Have you lost that lovin’ feeling…

for your business? Have the long nights, hard work, and lost hours taken their toll? They have for me.

About 4 months ago, I started my business, Book Worm Laser & Design. I was excited. It was the culmination of over 9 months worth of work, planning, blood, sweat, and tears. I had been posting consistently twice a week (and sometimes, 3+ times per week) on my personal blog, BlueCapra.com, since the end of August 2011. I woke up early, stayed up late, all in the name of business, marketing, content, and consistently. Then… poof.

It didn’t happen all at once, just a day or so here or there. The consistent 5 hours of sleep I was getting was getting to me. I was tired often, did not want to wake up an hour early to create before my day job. My creativity had began to falter.  I had lost that lovin’ feeling toward my business. I had burned out. I wondered to myself, was this the end my business and of all my progress, of all my hard work?

I doubt there has ever been an entrepreneur that did not get burnt out on the work they do. We put our lives into the businesses we build and sometimes, we push too far. We have lost sight of what we love about the business.  A break is needed, a time to step back and reevaluate things. We need to reboot.

Rebooting is not the end or rather, it doesn’t have to be. If you are to this point, you should be asking yourself is this business all it’s cracked up to be. If this is what my life will be like for the next few years (or 5… or 10…) do I want to continue along this path? If the answer is no, don’t despair, you have just learned a valuable lesson of what you are not passionate about. If this business is not something you want to devote long hours and loads of work to, say goodbye and move on to the next idea. This is not a failure, it is a vital lesson that will shape your future if you allow it.  You have lost a little time, but gained a lot of knowledge.

If you answered yes to devoting long hours and loads of work, understand that you are not alone.  At times, we all get burnt out.  Starting a business is hard work, but it gets easier. The more you work on your business, the better you get and the easier it becomes.  If this is your first business, don’t worry.  The knowledge and experience you are gaining is invaluable, preparing that next business to flourish.

So, if you have lost that lovin’ feeling toward your business, I know how you feel.  Keep up the hard work because in the end, it will be worth the effort.  You will learn to love again…

(photo by Ventrilock)