Building a Slow Business as an Entrepreneur with ADHD: How to Prioritize Your Energy Over Growth
If you are anything like me (a service-based entrepreneur, with an ADHD brain), you have probably spent a lot of time feeling like you’re doing things ‘wrong’ because your vision of a successful business does not involve a ten-person team, a massive seven-figure launch, or following the "5 AM Club" with an alarm going off at the crack of dawn!
I am here to tell you it’s okay to do things YOUR way and to follow the beat of your own drum. If it’s time to ditch the pressure, you’re in the right place. It is time to redefine what "business growth" means, not for the gurus or the entrepreneur girlies online sharing they had a six-figure month. But to be clear, if your goal are six-figure months, I’m cheering you on, but the challenge that I see often is people striving for goals that aren’t things they truly want to achieve!
The Corporate Hangover: Why We Crave Toxic Metrics
Many of us came from corporate environments where metrics were king, myself included. At my old manufacturing job, it was all about tracking downtime, production throughput, and cases per hour. Those numbers were literally tied to perceived success and if you didn’t hit them, there was always explaining to do! Looking back I can see how much stress and anxiety that culture caused, so why would I want to reinvent that in my business?
When you become an entrepreneur, especially one who manages a business on their own, it is incredibly easy to drag that toxic thinking with you. We start measuring success by how full our calendars are, how many staff we have and how fast we scale. For a long time, I thought success was building a team, I wanted a VA, an admin, and other coaches.
But I realized this was not my goal; it was the goal I felt pressured to have to validate that my business was "growing correctly.”
The ADHD Entrepreneur’s Capacity Challenge
The reality of being an entrepreneur with ADHD is that rigid structure and standard operating procedures (SOPs) often work against us. I tried hiring virtual assistants, but I found I changed how I did things week to week and month to month. I was constantly tweaking things and finding more efficient, often automated, ways to handle tasks, and got dopamine every time I made improvements!
Putting together standard SOPs felt impossible because my own process was constantly evolving! And then I realized the biggest roadblock was letting go. I struggled with the irrational thought of, "Did they do it to my standards?" Even when my standards in low impact areas were sometimes so low I would phone it in!
The truth is, my business is deeply tied to me, and trying to outsource just added stress. I had to face the reality that a smaller, solo structure was the best fit for my unique operating style. It didn’t happen overnight, but I now see how much pressure this has allowed me to say goodbye to.
Capacity Planning: The Anti-Burnout Metric
This is the key thing I track consistently to avoid burning myself the hell out. It is not about revenue; it is about my time and energy. And of course tracking and having goals around your business income and profit is important, but only focusing there can be a short path to burnout.
I have strict boundaries around:
Maximum Client Coaching Hours Per Month: I know exactly how many hours of I can sustain while showing up at a really high level for my clients. I control this by having a maximum number of new clients I can work with each month based on my current capacity. Currently that is two, which may seem low, but it’s how I know I can have the most impact because when I start with a new client there’s a lot to do (for both of us 😊.)
Maximum Sessions Per Day: My client scheduler is set up to limit the number of sessions people can book per day.
This metric did not come from hitting burnout (thankfully) I proactively put it in place based on just a few busy days and weeks where I thought, "Whoa, that was a lot." I took a step back, looked at the numbers, and adjusted my capacity limit before I hit empty.
Your nervous system is your most valuable business asset. When you prioritize capacity, you ensure that every client you work with gets the best version of you, not the version who is fried and just getting by every day.
An integral part of having clear boundaries around your workload in your business is the finances. I know what my business and personal expenses are, pay myself a consistent salary, and have a buffer for lower income months. When I start working with a new client they are often working with clients they don’t love, or taking on projects they dread working on because of the income, but that can transform pretty quickly after seeing their money clearly!
Rejecting the Early Bird Shame
There is a toxic culture, especially in the entrepreneurial world that tries to shame us into being productive before the sun is up. I am not a fan of the pressure put on people by books like 'The 5 AM Club.' The notion that if you are not getting up early, you are lazy or failing, is utter garbage.
My definition of a successful day includes a slow morning. A slow morning supports my nervous system, allows my ADHD brain to regulate, and ensures I am ready to deliver high value when I actually start client work. If you have the freedom to design your business, why would you force yourself into a routine that does not serve your biological clock or energy levels?
Success is about alignment, not arbitrary effort. If getting up early is your jam, of course go rock it, but if you’ve been shaming yourself for not joining the club, lets start our own club! If an 8 AM alarm and having a slow cup of coffee while you read is what you need to be a present, effective coach or consultant, then you are already a member of my slow morning club!
The Permission You Need: It is Okay to Want a Slower Life
I will be the first person to cheer you on if your goal is to have 100 staff and a global empire. Get it! But if your goal, like mine, is to have your business support a slower, more intentional life, that is equally amazing.
For me, that means:
It is okay that it is just me. I love the personal touch. If you email me, you are hearing back from me not a VA!
My business structure needs to fit my desire for balance, not the other way around.
If you are putting pressure on yourself to hit a certain metric, whether it is income, team size, or a morning routine because you think you should to be "successful," I challenge you to take a step back.
Ask yourself two questions:
Does this goal truly align with my desired life? (My days, my weeks, my energy.)
Is this belief something that was stuck onto me by someone else? (If it is, pitch it!)
Building a slow business is not an excuse for being lazy; it is a conscious, strategic choice to protect your mental health and create a sustainable career you love.
📣 Ready to Redefine Your Growth? (IN 3 Actionable STEPS)
Focus on Capacity First: Grab your calendar right now and identify your maximum sustainable client hours per month. If you use one, set up your scheduler to prevent you from exceeding that number. And if you don’t use one but regularly meet with clients, or anyone for that matter, here’s your nudge to get one because it is a time saver!
Evaluate Where You Are: Does your current capacity align with your current client load? Or are you over-scheduled? If you’ve got more clients than capacity right now, look for opportunities to shift it if you can, or start to make changes to get them aligned as soon as you can.
Start Your Audit: If you feel that familiar feeling of I need to make more, because I’m already financially stressed, this is your sign to take a step back and understand your big financial picture. If you don’t know how much you need to earn in your business each month to cover all the things on the business and personal side (including your taxes), it’s time to change that! If doing it on your own feels overwhelming or like something you know you’ll continue to avoid, let’s connect. As a financial coach I help service-based entrepreneurs build aligned plans for their money that work with their brains. Together we and create systems that help them implement their $ plans into their lives without needing to track every transaction. To explore if we are a good fit to work together the first step is a free consultation! I look forward to meeting you. 😊
