patience: the importance of growing sustainably

What does growing sustainably mean? It means building your business at a steady pace so you don't hit a ceiling too fast where you have too many clients, no time, you're working constantly 7 days per week, and all you feel like you're doing is reacting to the world around you. To grow sustainably, we need to have a little bit of patience.

The importance of growing sustainably and having patience are 3-fold:

• You have enough time and space to learn how to adapt to the new life of an entrepreneur

• You have enough time and space to figure out what you want your business to look like, the structure of the offers, the people you want to work with, and the values of your company

• You avoid getting burnout straight away (one big reason lots of people want to start their own business is to get away from the burnout at their job)

This is really important especially if you have a family, a full or part time job, or other obligations already -- you need time to figure out how you're going to phase in this new aspect of your life and how you're going to phase out the things that no longer serve you.

Pro tip, as a solo practice owner doing something more nontraditional, you built this business as a way to work with the people who bring you the most joy in a way that brings you the most joy. Therefore, you cannot work with just anybody. Saying yes to every opportunity that comes your way is going to result in you feeling exhausted and resentful. That's not why you started this.

You also need time to continue to learn things and improve on new skills as a business owner. Granting yourself that space and time and being patient with yourself will bring you much more peace.

How can we work on our patience here? Often, new business owners feel like they have to say yes to every opportunity and client that comes their way in order to get cashflow in. If this is where you are, I recommend setting a cap for yourself, whether it's 5 clients or 3 months of just hustling, there needs to be an end in sight where you start to give yourself permission to be a little bit pickier with what you spend your time on, only saying yes to things that align with your personal and company values.

I would also suggest setting the goals for the business in the short term with the knowledge that you're playing the long game, and everything that you do, you're setting yourself up for future success.

Be gentle with yourself. It's not a race. It's a journey, not a destination.

This post is part of my 12 Days of Successful Cash Practice series. Join my Facebook group to follow along!