Three Ways to Make a Comeback in Your Business This Year

Have you ever had those times in your life, the ones where everything seems to hit you all at once?

For me, the past six months have been a whirlwind, in both good and bad ways.

In a nutshell, beginning at the end of summer 2017 - right now, I have:

Completed the first round of my signature course, Your Wellness Website Blueprint. (SO fun!)
Moved across the state for the 6th (!!!) time in 2.5 years with my hubby and toddler (and no, I’m NEVER moving again! haha...)
Tried to get settled into a new town, lifestyle, and community
Experienced major loss in my circle of friends
Gone through the monster of First Trimester sickness that had my laying on the floor most of the day (...That’s right, there’s a bambino on the way!)

So I know that entire list could easily describe many of your lives as well (well, maybe aside from the “launch an online course” part).

Many of you run your business as a “side gig” and have tons of other balls you’re juggling all the time, or you’re simply busy with family, kids, and outside commitments and there are seasons of life when your business needs to take a bit of a back-burner.

And you know what?

That’s perfectly normal!

(And healthy, if you ask me.)

One of my favorite ways to avoid burnout is to listen to my body and intuition, and when they tell me to step back from something for a season, to do so gladly. This always ends up paying off for me in the end with a brighter outlook and renewed energy to tackle whatever I need to AFTER I’ve taken the necessary time off.

I know for a fact that this is way more common in the business world than any of us would like to admit. After all, it’s so trendy to constantly email and post on social media like we’re “all hustle, all the time,” but where’s the encouragement for healthy REST in our feeds? (sidenote--you may have noticed I’ve been pretty silent on social media for a few months. Yes, this was intentional. Yes, I’m so glad I did it. And yes, I’ll be back on there more soon.) :)

In fact, here’s an email I got just yesterday that shows just how common it is for our business to take a backseat when life gets in the way:

“I have been obsessed with nutrition since dealing with my kiddos' food allergies! When I lost my corporate job in 2016, I jumped at the chance to turn that obsession into a new career and enrolled in … health coach training.

Right as I was wrapping up my training I was offered a job at my old company that was hard to turn down. I figured it would be guaranteed income while I prepared to launch my coaching business. Of course life took over and I kept pushing the coaching work to the back burner. So it's time to get back to it! I'm outlining my programs, setting up my website and I can't wait to get going!”

Sounds familiar, right?

So what do you do to get back in the driver’s seat and create a “Come Back” momentum for your business when you’ve taken some time away?

1 | Set specific goals, and be intentional with your work time

There’s nothing worse than coming back to your work after some time away -- whether planned or unplanned -- and realizing you have no idea where to begin.

We’ve all been there, but it’s never a good feeling, and following the never-ending emails in your inbox is never a good way to prioritize your time.

You need to be super-specific about exactly what you hope to accomplish in this new season of your business, and the numbers you need to hit in order to make that goal sustainable financially.

So if you’re a massage therapist, maybe your goal is to book 4 brand-new clients this month and reel back in 2 former clients for a session. Great! Now you need to figure out the marketing methods you’ll use to bring those clients in, the approximate number of hours you’ll spend on marketing to them and working with them, and ensure that your profit margin can support that amount of time investment.

Or perhaps you’re an online-based life coach, who wants to book one new high-paying client for this quarter. You’ve set your intention, now it’s time to plot out how you’ll reach that goal.

It’s not enough to be passionate about your work.

You need to be specific about your targets, and create a plan to hit them, or you’ll be left burned out and wondering why you’re not making it.

2 | Design your workweek as a series of “sprints”

Now that you’ve set your very specific intentions, it’s time to take a look at how this can work on a calendar.

My very favorite way to do this is in a series of short “sprints” (and no, I’m not suggesting you hop on the track for a speed workout to get your business up and running!)

A sprint is a short, designated period of time during which you only focus on ONE task you need to accomplish to achieve your larger objective.

Ever told yourself that you’re going to work on “a little of this” for 30 minutes, and then “a little of that” for 2 hours, and then check Facebook, and then get distracted by something, and the next thing you know you’re staring at cat videos on YouTube and the whole day is gone with nothing to show for it?

(Yeah, I’m raising my hand here too, I’ll be honest.)

So sprinting is the exact opposite of this “multi-tasking” approach.

When you design sprints, you write down the huge long list of various tasks you need to do in order to accomplish your desired objective, and then you assign each task a window of time within which you will only work on that ONE thing.

For example, if you’re an online health coach who wants to launch a group program in the next two months, your list might include things like “write email sequence,” “record group video lessons,” “create marketing graphics for social media” etc.

Then for each of those tasks, you would give it a two day period (or one week, or two weeks, totally depends on the scope of the task and the amount of time you can devote) to do NOTHING BESIDES THAT ONE THING. Seriously. Log out of Facebook, buckle down, and get it done!

I promise you, this method will work wonders for your productivity levels.

3 | Find cheerleaders who will help you stay focused

Though this method might be the most “intangible” on the list, for me (a highly social, extroverted creature who craves relationship and feedback) it is one of the most essential to keeping the “come back” momentum going when I’m tempted to just give up and lounge on the couch in my PJ’s sipping La Croix.

