Having freedom with your time is probably one of the biggest perks of being a full-time business owner. You have commitments to clients of course, but you have a sick day? No boss to check with because, well you’re the boss!

But what do you do when you could potentially have a lot of sick days? I asked myself this question when I began booking more consistent clients. I was trying to balance being a present, passionate business owner with being in pain and not providing a quality experience for my clients while I was sick.

A short history for you: I lived through the first 24 years of my life rarely thinking about my health. I didn’t know there were not one, but two blood disorders waiting to make their debut soon that would make simple tasks a lot more difficult. Since 2014, I’ve been in and out of the hospital more times than I’d like to admit. But before 2016, I was almost thankful that I had less clients so that I could have that additional time in my schedule.

Now with more clients and opportunities that I’m so thankful for, I have found a strategy that allows me to take care of myself while serving my clients with my talents and love for what I do. There’s 3 main components that have worked the best for me that I think can help you, too!

Make closer connections

While I’ve been blessed to work with some truly understanding and wonderful women during my time as a business owner, having to think of excuses and reasons I was MIA for days at a time were getting harder to come up with. I was juggling trying to feel better with finding a way to explain why I was unavailable to my clients in the middle of their timeline.

Once I started sharing my story within my brand’s message, potential clients were drawn to my honesty. I felt that I was being much more genuine and having the weight lifter off of my shoulders. Now, if I got sick, I could tell clients openly. The reception was always understanding and made me feel that I could truly focus on feeling better so that once I was back, we could dive back into their project with confidence.

Don’t hide your truth friend. Share whatever you’re comfortable revealing but know that you will only be drawing clients in who genuinely believe in how you can help them and who you are as a person.

Another connection that has saved me in a pinch were other amazing and talented women within the sphere of my industry. When I truly needed time completely away, for more serious complications or issues, having designers to turn to that could help me to keep my projects going was a lifesaver!

This did take some budgeting changes (I value their time!) but knowing I have help when I need is so freeing. I can always be secure in the fact that my clients are always served well whether I’m there myself or not.

Plan ahead

As I mentioned, I had to prepare for needing help by setting aside some money and plan ahead. This is essential in every corner of your processes and project timelines so that you truly have some wiggle room. You don’t want to come back to work with your client only to have to hustle and work late nights just to catch up.

I added 4 other simple changes that has made a huge difference in the way I run my business.

• Buffer time: Between each season of projects (personally, a season is define by me as 8-10 weeks of consistently booked clients) I give myself a week or two to recoup. I usually work on content, my own business and moving it forward, and getting a massage! Adding a week or two to the entire timeline can help as well, giving you time to take off and you won’t fall behind.
• Staggering timelines: No matter your industry, we all have phases in our projects. For instance, I have 3 main phases (strategy, website, and launch) and when I’d schedule projects all starting around the same time, I’d be responsible for a lot of launches all at once. In normal circumstances, that’d be overwhelming. Making sure I don’t have two clients in the same phase at a time helps buffer my time a bit more and I always have varied tasks for each person.
• Having set end dates: This tip may seem backwards! But when you have a set in stone deadline, you can better plan a more concrete schedule for yourself. Having set end dates that are launch-by dates have made it simpler to plan an entire year for myself. I know my limits, I know when I’m taking time for me…it’s been a huge help.
• Lastly, since you’ll most likely need to take a more limited amount of clients, you’ll need to set your goals and pricing in a way that works best for YOU. You’ll see a lot of amazing and helpful tips on blogs, from fellow creatives, but when you need to restrain yourself in terms of projects, having pricing that will make it possible to meet your goals will take a lot of pressure off of you.

Be kind to yourself

When dealing with a chronic illness and chronic time away from your business, guilt and frustration are ready to step in and make you feel worse.

“What if someone else entirely could be serving my clients better?”

“I’m sure I’d be miles ahead of where I am now if I only could dedicate more time to growing my business.”

I was right there for the first two and a half years in my business. I wasn’t making any kind of profit and didn’t feel like I could dedicate the necessary time to expand and achieve my dreams. But that time was when I found out what fueled my soul. I figured out what I was most passionate about and where I was meant to create.

There are tangible ways to give yourself more grace, but first it starts with the mentality that you’re doing all you can and you’re pursuing your dream. Not many people can say that. I don’t take any client, morning before diving into a project, or opportunity I’ve been given. When I feel those moments of doubt, I turn to the victories I’ve achieved. Remembering how far you’ve come is a fantastic motivator because your only competition is yourself.

When I need that time, when I’m in pain and cannot work at all, I use two tools that have saved me headaches and made me feel like I’m still doing the best I can.

• Autoresponder: I have an autoresponder (setup as a vacation message in Gmail) that lets people know when they email me why it may take awhile to hear back from me. I also have a canned response to let my clients know if I’ll be away a couple of days and letting them know how much I appreciate them. It makes it extremely easy to implement, most of the time by my husband.
• Asana checklist: There are some extremely small and simple tasks for my business that I can do from bed, when I’m feeling up to it. I keep an Asana project with a list of these small tasks so that I can still work towards a better business. These tasks include things like perusing Instagram to leave comments that encourage connection, create a new list of dreams and plans for the future, and absorb some new education like a course I haven’t had time to watch since I purchased it.

 

As someone who is still figuring out the balance of having an illness that just can’t get better and running a business, I hope what I’ve learned so far helps you to expand and conquer your goals with confidence and joy!

 

 

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