fbpx

5 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Start Doing Immediately!

Avoiding burnout will keep your startup happy, your customers happy, you happy, and most importantly, your family happy.

After many late nights staring at glowing fluorescent screens, drinking bottomless cups of coffee, and making endless to-do lists, it’s no wonder many entrepreneurs often find themselves burning out within months of taking the plunge into the world of startups.

While it’s a rewarding career, the life an entrepreneur can be crazy and stress inducing at times. I learned early on with my startup, GiftStarter.com, that it’s vital to not only take care of your employees and customers, but also yourself. After all, the startup journey is truly a marathon.

Here’s a look at startup survival tips I’ve learned along the way.

 

Create a daily ritual

It’s so important to include certain rituals throughout your day. For example, I read every morning and every evening. My morning routine includes taking the time to breathe and read about what’s going on. As evening rolls around, I look forward to another break to slow down, read, and learn from others in the industry.

 

Photo: © GaudiLab, YFS Magazine
Photo: © GaudiLab, YFS Magazine

 

Outsource and delegate

It’s impossible to do everything. That’s why I love using services like FancyHands and RedButler for administrative tasks. Outsourcing services have helped me with everything from sending flowers to data entry. As an entrepreneur, your time is limited. Focusing on the overall strategy and delegating tasks will help you accomplish goals towards your mission much faster.

 

Photo: © Monkey Business, YFS Magazine
Photo: © Monkey Business, YFS Magazine

 

Trust Your team

One thing I love about my team is that I can trust them to accomplish projects with minimal involvement. Having a strong team has helped us scale and create something wonderful. If you don’t trust someone, don’t hire them. If you no longer trust them, get them off the bus.

 

Photo: © julief514, YFS Magazine
Photo: © julief514, YFS Magazine

 

Let others help

This took me a while to learn. I first had to learn to let go. As a new mother, I have learned to trust my parents-in-law and mother to help take care of our baby. Raising a child while running a startup means countless hours of planning, love and work. I’ve learned to let people know when I could use a hand (or two) and I am always eager to help those who need assistance themselves.

 

Photo: © leungchopan, YFS Magazine
Photo: © leungchopan, YFS Magazine

 

Sleep, sleep and sleep more

For me, sleep is precious and everything falls apart without it. Every night, I try my very best to get a full night of rest that will leave me collected and energized for the following day. I prioritize sleep to help keep my sanity, health and calm daily.

 

Photo: © nenadaksic, YFS Magazine
Photo: © nenadaksic, YFS Magazine

 

Though our days may be filled with investor meetings, employees check-ins, presentations and endless other tasks, we can power through by giving it our best each day and not feeling bad if sometimes, we must slow down. Avoiding burnout will keep your startup happy, your customers happy, you happy, and most importantly, your family happy.

 

This article has been edited and condensed.

Arry Yu is the CEO and Founder of GiftStarter.com. Arry got her start advising world class brands including Microsoft, Google, and L’Oreal at the intersection of where business and creativity meet technology. Arry is passionate about building businesses with an emphasis on corporate culture and innovation, using technology as an enabler. She’s been recognized as a top 40 Under 40 for the Puget Sound Business Journal and has had the opportunity to offer her expertise to both startups and major brands. Connect with @arryinseattle on Twitter.

 

© YFS Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Copying prohibited. All material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited. Sharing of this material under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International terms, listed here, is permitted.

   

In this article