84. The Hidden Business Structures Causing VA & OBM Burnout (And How to Fix Them)

Are you feeling exhausted, resentful of client work, or like you're constantly on call without the compensation or respect you deserve? In this eye-opening episode, I'm approaching burnout from a fresh perspective that might completely change how you view your business challenges.

The truth is, burnout isn't a capacity problem, it's a structure problem.

When your business is structured around reactivity, over-customization, and constant access to your energy, no amount of "just say no" or "take a vacation" advice will create lasting change. Instead, you need a fundamental shift in how your business operates.

In this episode, I share my three-phase burnout recovery framework that helps you rebuild for sustainable, spacious success. You'll discover how to identify your personal burnout triggers and take aligned steps forward to escape the cycle of exhaustion and create a business that energizes rather than depletes you.

Key Points Covered:

✨ The three core reasons service providers burn out between years 1-3 (and how they all relate to business structure)

✨ Why "helpful expert syndrome" becomes a liability that creates energy leaks in your business

✨ How the time-for-money ceiling creates an inevitable burnout point (even when you're charging premium rates)

✨ The trap of the reactive business structure that keeps you constantly responding instead of creating

✨ My three-phase burnout recovery framework: Reclaim, Restructure, and Rebuild

✨ A practical exercise to identify your energy drains, energy zones, and first shifts toward recovery

If you're tired of feeling drained by client work, procrastinating on tasks you used to enjoy, or watching your business bleed into your evenings and weekends, this episode offers a sustainable path forward. Discover how to transform your business structure to support your natural energy instead of working against it.

Thank you for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community!

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Hello and welcome to Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. Today I wanna dive into burnout, but from a slightly different lens. So we're going to talk about why burnout is not just doing too much, and it's really about how your business is structured, and that has a huge effect on your day to day, how you work, things like that.

[00:00:22] We'll talk about some hidden burnout triggers in your business that are draining your daily energy.

[00:00:26] My three phase burnout recovery framework that really helps you rebuild for sustainable, spacious success, which you know that's what I'm all about.

[00:00:33] And

[00:00:34] a quick, simple exercise to help you identify your burnout type and take the first aligned steps forward so you can escape all of this.

[00:00:42] So if you are feeling trained, resentful of client work are like you're constantly on call without

[00:00:49] the compensation or respect too much. This is for you.

[00:00:53] So let's talk about what burnout often looks like with done-for-you service providers.[00:01:00] 

[00:01:00] It is you waking up to a bunch of client messages across all these platforms, all needing urgent responses.

[00:01:06] I had a client, a coaching client of mine, I.

[00:01:08] Say that she came back from, from her vacation, she was gone for a week and

[00:01:12] 9:00 AM the first day back. She got like a flood like from one client and does this every single time. She goes away

[00:01:19] and we don't want that. Right? This is not the life I. Not the life that we are all about.

[00:01:23] Um, it can look like procrastinating on work that you used to enjoy. 'cause now it just feels exhausting to you for some reason.

[00:01:30] And I had this experience, I remember distinctly

[00:01:34] as a VA for starting out

[00:01:36] when, uh, I had this client and it was really simple work,

[00:01:39] but it was like I was messing it up all the time, like.

[00:01:43] It was just not aligned. It felt terrible and you know, these things that you just don't want to do. I've had this, we've all been there and I'm sure you're thinking of some things right now

[00:01:52] that feel that way.

[00:01:54] And maybe your work has even bled into your evenings and weekends, and we really don't want [00:02:00] that.

[00:02:00] 'cause that is not why you started this business.

[00:02:02] And Bernardo could look like you hitting your income goal, but being even more exhausted than ever. Or maybe it looks for you like switching between all these different tasks and having all of these things running through your mind all of the time.

[00:02:16] So you just spend all day feeling really scattered, unfocused and overstimulated.

[00:02:21] And maybe even the idea of taking on one more client leaves your chest tight, even though you know, like you could use the income.

[00:02:29] And so this is very common, right? So don't worry, we are going to fix this.

[00:02:33] And the thing is, is that you're amazing at what you do.

[00:02:37] And so. Working harder does not solve this problem.

[00:02:41] The problem is that your business is working against your natural energy instead of with it. So we're going to get a little bit more into that in a second and let's back that up. Right? So like, let's really, really going on.

[00:02:56] When you're all stressed, when you're burnt out, when you're feeling like, oh my God, like [00:03:00] this is really weighing on me.

[00:03:01] Um,

[00:03:02] this happens a lot of times. I see with VAs OBMs, a lot of service pros around in between like the one to three year range, and there are three core reasons and it all has to do with how their business is set up.

[00:03:16] And

[00:03:17] the first reason that this happens is what I call the helpful expert Trump. So you started your business because you want to be helpful, right?

[00:03:24] You love serving people. You have this heart of gold, and you're also really good at a lot of different things. You're the one who can figure everything out. But over time, this actually turns into a liability and thinking of and thinking of a client that I have currently, we're at the beginning.

