What to Do When You Feel Ready to Quit Your Business?

Have you ever felt so done with your business that you just wanted to burn it all down? I’ve been there. And I think all business owners will experience that feeling at some point. So what’s the solution? How do you move past that breaking point and get back to feeling good about your business? 

It’s all about mindset. The first step is understanding how you got to that point. Then, you need to figure out how to find the energy and motivation to keep going so you can get to a place where things feel a little easier.

So let’s look at the most common reason that fitness biz owners feel like quitting and figure out how to deal with them.

Determining why you want to quit your business

Everyone’s story is different, but there are common challenges that most business owners deal with. When you understand these issues, it’s easier to find a way to overcome them and give them less power moving forward. 

Financial difficulties

This might be the most common reason that business owners feel they want to quit. Running a business, especially in the health and wellness industry, often comes with significant financial challenges.

• Lack of cash flow
• Mounting debt
• Inability to secure funding
• Pricing confusion

The financial side of running a business is complicated, especially if you don’t have any formal training in this area. And money is an emotional topic for most people, so it’s easy to see why finances are such a significant challenge for business owners.

Burnout and stress

Many people equate these two things, but they’re not always the same. Stress often comes from the realities of running a health and wellness business. We work long hours juggling multiple responsibilities and countless decisions, and that’s a stressful existence!

Plus, most of us are balancing our work duties and thousands of other tasks. You probably wear multiple hats and have to constantly switch from being a CEO to a teacher/clinician, manager, customer service rep, facilities manager, and shift scheduler. And then you have non-business roles — partner/spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend, and the list goes on.

Often, these stressors add up over time and cause burnout. But sometimes you’ll experience a similar feeling during periods of significant growth in your business. So it’s crucial to be able to identify whether you’re truly burnt out or whether you’re just temporarily overwhelmed because your business is growing so quickly.

Lack of growth

Let’s be honest, it takes a certain kind of person to run a successful business. That’s why most of us tend to be self-motivated, growth-mindset, go-getter individuals. Many of us are perfectionists too. And those traits are very helpful in certain areas — they enable us to get stuff done in our businesses.

But there’s a downside — we tend to become frustrated when we don’t see growth and progress happening. When things aren’t moving quickly in your business, you might start questioning whether you want to keep going. Even if part of you knows that “maintenance phases” are normal in business, you might just want to give up during those times when things don’t seem to be moving forward.

What to do when you’re ready to burn it all down

And yes, it’s “when,” not “if.” We’ll all find ourselves there eventually. I’ve been there more than once — and I even got so far as to seriously consider selling my business. So what should you do when you feel ready to quit?

Take a look at your systems

When I was ready to quit my business, it was because I felt overwhelmed, frustrated, and just done. But the problem was that I was the main reason for those feelings. I’d created a system where I had way too much responsibility and took everything far too personally. My business revolved entirely around me — so if I couldn’t do something, it didn’t happen. 

That’s not a healthy business model, and it’s not sustainable. So I had to take a hard look at the way I had structured my business and make some changes. And I’d give the same advice to you. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and burdened with too many responsibilities, re-evaluate your business model and figure out how to delegate!

Change your perspective on growth and failure

You might reach that quitting point because your business stops growing and that lack of growth feels like failure. But in reality, no business can grow all the time. It’s just not sustainable. You need those seasons of growth to be separated by “maintenance periods” where you can catch your breath and prepare for the next phase.

And failure isn’t always a bad thing. It might actually be beneficial, especially for women entrepreneurs. We women often feel intense pressure to succeed and be perfect. And while these feelings can often help us be effective business owners, they can also become too intense — which leads to perfectionism and unrealistic expectations.

So instead of thinking that you’re a failure when your business doesn’t grow like you want, reframe your perspective. Failure is a chance to evaluate things and make changes. It’s an opportunity to step back and see whether your previous decisions and processes are still serving you well, or if it’s time to make changes.

And remember, sometimes a “failure” happens simply because you haven’t given it enough time to succeed. When you make changes in your business, give them a chance to settle before you evaluate. And then, be honest about whether something is working. If it’s not, all that means is that you’ve learned something and can try a new approach.

Consider a pivot

If your business isn’t serving you and your lifestyle anymore, quitting isn’t the only option. You can also pivot to something new or expand your business to bring in more customers. Or you can adjust your business model so it’s more sustainable.

Another option is to change your service offerings to options that you can charge more for. Make sure these are services your clients want, of course, but don’t ignore the chance to grow your business by changing the offerings and pricing. Altering your focus and strategy can also renew your motivation for your business and help you overcome that desire to throw in the towel.

Be resilient

Here’s what it all boils down to: patience and persistence. These are the two most important skills for any business owner to master. If you can be patient and persistent, you can get through those times when you want to quit. That’s what resilience is — it’s the ability to bounce back from something unexpected. It’s being able to get back up and move on when things don’t go your way. And if you can do that, you can make it through any rough time in your business.

Stop doing it all

Here’s the final key to overcoming burnout — stop doing it all. It’s unsustainable. And if you somehow push through burnout this time but don’t make any changes, you’ll be right back here ready to quit soon. You can’t do everything yourself, so stop trying and instead, create a more sustainable business model. If you can do that, you’ll come back as a stronger business owner with a higher chance of success.

Want more honest conversations like this about running a business? That’s what we do inside the Inner Circle, my high-touch mentorship program. If you want to work directly with me and learn from other female fit biz owners who truly understand the challenges of running a business in this industry, the Inner Circle is the place for you. This group will give you the tools and support you need to create a successful, sustainable business. Get all the details and sign up for the waitlist!