3 things I learned coaching founders who almost quit their businesses

Running a business is hard. You experience so many ups and downs. You may have a team or co-founder to work with, but there's no one managing you or telling you you're doing a good job.

I am a coach for founders. I've supported founders who almost gave up on their dream businesses. Some of these businesses are in the MVP stage. Some of them have 20-30 employees and profitable businesses.

On the outside, they have great ideas, revenue growth, and valuation. They have a booming customer community and healthy inbound leads.

The truth is they were experiencing burnout and they wonder if they should quit. Their burnouts were twofold: 1) excess time working on their business 2) excess negative emotions and weight they have to carry.

We often think of burnout solved by taking a vacation. It may help. But we are not addressing the second type of burnout. It's the one where you carry dread, anxiety, and hopelessness around with you. You can become so disconnected from your original mission. You fall out of love with your business.

My clients didn't want to give up but felt like they couldn't see a way out of being stuck. Together, we worked on falling back in love with their businesses. Not just that, they also expanded their team, found more time for their families, and raised more money.

Here are the 3 things I learned working with this group:

1. We can't just work on our business
   If the business is our only project, then we put all our eggs in one basket. When things don't go our way, we risk feeling like our whole world is ending. We need other avenues to channel passion and creativity. This will help us be more resilient to burnout. And it's not about just making time for hobbies or other projects, it's about cultivating genuine interest. It's about creating an identity outside of the CEO of xxx. My clients have picked up competitive running, painting, public speaking, writing and etc.

2. How we feel affects our decisions
   When one of my clients was in fear, they thought the competitor was going to eat them alive. They made a roadmap prioritizing defense. After some coaching, they decided going offense and doubling down on their proprietary tech is the right move. Because of fear, they almost led their team in the wrong direction.
   You can take the same thinking process, for example, First Principles, and have two different outcomes depending on how you're feeling. When you are in a spiral of anxiety and fear, the best thing to do is to step away. Give yourself some compassionate space before coming back to the problem.

3. Counting our own wins is essential
   Many founders are great managers. They give kudos generously to their team. But they don't have the habit of doing so for themselves. Some fear it'll make them arrogant, others fear counting wins will blind their judgment. If it hasn't happened to the employees who you celebrate often, it probably won't happen to you.
   In order to stomach so much uncertainty, you need to be very clear on what you did right. You need to celebrate the smallest things. My clients who do this regularly saw a big difference in how they approach the business. They see it with more excitement, fun, and optimism. They solve problems better.

Thank you for reading this far. If you experienced talking yourself out of quitting your business, what helped?

P.S. If you're interested to connect, you can check out my website here: https://www.morilight.com/