Year in Review: I Simplified my Business to Grieve and Process Loss
How and why did I simplify my business?
In short, I put myself on a spending freeze so I could afford to give myself more space and time to grieve. As I entered into 2023, I was fresh off the heels of serious burnout and almost closed the doors to my business. For some context, my daughter was only 1 at the time (hello, lack of sleep) and I was still adjusting to my new identity as ‘mom’. Then, very unexpectedly, my Dad passed away. This type of grief and fatigue shifts your center in an unimaginable way. I truly, can’t even begin to explain it and my heart goes out to those of you who have experienced big grief and loss like this in your own lives.
As I entered into 2023, I was fresh off the heels of serious burnout and almost closed the doors to my business.
After a few months of processing, I decided that I wanted to stick things out with Sundai Studio but that I needed some big changes in my business to avoid future burnout and continue to process this loss. I desired a “simple business” with a high profit margin that truly felt flexible in my new role as a mother. In this day and age, it’s easy to get caught up in constantly investing in yourself and learning new things. And I think for some of us with perfectionist tendencies, we don’t really take enough time to pause and integrate these learnings in-between these investments. Have you been there? Have you ever felt the pressure to join that new course when you haven’t actually finished the course you last purchased? During this season of healing and laying the new foundation, I desperately wanted to slow down. I had to slow down.
Before I get into the finances I want to share that as a Brand and Website Designer who works from a home office, my overhead is quite low. There are only a few software programs that are absolutely necessary for me to run my business - This is a privilege. Adobe Creative Suite, Flodesk (my email marketing platform of choice), Loom (to present ideas to clients), Zoom (to conduct any formal consult calls and check-ins with clients), Squarespace and Google Workspace (email + storage on the google drive).
Because of this, I had the opportunity to slow down my business but still keep my take-home-pay high. In order to achieve this, I set two big goals in 2023 that aligned with this desire to slow down:
Goal #1: Increase my take-home pay.
I was working hard and doing great work, but only “taking home” 50% of each client payment. This means that if I had an 8k month I was only really ‘seeing’ 4k at home. I personally wanted to increase this amount for my current life phase. Why only take home 50% of each client payment? Well, that’s the Profit First system. I have loved implementing the Profit First system into my business. It’s this system that provided that initial 50% benchmark, but I realized that since my business had such little overhead that I could afford to up that percentage to 75%. I was able to do this by decreasing my monthly expenses to 5% which keeps my taxes and profit percentages the same as before. This was a scary shift at first. I knew I had to cut back on extra business and personal development expenses. In lieu of those extra expenses, I could invest that money into our family’s future. By the way, this is a great example of how your business should be working for you. Once you understand your numbers and can see the data, you have the power to adjust your business to fit whatever lifestyle you desire. If you need one, consider this your official permission slip.
Goal #2: Outsource less.
This may seem obvious, but when was the last time you really scrutinized your expenses? There was one really large expense in my business that had to go. Bookkeeping. After looking at the data, I quickly saw that if I could do my own books, and take charge of that, I would decrease 50% of my expenses. That’s a lot. I was outsourcing it to Bench, and while I don’t really have anything particularly negative to say about Bench, they did raise their rates to a number that just didn’t fit these new 2023 goals. So they had to go. Cut to Youtube binging, where I learned the ins and outs of Wave, a free bookkeeping software. I also was privileged to work with a past client, Aimee who is a Virtual CFO. She always brought up how important it is for business owners to see and understand their own business finances. With that inspiration driving me, I officially set things up on my own in January of 2023 and have put that process on cruise control this year , doing the Profit First system and my books every month on the 25th. I also came to learn that my particular business (as a brand and website designer) requires *laughably* simple books. Like truly, the most simple. So simple that when I realized this, I was slightly embarrassed I didn’t do this from the start. But hey, you live and you learn.
After a year of saying NO to new expenses, I learned 3 big things:
You probably already paid for this.
When was the last time you revisited a course you already purchased? I’ve taken a plethora of business courses, marketing courses, flow and alignment courses. I’ve attended free workshops, webinars and read tons of blogposts. If you’re on my website, I bet you have too. This means that we have a lot of advice and knowledge at our fingertips. Advice and strategies we probably haven’t actually implemented everything yet. Did you know that it often takes at least 90 days of consistency for you to even start seeing real results from a specific marketing strategy? I felt myself lean into a simpler more consistent marketing plan and was less distracted by all the new shiny objects out there. During this year, if I wanted to invest in something like “Social Media Strategy”... I actually just took the time to pull up those courses that I already purchased and listened to the modules again. I continued to see that I already had advice, tools and systems from respected entrepreneurs.
It feels just as good to say NO.
It turns out that sticking to your goal and having the discipline to stick to it feels amazing. Every time I opted out of a new purchase I felt incredibly proud of myself. This happened in big ways about 4 or 5 times throughout the year. Every time, I reminded myself how I had this knowledge within me, within a purchased course, or that the timing just isn’t right. I told myself if I still wanted this investment by the year’s end, that I would happily purchase it then. While I had the cash flow to purchase most of these programs I desired, it’s the principle that stopped me. I wanted to prove to myself that my business could flourish with what I already had. Which brings me to…
Your business can still flourish without extra investments.
Without these extra investments…new clients still came through the doors, I did my best work to date, and most importantly I was proud of myself for sticking with this goal all year long. I kept things as simple as I could and took home more than any other year. I can’t help but hear a tiny voice that says “But what could have happened if you did invest in that social media program?”. My response: 2023 was just not the year for me to try those things. 2023 was the year I committed to myself. I committed to the programs I’ve already invested in, I committed to my own skills, my own brain. So I say, “Thank you brain/ego for your concern. I hear you. But I’m okay”.
In business, there are years for growth and investments (i.e your website design) and then there are years for solitude and simplification.
As you enter into a new year, or a new season, I want to encourage you to create business goals that are aligned with your real life and your needs. While you could always do more, it’s also truly okay to do less. In business, there are years for growth and investments (i.e your website design) and then there are years for solitude and simplification. I want you to know that I support you in whatever year you plan to have. Maybe your entering into a season of slowness, or maybe, like me, you are looking to create a year of growth next year. My daughter is a year older, the grief is feeling less heavy and my desire for creating an aligned business grows stronger by the day. I have big dreams planned for 2024, which will inevitably include investing more in myself and business. And while I’m excited to grow and experience new things next year, I always have this experience to turn to if I ever need to slow it down and reset.
Cheers to YOU and the season your in,
Xo,
Jena
Whether you’re a client reading this or you’re someone on the internet looking for some guidance, I hope this blogpost feels supportive for wherever you are in the process.
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Jena and I specialize in working with women who are in the health, wellness and personal development space. I am wildly passionate about helping you feel aligned with your branding and confident sharing your skills and gifts with your communities. Business coaches, health coaches, therapists, life coaches, yoga teachers, RTT therapists, Inner Voice Coaches, healers and so much more. If you have a personal brand and are in need of design and website support, you are in the right place.
Send me a message on instagram with any questions.
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