Feeling flat in your business? Like the spark’s gone and you’re just pushing through the motions? You’re not broken—and your business isn’t either. In this episode, we’re diving into the real (and often hidden) reasons behind business slumps. Whether you’re feeling disconnected from your work, unsure what’s off, or just craving clarity again, this is the pep talk and practical plan you need.

I’m sharing what burnout taught me about business alignment, the three key areas to check when things feel off, and how to gently shift out of the fog and back into momentum. If you’ve been thinking “maybe I need to burn it all down,” pause. Let’s unpack what’s really going on—so you can make clear, confident decisions that serve both you and your business long-term.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• [3:00] What my first business burnout taught me—and the signs I missed
• [9:40] Why reconnecting with your great-fit client is a game-changer
• [11:55] How your energy outside of business impacts your business health
• [15:35] The two types of misalignment that often cause slumps
• [25:15] Simple, strategic ways to re-align and grow again

The Transcript For The Clear Business Growth Show:

Ep 38: Stuck In A Business Slump? Here's How To Get Out Of It.

0:06  Hello and welcome back to the clear business growth Show. I'm your host. Esther Gretton, I'm going to start with a question to you. Have you ever felt like your business has lost its Spark, or perhaps you have lost the spark for your business. The momentum is going, the energy is feeling flat, and you're starting to wonder if something's broken, but you don't exactly know what it is, and it's calling causing you frustration. The first thing I'd tell you is you are not alone in today's episode, we're talking about business slumps, why they happen, how to recognize what's really going on beneath the surface, and most importantly, how to shift out of that stuck place and back into that feeling of control and flow and momentum like you're on track. So whether you're feeling burnt out or unmotivated or just plain disconnected from your work, we've got real talk and practical strategies to help get you moving again. Let's dive in. Welcome to the clear business growth show, the podcast for service based business owners ready to escape the overwhelm of juggling client work and marketing. If you've ever felt stuck in a cycle of inconsistent income, the frustration of not having a clear way to market and grow your business and you've teetered on the edge of burnout, you're not alone. I've created this podcast for you. I'm your host. Esther Gretton, Business Growth mentor and creator of the clear business growth framework, drawing on my 10 years as a business owner, a decade prior to that, in corporate business development roles, five years as a business lecturer and my expertise as a certified coach. I'm here to help you gain clarity, attract more great, fit clients and grow your business without burning out. Each week, I'll be sharing actionable strategies and real world insights to empower you to grow your business so that you can feel on track and in control. If you're ready to transform the way you approach your business, you're in the right place. Let's dive in probably the biggest slump, or actually it turned into quite significant burnout, was in my very first business. So I was in my early 30s, and I and some business partners had created a sports marketing business. You may have heard me talk about it in past episodes, and we had clients, and we were pitching to boards and we had staff and consistent revenue, but it was a lot of hard work, which is often the case, especially in the early years of business.