[00:03:41] And that's how she feels.

[00:03:42] She says yes, right? Oh yes, sure, I can do it. I can do it. Yes. Yes.

[00:03:46] because she doesn't wanna let her clients down. But every time you say, yes, I can do that. Yes, I can do that.

[00:03:52] Without adjusting your business structure or your scope,

[00:03:55] you're just really adding more energy leaks into your business. And this is going to add up [00:04:00] over time.

[00:04:01] And so one of my clients, you know, she went from three to eight clients in six months.

[00:04:06] So her income doubled great, but now she was working crazy like all the time, so many hours just to keep up.

[00:04:12] Every client needed different things, different tools, different communications, different expectations. You know, the draw, right?

[00:04:17] And like

[00:04:18] all of this was really exhausting.

[00:04:20] So that is one reason for burnout. That has to do with business setup is being really helpful.

[00:04:28] The second thing is the time for money ceiling.

[00:04:33] So when you have retainer, monthly retainer clients, when it's hourly based, you reach a hard cap. Like there's nothing, you can't get past a certain point.

[00:04:47] You either take on more clients and burn out or work more hours and still burn out.

[00:04:52] It's.

[00:04:54] The way that type of business is set up, it's great to start out with, but every service writer [00:05:00] I know reaches this point where it's no longer sustainable. For instance, even as an OBM charging $85 an hour,

[00:05:07] I've done this as an OBM.

[00:05:09] I've had other clients do this looking really successful on paper, but.

[00:05:15] Every single hour requires your active attention,

[00:05:19] right? There's no margin, there's no rest, there's no area for you to grow your own business. There's nothing else you can do. There's no room to breathe because everything is based on hours, is based on you.

[00:05:29] So it takes a lot out of you, and that's what we want to remedy, right? And so the third.

[00:05:35] Reason for burnout specifically related to business structure in VAs and ODMs is what I call the reactive business structure.

[00:05:44] So, and this because of the nature of the work, a lot of, especially when you do kind of generalist things or when you do a lot of things, a lot of VA and OBM businesses are structured to be reactive and not proactive because you're reacting to [00:06:00] your client's needs.

[00:06:01] You're constantly responding, jumping, pivoting, fixing, managing, chaos. And you don't really get to get ahead, you know? And like even when you have boundaries on paper, in practice, a lot of times not really respected.

[00:06:15] Um,

[00:06:15] and you know, like I said, there's a lot of last minute requests. There's a lot of people changing their minds.

[00:06:20] Oh, let me change this price. Let me do that. At the very last minute I'm launching something. Oh, the card's opening tomorrow. Oh, can we make these 17 changes? Right? This is a lot of reactive mode. And so that means that your client's last minute needs run your day.

[00:06:35] Your schedule, your nervous system and your income are all tied to their urgency.

[00:06:41] And so again, another unsustainable way of running business. So this stress you feel, this burnout, you're not doing too much is that you're doing it in a way that isn't sustainable.

[00:06:54] And if there is nothing else, I would love for you to take away from today,

[00:06:58] that [00:07:00] burnout is not a capacity problem, it's a structure problem.

[00:07:05] So things, advice, like raise your rates, set better boundaries. Just say, no, this can all help. Go take a vacation. All those things, right? This can help, but it's surface level. This doesn't fix the core issue.

[00:07:16] And even with higher rates and firmer boundaries, if your business model is built on reactivity,

[00:07:23] if it's built on over customization, where everybody is different, and if it's built on constant access to you where your energy is needed the entire day.

[00:07:33] It's not a sustainable business, you're still going to burn out. So let me share what it looks like to actually start changing your business structure.

[00:07:43] I had a client of mine and she was working with five of her own clients, 5K months, uh, but drained, completely drained, no room to grow. She wanted to grow in theory, but.

[00:07:54] She couldn't, and she also couldn't afford to drop any clients. So instead of working [00:08:00] harder, you know, all of those things, we rebuilt the foundation of her business and we started with my burnout recovery framework, which is the first thing that I do with all of my private clients. And we're going to do a little bit of that.

[00:08:12] Today.

[00:08:13] So I invite you to dig into this now so you can do the same thing for yourself. So the first thing is it starts with reclaiming your energy. So look at. What you do? What are the things that you're doing all day? What are the things that our energy drains from you? What really, just like,

[00:08:35] you know, you finish something, you're like, Ugh, like that felt so heavy.

[00:08:38] What are your burnout triggers? So things, not just things that, things that you dislike, but not just that, but really. Leaves you feeling wiped energetically.

[00:08:46] Maybe things with client urgency, constant task switching, unpredictable requests, these things.

[00:08:52] So identify these things in your business that are draining for you and for your energy.[00:09:00] 

[00:09:00] And then once you do that, phase two is to restructure. So now it's like, okay, we know the things that don't feel good. What are the things that do feel good? What are the services you love to do? What feels amazing for you in your business? How can we change things up so you're no longer this general person?

