People disappear, and people move on.
But is it OK to pause your business and then return to it? Sometimes years later?
At first, I thought, no, no, it's not. I'm an all-in or all-out girl. If you get to the point where you must close the doors, you must have tried everything, and it is time to move on to greener pastures.
But now I have got back into my business, I am leaning more towards, yes, it is OK to pause and be proud of the process.
Here's why -
Being overwhelmed and stuck in your business for long periods is not fun and can be detrimental to your long-term health. Stepping out of this loop gives your adrenals time to recover. When you're not in that dire place, you can have the SPACE to see solutions and new paths to success.
Sometimes life throws you lots of BIG things to deal with all at once. It just happens. That's why there is the saying 'it never rains, it pours'. Before Christmas, my partner and I had three weeks where it poured on us, even to the point he rang me and said, 'just when you thought things weren't crazy enough, you'll never guess what has just happened!'.
Our brains can't cope with significant CHANGE all at once, and you have to pick and choose what you want to give your brain space and physical attention to. Sometimes that is NOT your business; even though it might bring in the dollars to keep you alive, you can't work and serve if all you're capable of is grieving.
It's also OK to pause your business for positive reasons, like having a baby, getting married, moving house or country. These life-changing moments don't happen often and to be fully present and in the moment is a gift only you can give yourself.
And for these reasons, I hold my head high and feel proud that I paused for a few years, tried new things, and cleared my life of crap and crappy people.
I have enjoyed being present with my little boy, although sometimes I'd rather be working away with clients than cleaning up mushed peas on the floor or learning the ever-changing rules about pushing cars around the couch's creases.
Coming out of the pause as a conversion copywriter now and rebuilding my business has been scary! So many doubts about what people will say and think, how I would be received, and a WHOLE LOT of shame around where I could have been (financially and position-wise) if I hadn't paused.
However, the upside of feeling like I have finally arrived at my calling is calming and reassuring. In the melting pot, I have 14 years of in-person sales totalling over $25 million in sales, eight years of coaching 100's online service-based entrepreneurs AND 15 years of journalistic writing experience.
Sprinkle on TONNES of mistakes, funnel fudge up's, misplaced investments, lost sales, sideways launches and having to resend broken links (don't you 'effing HATE that?!).
MIX IT altogether, and you have me - your go-to-conversion copywriter that doesn't just LOVE (like wholeheartedly, place a journal and a pen in my hand to transport me to my happy place) writing but understands business and what makes sales HAPPEN.
So pausing for me has been the making of me. Something hard for an action-taking must know every, step kind of person.
I'm sharing my view as I have seen many people in the online space wondering what's next for them and feeling lost.
Hear to listen if you need to, email me back. It's just me at the end of the emails. No BS.
Love,
Penny x
P.S. There is still time to sign up for the 3 Part Live Training series that my friend Anna Powers is hosting starting January 19th and learn how to transform your words into clickworthy copy!
You can own a business and want to know how to write words that sell or be interested in copywriting - either person will get a tonne out of the training. It's excellent training; I'm in awe of how much Anna gives for free.