Overcome Business Burnout: A CEO's Journey to Sustainable Growth

Today, I'm sharing my journey of how I managed to overcome business burnout and completely change my business... again.

Last year, my business grew from a 30-40K a year venture to hitting six figures within about five or six months.

It was incredible, but also a classic case of "be careful what you wish for". I realised I didn't have the structures and systems in place to maintain those numbers without burning out.

I'm going to walk you through exactly what happened and how I created a structure that's given me time and space to record a podcast, create multiple revenue streams, and grow my business without burning out.

The Four-Step Plan

To overcome business burnout and create sustainable growth, I developed a four-step plan:

1. Optimise my team and systems

2. Grow my audience strategically

3. Amplify my message

4. Create multiple revenue streams

Let's dive into each step and see how it helped me overcome business burnout and build a more sustainable business.

1) Optimising Your Team and Systems

The first step to overcome business burnout was to work on my support system.

Building a team has been one of the hardest things I've found over the last few years.

I’m well aware that I'm challenging to work with - I think fast, speak fast, act fast, and learn fast. I hate to delegate and I'm not hugely structured. 😂

However, I've found an amazing team by understanding how I work best and how they can support me.

Here's what I did:

• Hired an incredible VA who's proactive about finding ways to help

• Brought on a Facebook ads VA to handle admin tasks

• Found a social media manager who doesn't feel threatened by my involvement!

I also introduced systems to streamline our work:

• We now heavily rely on ClickUp for task management

• We use Slack for communication

• I decided on my own systems and asked clients and team members to adapt

Remember, it's your business and you get to decide what systems you work in.

Don't spread yourself thin trying to accommodate everyone else's preferences.

2) Growing Your Audience Strategically

To overcome business burnout and support offers beyond one-to-one work, I needed to grow my audience faster.

Here's what I did:

• Created a new lead magnet

• Developed a new welcome sequence

• Increased my ad spend from about £8 a day to £20-25 a day

• Launched my Audience Builder course

I experimented with different ad formats, content types, and budget levels to find the most effective strategies for growing my audience without burning out (it is my area of expertise, so this shouldn’t be a massive surprise!).

3) Amplifying Your Message

The third phase of my plan to overcome business burnout was to amplify everything I was doing.

This included:

• Using ads to boost visibility

• Pushing myself to do in-person speaking events

• Attending strategic in-person events with my ideal clients

• Focusing on "return on energy invested" rather than just financial returns

• Working on my messaging with a coach

• Bringing back this podcast (finally!)

Long form content and in person events were my priority because I know that my energy is a big reason people choose to work with me.

4) Creating Multiple Revenue Streams

The final step in my plan to overcome business burnout was to create monthly recurring revenue beyond one-to-one work.

I developed a progressive offer stack that includes:

1. Audience Builder Course (DIY Facebook ads course)

2. Small, low-cost offers (e.g., plug-and-play welcome sequence, ChatGPT for ad copy)

3. ROAR (revamped one-to-one offer)

4. Ignite (group program combining messaging and ads funnels)

5. Consultancy work

6. In-person training days

7. Mastermind program (starts in Sept ‘24)

This offer stack allows me to serve clients at different levels and create more stable, predictable income without burning out. Click here to see my different services.

Key Takeaways from a CEO's Journey

As I reflect on my journey to overcome business burnout, here are my biggest takeaways:

1. There are many ways to grow a business. Find what works for you.

2. Your preferences matter. Create joy in your business.

3. You can change your audience and who you sell to.

4. Building a new audience takes time, but it's worth it.

5. You are not your business. If things fail or change, it's not a reflection on you.

Remember, you don't have to keep doing things the same way just because that's what you've committed to.

This whole journey took over 6 months and is still and ongoing process.

You can always make a plan to get out of a corner and create a business that truly serves you.

If you’re ready to take the leap into Facebook & Instagram ads, my Audience Builder Course is the perfect place to start. I’ll walk you step by step through 3 key Facebook & Instagram ad campaigns to allow you to grow your email list AND Instagram followers - for as little as £3/day.

Click here for all the info & to sign up.

What next?

If you’ve found this blog post useful, here are some ways you can be a part of my world:

1) Love an Instagram story? Good, me too! Come say hi & access plenty more of my free tips over on: @sophiegriffithsco

2) Listen to my podcast! It’s all about taking big, bold moves in your marketing with strategic, practical advice and loads of inspiration too! Click here to find out more and listen!

3) Interested in working with me? To check out the client services I offer here click here

Listen to the full podcast episode for additional insights and tips here.