There’s a quiet fear I hear from a lot of business owners when things start picking up.
What if I do too much and burn out again?
I often speak to small business owners who have struggled with burnout. From stubborn coughs, aggressive migraines, and never-ending colds, it is clear just how often many people feel the strain of doing too much.
If you’ve recently burned out, the memory of being wiped out – of not having the energy to invest in growing your business – is still fresh. So even though you want to move forward and grow, you find yourself holding back. Not because you don’t want success, but because you’re scared of ending up back at square one.
I get it.
I burned out myself in my second year of business and it took months to get my energy back and start growing my business again. Since then, I’ve become deeply conscious of where I invest my time – because I know exactly what happens when I don’t.
That’s why I believe so strongly in being strategic about how you network.
Where networking goes wrong
This is where I see so many experienced small business owners trip up.
You already go networking. You enjoy it. It’s brought you clients before. So when you want to increase your client numbers by two or three a month, the obvious answer feels like doing more.
More meetings.
More coffee mornings.
Another online group.
You fill your diary, hoping that more visibility will automatically mean more results.
But suddenly your time gets squeezed. You’re working evenings and weekends, trying to juggle client work, content, admin, and networking.
In other words – you’ve booked yourself a one-way ticket to burnout.
You don’t need more networking
Here’s the truth:
You don’t need to do more networking to get more clients.
Because just joining another group doesn’t guarantee results.
What you actually need is to get more from the meetings you’re already attending. And that requires a clear, simple strategy that turns conversations into clients.
It starts with clarity – being really clear on why you’re networking, what you’re promoting, and who you’re trying to attract.
Your messaging needs to be compelling. The way you talk about who you are and what you do should naturally draw in your ideal client and make you a no-brainer to work with.
You need a fool-proof follow-up system so every promising conversation becomes a hot lead – not a forgotten chat.
You need fewer but more focused 1:1s, so the conversations you do have are productive and connect you to the right people.
When all of this is in place, networking becomes a sustainable, reliable way to grow your business.
No packed diary.
No drained energy.
No burnout cycle.
Less networking. Better results.
With the right networking strategy, you can do less networking and get better outcomes from what you’re already doing.
If fear of burning out is holding you back from implementing strategies that would actually help your business grow, I can help.
I teach business owners how to:
- Articulate the value of what they do so their messaging is clear and attracts the right clients
- Have business-focused 1:1s that lead to referrals and clients, instead of hoping people “get it”
- Quickly and confidently identify which networking rooms are worth their time and ditch the ones that drain their energy
This is how you stop burning out and start growing – by networking less and achieving more.