1 2:59  But I took a moment and I realized that I was building something that I didn't really want to propel forward. It wasn't aligning with how I wanted to live my life moving forward. We were working crazy hours in certain times of the years, and then have nothing at other times of the years because of the clients we were working with. It was very seasonal. So it meant that there was quite a roller coaster in terms of busyness and revenue, and then it would slump down. And even though we did have a business model where we did have consistent revenue, it just meant that you were always in this roller coaster. And when I really stopped and took a pause, I realized that I was working in an industry that I had no passion for, and that kind of just happened. I kind of just went along with it because I really wanted to make something happen in business. And to start with, I didn't really have a clear plan. It was more I want to run a business. I'll get out there to my network, I'll let people know what I can do, and my business partners, and that's kind of how it happened. So the biggest things that I ignored, and I'm not regretful of it, because it is all part of the journey of learning business, right? Sometimes you don't know until you know. Sometimes you need to have the experience of, you know, potentially messing up, if that's what you how you see it. You need the experience of just trying things to figure out, oh, actually, that's not exactly what I'm after. It's a little bit like dating, I guess as well, not that I've done that a long time. I've been married now for seven years, but I have certainly kissed a few frogs in the past before getting married. So the biggest thing that I ignored was not having a deep enough interest and passion for the industry that I was in. I didn't have a deeper purpose that was going to sustain me over the years, and I didn't have a business model or we because it was me and business partners that was going to be sustainable for the kind of work life balance, which I know is a loaded term, isn't it, but the kind of balance that I wanted in life, and where I was showing up in work, and how and why, etc, And just to put a closed loop on that story around my first business, after a couple of years, I ended up walking away and exiting the business. It wasn't the right fit for me moving forward, and I knew it in the later stages, it had caused too much burnout and inconsistency in terms of so many things related to business and life, and it was just time for me to walk away. I learned loads. I don't regret the decision or doing that business, but I moved on. And just so you think, Well, hang on, I can't really relate to that story, because I love my business. I do love my service, but I'm just in that slump, and I want to figure out and pinpoint what it is. I'm going to guide you through three main areas that are going to help you potentially self identify what could be the missing areas, or the areas that need a little bit of TLC to take you from that business slump feeling to being on flow and on track and purposeful again in your work and business. So the first thing I want you to do is really reconnect with your great fit clients current reality, and I guess a step prior to that is identifying who a great fit client for you is. I'm sure you've worked with many different type of clients, and if I could say to you, tell me about the one, two or three clients or customers that you really enjoyed working with. What was it about them? What was their characteristics? What was their situation, what was going on for them? What was it about them or their business that you loved working with? And I want you to hone in on that kind of person, that kind of business, and step into their shoes. What's their current reality? What's going on in their world? Because so often, as business owners, as service business owners, we know we've got a service offer that helps either people's lives or businesses, depending on what it is that we do, and it's so easy to market and message around what we know about our services and what we think it could achieve for somebody else. And that's all well and good, but if it doesn't actually connect to the reality, the current reality, of your great fit client and what's going on in their world, in their head, their heart, then there's going to be a disconnect. And often we can very naturally forget about the fact that people buy based on what's going on for them, they buy based on their pains, their problems, their challenges, their desires, what outcomes they want. And unless we know that our messaging and our marketing and our sales process can feel disconnected because it's not really meeting them where they are. A past mentor often used to say, step in the river where they currently are. Step in the river to where they are and then walk along up the river, so to speak. But make sure you know where they are and meet them there. The second area that I would get you to focus on is get back to your core or signature offer. Sometimes we can get ourselves wrapped up in having too many service offers, or we keep changing our offer depending on the client. And it doesn't mean to say that you can't still tailor your work, because often, as a service provider, if you're working with people or businesses, one to one or in groups, there can be some tailor, tailored elements to and of course, there's always going to be but the actual framework or process that you take people on can, nine times out of 10, be quite structured. And when I work with clients in my program, get clear and grow. We go through a process of working out what their framework or methodology or process is that's unique to them, and that's where you can then get really clear on your messaging and marketing. But it also can really help in terms of your client delivery, because you're not recreating the wheel every time you sign on a new client and work with somebody new, you've got a really clear process that you take most people through, or in some cases, you may have a couple of offers are a little bit different, and that can help you simplify your messaging, your marketing and actually your client delivery process as well. It also makes the sales process much simpler as well, because you're not having to explain a drawn out process, or, you know, the many different ways that you could work with people you're really confident on. Here's my process, here's my methodology, here's how I've packaged and priced my offer around that, and then you can let them know. Here's the areas that we can tailor something unique to you, but it's within that framework. And the other area I'd get you to focus on is a little bit separated from your business, but at the end of the day, it is all connected. Is in general. How is your energy? Are you in a busy family season? Have you had some illnesses lately, and your energy is low. Often, our own personal energy reflects going on in business as well, and we may need some time to up our well being. And it's not up to me as a need to guide you through that by any means. It's not my expertise, but I can say hand on heart, that for me and for a lot of my clients, when we check in on how we're going from a mental, emotional, physical perspective, and if we're feeling well, it is so much easier to doing work in your business. It is so much easier then to be feeling better about business, because you have the personal energy to put in. As providers, we're using a lot of our own emotional energy, our mental energy, in the work that we do. And if we haven't got enough of it going on, it's really hard to pour from an empty cup, right? So what is it that you could do? What helps you fill your cup to help you feel and help you feel in general, more well? Is it more sleep? Is it improving your diet, getting back exercise, connecting with friends and family, or is it some hobby that you really enjoy. Sometimes we can get ourselves in a business slump because we're focusing in much on business kind of thing, and we kind of neglect what fuels our personal engineering work, our creative and then we wonder, like, this is really draining me, but actually, we haven't been reanaising ourselves with other areas in our life that help to contribute to working

