Episode 259: How Designers Can Keep More Profit Without Burning Out with Kady Sandel

Burnout is real and you’ve likely experienced it a time or two, but you don’t have to! In today’s episode, Kady Sandel joins us to share how designers can keep more profit without burning out! Listen in as she shares how she’s built a flexible and free schedule in her business to maintain a healthy work-life balance, along with a few steps to avoiding burnout as an entrepreneur! If today’s episode resonates with you and you want to show support for the show, here’s an easy way to do so: Buy Me A Coffee! Kady Sandel is a business coach for designers and the founder of Aventive Academy, an online business platform that helps designers freelance their way to $10k+ months. She is the CEO of her branding agency Aventive Studio, as well as the host of The Profitable Graphic Designer podcast. Why Designers Easily Burn Out We hear all the time about goal setting and reaching your dreams, but it’s not often that people talk about how they’re going to reach those goals and if it fits their capacity. This is where designers and entrepreneurs alike burn out. Hitting a certain number in your revenue goals in a certain season may mean you’re overworking yourself, whereas you could strategically reach those goals without the burnout. Kady knows exactly what this feels like, as she experienced this herself as she took her business full-time. Early on, she found herself working over 12 hours a day, forgetting to eat, and always exhausted. Finding Freedom & Flexibility to Avoid Burnout This wasn’t what Kady envisioned for herself. She wanted freedom and flexibility. This overwhelm prompted Kady to pivot to not having work hours—working when she wants to within reason. This provides a great work-life balance for her life, which helps her to avoid burnout. Protecting Yourself From Burnout While Still Profiting You may be thinking, well the only way to get that flexibility and freedom is to sacrifice profits, here’s some good news. You can still be profitable without burning yourself out. Here are a few steps to take in order to keep more profit without burning out. Step Back and Rest One of thee most powerful things you can do for yourself is simple: step back and rest. As easy as it sounds, it’s also easy to forget. Prioritize time for the things you love, find ways to rest in your day to day. When you’re rested, you serve your clients better, keeping them happier and paying you. Outsourcing & Hiring in Your Business One way you can avoid burnout is to hire help. Before you do, take a look at what you actually need help with in you business and what will continue to move the needle forward in your business. As you plan to hire someone, you also need to consider how can you make more money in your business without working more, in able to afford to bring someone on. You may be thinking, well I can’t afford this, but really consider, can you afford to keep burning yourself out? That’s the bigger question. When you hire in your business, you’re opening up the opportunity for growth in a way you couldn’t experience as a solopreneur. Hiring in Your Personal Life As an added bonus, you can also outsource personal tasks in your life, including housekeeping. This could allow you to be more productive in both business and personal life to keep the balance.