Whether it’s your partner, a close friend, a biz buddy, classmate, or someone you’ve met in an online community, it’s SO essential to have people who know all about your recent burn-out (or forced hiatus) from your business, as well as your new objectives, and are going to cheer you on.

When loved ones see us exhausted and drained from working on our biz, they’ll often (mistakenly) encourage us that “it’s just too much,” or “you could always try again next year,” etc. and not realize that what we actually needed is just a little pep-talk to get us back on our feet and ready to go.

When you have specific people in your corner to encourage you, you can selectively choose to only vent about your business issues to them, knowing that they’re going to respond with positive, encouraging feedback rather than drag you down further because they don’t know what to say.

So there you have it, friends, my top three tips for creating your own “come back” momentum when you’ve had to take some time off from your business.

I’m no expert (clearly, since I’m still working on creating a come back for myself right this minute), but I wanted to share some encouragement with you guys in hope that it helps at least one of you.

I’d love to hear from you, send me an email at contact@margocarroll.com or drop a comment below to tell me how you've made your own business comeback!

Have you ever had those times in your life, the ones where everything seems to hit you all at once?

For me, the past six months have been a whirlwind, in both good and bad ways.

In a nutshell, beginning at the end of summer 2017 - right now, I have:

Completed the first round of my signature course, Your Wellness Website Blueprint. (SO fun!)

Moved across the state for the 6th (!!!) time in 2.5 years with my hubby and toddler (and no, I’m NEVER moving again! haha...)

Tried to get settled into a new town, lifestyle, and community

Experienced major loss in my circle of friends

Gone through the monster of First Trimester sickness that had my laying on the floor most of the day (...That’s right, there’s a bambino on the way!)

So I know that entire list could easily describe many of your lives as well (well, maybe aside from the “launch an online course” part).

Many of you run your business as a “side gig” and have tons of other balls you’re juggling all the time, or you’re simply busy with family, kids, and outside commitments and there are seasons of life when your business needs to take a bit of a back-burner.

And you know what?

That’s perfectly normal!

(And healthy, if you ask me.)

In fact, here’s an email I got just yesterday that shows just how common it is for our business to take a backseat when life gets in the way:

“I have been obsessed with nutrition since dealing with my kiddos' food allergies! When I lost my corporate job in 2016, I jumped at the chance to turn that obsession into a new career and enrolled in … health coach training.

Sounds familiar, right?

So what do you do to get back in the driver’s seat and create a “Come Back” momentum for your business when you’ve taken some time away?

1 | Set specific goals, and be intentional with your work time

There’s nothing worse than coming back to your work after some time away -- whether planned or unplanned -- and realizing you have no idea where to begin.

We’ve all been there, but it’s never a good feeling, and following the never-ending emails in your inbox is never a good way to prioritize your time.

You need to be super-specific about exactly what you hope to accomplish in this new season of your business, and the numbers you need to hit in order to make that goal sustainable financially.

Or perhaps you’re an online-based life coach, who wants to book one new high-paying client for this quarter. You’ve set your intention, now it’s time to plot out how you’ll reach that goal.

It’s not enough to be passionate about your work.

You need to be specific about your targets, and create a plan to hit them, or you’ll be left burned out and wondering why you’re not making it.

2 | Design your workweek as a series of “sprints”

Now that you’ve set your very specific intentions, it’s time to take a look at how this can work on a calendar.

My very favorite way to do this is in a series of short “sprints” (and no, I’m not suggesting you hop on the track for a speed workout to get your business up and running!)

A sprint is a short, designated period of time during which you only focus on ONE task you need to accomplish to achieve your larger objective.

(Yeah, I’m raising my hand here too, I’ll be honest.)

So sprinting is the exact opposite of this “multi-tasking” approach.

When you design sprints, you write down the huge long list of various tasks you need to do in order to accomplish your desired objective, and then you assign each task a window of time within which you will only work on that ONE thing.

For example, if you’re an online health coach who wants to launch a group program in the next two months, your list might include things like “write email sequence,” “record group video lessons,” “create marketing graphics for social media” etc.

Then for each of those tasks, you would give it a two day period (or one week, or two weeks, totally depends on the scope of the task and the amount of time you can devote) to do NOTHING BESIDES THAT ONE THING. Seriously. Log out of Facebook, buckle down, and get it done!

I promise you, this method will work wonders for your productivity levels.

3 | Find cheerleaders who will help you stay focused

Whether it’s your partner, a close friend, a biz buddy, classmate, or someone you’ve met in an online community, it’s SO essential to have people who know all about your recent burn-out (or forced hiatus) from your business, as well as your new objectives, and are going to cheer you on.

When you have specific people in your corner to encourage you, you can selectively choose to only vent about your business issues to them, knowing that they’re going to respond with positive, encouraging feedback rather than drag you down further because they don’t know what to say.

So there you have it, friends, my top three tips for creating your own “come back” momentum when you’ve had to take some time off from your business.

I’m no expert (clearly, since I’m still working on creating a come back for myself right this minute), but I wanted to share some encouragement with you guys in hope that it helps at least one of you.

I’d love to hear from you, send me an email at contact@margocarroll.com or drop a comment below to tell me how you've made your own business comeback!

Margo Carroll