making sure you hit them. For example, set aside days where you will concentrate only on business pitch emails and send four well-constructed emails instead of just one haphazard one.
Going further, you can break the week down into themed days. For instance, you could dedicate Wednesdays (or whichever day you prefer) to taking calls and Zoom meetings.
Outsource Talent
Take a look at your team and analyze the areas that need bolstering. Who do you need on your team? By hiring the right people in the right roles, you can delegate responsibility to an expert in the field, whether a head coach, social media manager, or sales director.
Figure out the areas of your business where you excel. Then make sure you, and only you, are responsible for those tasks. Doing this will help maintain joy and excitement in your daily life and provide confidence when you most need it.
Create standard operating procedures (SOPs): Make a list of everything you do in your business and create SOPs around them, which can be passed to a team member with minimal time spent on instruction. You can even make videos that complement the SOPs to free up even more time.
Minimize Commitments
Keep everything as simple as possible. You don’t need endless freebies or offers to generate interest. Create offers that don’t require trading time for money.
Try and think differently. If you have an important call with a client but need to be on the move, suggest communication over more flexible platforms, such as the business walkie-talkie app, Voxer. Or even try using messaging apps to record messages that an employee can translate later. You could also try free resources by sticking the audio into a dedicated transcription app, like Otter.ai, for more flexibility.
With Ngom as a guide, we can all take some steps to avoid burnout and become better, more productive entrepreneurs, while prioritizing what matters most.
About Rachel Ngom
Rachel Ngom is the founder of She’s Making an Impact, where she is helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs create multiple income streams, financial freedom, and generational wealth that will serve their families without sacrificing what matters most. She offers guidance to anyone on their entrepreneurial journey to scale without burnout with her online courses, coaching, and the She’s Making an Impact podcast, all while working just 20 hours each week. In January of 2023, she is launching a new course, Success Without Stress. For more information, or to make an impact with her, please visit rachelngom.com/