[00:09:20] And we create a signature framework for a core offer. So for instance, I had a client who created the Sacred Systems container, which is a project based package centering on tech integration and digital systems set up. And. Love this, right? So like for this client, she loved this. It's very systematized. It doesn't take.

[00:09:43] Being on all day. It's, she knows what to expect. Amazing. And finally, so basically it's okay, what's going on now? How do we fix these? Get rid of these immediate energy drains. Now, how do we fix the structure of your offers? So that way it's really focused on things that you love to do [00:10:00] that give you energy.

[00:10:01] And

[00:10:01] then, because it's not just about your offers, the next phase of this

[00:10:04] is looking at your backend,

[00:10:06] your systems, your marketing, your boundaries. What can we set up?

[00:10:10] Uh,

[00:10:11] that can be enforced by structure, your onboarding, your communication workflows, whatever. So that way things can really flow and not, you don't have to be as active all of the time.

[00:10:22] And as a result of doing this, for instance, with this client, same number of clients, but she worked so much less and she was energized at the end of the day and not depleted. She also. Got to increase her income by like two KA month

[00:10:38] because now her offer was more valuable, more aligned, and took less time.

[00:10:43] And

[00:10:43] it's not just about working less. It's about really the structure of her business to be aligned with her energy and her unique magic. So let's do a little exercise.

[00:10:56] So you can start doing something right now, so we can make a change [00:11:00] right now in your business to get you on this path.

[00:11:02] So if you are in a place where you can take out a notebook, pen, get to your notes, app, something like that, do that.

[00:11:08] If not, listen, and then come back and do this exercise. So divide the page into three columns. Energy drains, energy zones, and first shifts. So in your energy. Drains column, take two minutes and list out three to five tasks or situations that consistently drain your energy.

[00:11:29] Think about what leaves you depleted, even if you're good at it.

[00:11:32] Don't even consider that, but like, okay, I do this and I. This is really not for me. I really like cringe when I do this, but I do it anyways. So it could be like inbox management, it could be like when you know there's a launch going on and there's some like tech issues, you know, anything that like you do, it could be meetings even.

[00:11:55] You know, anything that really feels draining to you listed out in that call. And then in [00:12:00] column two, these are your energy zones. Now, the top two to three things that you do that feel energizing, natural and fun, this is where your flow lives. So it could be something like podcast editing, workflow creation, behind the scenes systems.

[00:12:14] It can be inbox management for you. It can be any of these things. And so take a couple of minutes, list out these things like, oh, this is amazing. I love this.

[00:12:22] And then finally, in the third column, you have your first ships. And so now. That you have these two columns done. Pick one small shift that you can make this week to protect your energy.

[00:12:36] So what could this look like? You could, for instance, organize your day. So you batch similar client tasks on the same day. You could start saying, no, you could actually enforce a boundary that you had set up previously that maybe you weren't respecting for yourself.

[00:12:56] You could move all of your clients over and [00:13:00] say, okay, we're going to communicate only using Slack or whatever tool, one tool.

[00:13:03] You know, like something something. Pick one thing, and now you have your first step of the burnout recovery roadmap.

[00:13:11] And so

[00:13:13] can you see, now that we've gone through all of that, how.

[00:13:17] Being burnt out doesn't mean you're broken. It doesn't mean you failed. It doesn't mean there's something wrong. It means that your business needs to evolve.

[00:13:24] I actually interviewed somebody recently for this podcast, um, that said that burnout is an invitation for evolution. And I love that reframe. It's such a great way to look at things, right? It's like, oh, I feel burnt out. Oh, that means something, right? That just means I need to change a little. We need to tweak, we need to evolve.

[00:13:42] I'm ready for my next level.

[00:13:43] And so can you feel also how much more sustainable everything would feel if your work actually fit and was aligned with your energy?

[00:13:52] And can you imagine creating a business that lets you rest and thrive at the same time?

[00:13:57] So this is all completely possible[00:14:00] 

[00:14:00] and all it takes is some, first of all, some tweaks.

[00:14:04] And then second of all, some changes in your business structure. And this can be done even over the course of three months. And that's what I do with my three to four months. That's what I do with my private clients in my one-on-one coaching.

[00:14:17] Um.

[00:14:18] It's amazing. I'm not going to get into all of it now, but if you are like, okay, yes, what you said here resonates with me, please reach out.

[00:14:25] Please look in the links and let's chat about it because we can change all of this and everything can feel so much better

[00:14:33] and be sustainable and get those peaceful profits that you cut into this. Four in the first place. So thank you so much for being here with me today. And remember, remember that burnout is not the end of your business.

[00:14:43] It's really an invitation to evolve. It's really a signal that something sacred in you is asking for a better way. You don't have to work harder, you don't have to do more. You just need a business design that's built around your energy and not someone else's urgency. I [00:15:00] am cheering you on and I hope that this was helpful for you, and I will see you guys on the next one.