Is the Hustle Mindset Killing Your Business

Let's get one thing straight. Hustling is for people who don't have leverage. And trust me, I'm talking to myself more than anyone because I used to be the hustle queen. I'm Jana Henman and that's what today's video is all about. If you're grinding 24/7 and running on fumes, constantly chasing leads, congratulations. You built yourself a job, not a business. And why is that? Because real success is not about working harder. It's about working smarter with strategies and systems in place so that you don't have to do the heavy lifting. Really, hustling it. It's a trap. I mean, sure, it's needed at the beginning of your business when you're first starting out, but if you're a couple years in and you're still hustling, it might be time to review some things that can help you again leverage. And this is what the hustle mindset tells you. If I'm not working hard enough, I must not want it bad enough. I can sleep when I'm dead. Grind now and reap the rewards later. But here's the reality. If you're constantly having to chase customers, your business model is broken. If you've been hustling so much that you're burned out, you're making short-term decisions that have long-term impacts, especially on your growth. If you have to be present 24/7 to make sure that things are operating smoothly, you don't really own a business. You own chaos. I fell into this trap when I first started out. I was everywhere at every meeting, every networking event, and I couldn't take any time off. I was available 24/7 for any of my clients, and that hurt my time with my family, with my kid. It was it was a mess. And I thought that's how you made it. I thought, "Oh, if I keep working harder, things will magically fall into place." But they didn't. So what actually builds a business that thrives? What do I mean by leverage? So first and foremost, leverage is greater than labor. Don't trade time for money. Build systems, automation, and scalable offers. For example, when I first started WECO, uh, which is a networking and referral-based organization, we had small groups all around town that all had the same target audience that offered different products and services. It is a member-based organization and in the beginning I had visitor packs. That's like a little file folder and you put in some FAQs, the price sheet, all that. So whenever a group had a visitor come and visit, it was the huddle chief's responsibility to make sure that they handed out these visitor packs. Well, it got tiresome after a while because I was constantly printing, creating, buying these visitor files. Fast forward a couple of years and now it's all automated. Now Huddle Chiefs, all they have to do when they log into the platform is register the guest and then the guest is automatically emailed the visitor pack. So that saves time and money and I'm not having to spend a lot of time printing off all these materials and creating them for all these people. Number two, positioning is greater than promotion. The best businesses, they don't chase their customers. the customers chase them. And I've come up with a few questions you need to answer that'll help you identify some weak spots. Number one, what does your marketing look like? Two, where do the majority of your leads come from? Three, who passes you the most referrals? Answering these questions can help you identify pain points and help you create systems so that you can get customers chasing you. This is also going to help you refine your job scope and help you focus on more income generating activities. Number three, strategy is greater than sweat. The right moves at the right time will be blind effort every time. For example, in W and co, we have two periods during the year where we see the most growth. It's during these two periods that we push for more open houses. And these two periods are when spring is starting and also when school's back in session after the summer break. That's when we like to host our open houses. During the not so busy times of the year, such as when summer starts and during the holiday season, we do a heavier push on our digital marketing. This helps even out the eb and flow of our business. So, how do you escape the hustle trap? One, audit your business. If you vanished for a week, would your business still be up and running or would chaos ensue? If you leave and your business falters without you, you have a burnout machine. For example, I had a girlfriend from Malaysia call me a few months ago and she let me know that she was going to be in San Diego visiting her friends. So, naturally, I looked at my husband and I'm like, I haven't seen this girl in like 9 years. I really want to go see her in San Diego. So, we booked a trip and we took a week off and we went out. It was great. While I was there, I maybe had one or two phone calls for just a few questions here or there from our ambassadors, but the rest of the time, I was open and free to enjoy my time there. And it was great. I was watching new customers come in, and I wasn't having to lift a finger. Number two, raise your standards. Stop taking every client, every deal, and every low-v valueue task. If you're having to do everything, you're doing nothing well. In fact, this is a great opportunity for you to get clear on who your ideal client is. And once you know that, you can form a marketing strategy around it. Network where they are, do the things that they do, be where they are, but first identify who they are. And sure, I know having a lot of clients doesn't sound like a bad thing, and it varies from business to business, but maybe having fewer, higher paying clients might be more worth your time and effort. Next, prioritize asymmetrical effort. Focus on moves that give you 10 times the result out of just a little bit of effort. Networking, partnerships, positioning, scalable offers, these are what actually move the needle in your business. And in fact, spend more time with other professionals who have the same target audience as you, but offers those different products and services. Or if you have a difficult time doing that, give us a call because that's where we specialize. That's what we do for our members. We put them in those groups with people who can pass them the most referrals. The bottom line is this. If hustling is your only strategy, you're just running in circles and it's a recipe for burnout. your challenge. What's one hustle habit that you can drop today? Can you build a system around those little things that can be automated? I'm Jana Henman. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you got any value out of this video, like, follow, subscribe, leave us a comment below, and I will see you this time next week. 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