1 12:26  can go well, what actually feels cup help me feel more energized. I know I get the basics of well being, of, you know, getting enough sleep. I mean, I do little kids, so that's not always the easiest thing, but I can get to bed earlier few to a few nights a week. That really helps when I am eating more protein than I normally do when I get to the gym a couple of times a week I see friends, reconnect with the extended family, helps me feel a bit more on track. And some things go it can often mean the business as well, connecting yourself and what works for you perhaps do a little bit more in those areas, or less whatever works. I also want to normalize that business slumps can be part of the growth cycle, and often a business slump is a sign post. It's not a stop sign. It's trying to tell you something, something out of alignment, something needs to change or give or a decision needs to be made. It's trying to tell you something, rather than going well, that's it. I'm going to burn my business down, which, oh my gosh, have we all not had that thought? Sometimes, a lot, where you think that's it, I'm changing everything. This is, this is not working. I've got to, you know, I've got to mix everything up. And you know, if you've been there before or you're there now, first of all, take a deep breath, because you often don't need to go to those extremes. That's just your your nervous system really kind of going into that fight or flight mode, and before you burn down your business or recreate your offer for the umpteenth time or change copy on your website, just take a minute and no look into the deeper reason underneath it before you go into action mode. And this is going to take some reflection and honesty within yourself about what's happening, but I want to reinforce with you that it isn't failure. It's a sign to redirect or recalibrate or make some changes. But before you go diving into it, take a beat. Think about it, write about it. Talk to somebody, talk to a mentor, and that will get you clarity on where things need to change or what needs to change and why. And sometimes your offer and your great fit client don't need to change. Sometimes they do. Sometimes just some habits and flow work flow processes need to change to help you produce better outcomes and be more efficient. So it's not a one size fits all response about what's happening. It's an individual by individual case, and I really encourage you to reflect and see what it is. See what it could be you before you start to make decisions and changes.

Speaker 1 15:34  
Let's move on to why business slumps happen in the first place. Even when you feel like you're doing the right things, or you feel like something's amiss and you're not sure what it is, there's a reason why they happen. So let's dive into that a little deeper. So let's talk about the hidden reasons why so many service based business owners hit a slump even when they're putting in the effort and the hours they're showing up, they're doing what they think is the right thing. They're doing what other people, you know, the experts out there, are saying there are two core types of what I call misalignment that often get overlooked. It's either an internal misalignment, so something around mindset or messaging, and this happens when something within you, inside you, isn't aligned with what you're putting out there in the world. So you may have been told or you've absorbed something online in the marketing world, going, I've just got to do, you know, this kind of dancing reel or whatever, and you're like, and within you, you're like, that's not what I want to do. I don't want to do that. You know, that's one short example. There's a million examples out there, but that's misalignment from something external to you and your own perspective internally, going, Ah, that's not what I want to do. And there's two things that you'll you'll do. You'll do the thing. So you'll do the dancing reel and just think, Oh, God, that felt bad, and it's a big drain of your energy, because you're not doing something that actually you feel comfortable with, or you know is more you or you won't do it, and therefore you can shy away from your marketing in general, because you think, Well, if that's what marketing is, I don't want to be doing that. Or another internal thing could be that your heart's no longer in your current offer. You've gotten to a point where you know you need to refine your offer and perhaps make it a bit more used, but create a signature offer or a signature framework that you can really stand behind. Perhaps there is a misalignment within you around your offer, or a misalignment from who you want to work with. Perhaps you've worked with a variety of people, and you're now starting to realize, which is what happens to so many service business owners. We work with as many different people as we can, because we want money and revenue and experience, and then a year or a couple of years goes past, and we realize that there is a couple of different camps when it comes to clients, there's what I call the Great fit client, and they're the ones that you align with. Values wise, they pay on time. They're really great to work with. You know that what you've got to offer can truly help them. So you feel really confident in all of that. They're clear on what they want to do, or at least, you can guide them. They're open to your guidance on that, and you produce a really great outcome for them with your service. That's what I call a great fit client. And then there is, well, the opposite of that, or somewhere, somewhere in between. You know, the clients you're like, you know they're okay to work with, but there's often a problem, they don't necessarily know what they want, or there's lots of changes throughout the process. It costs me quite a bit of time and money. Or there's bad fit clients, and they're the ones that you know, we've all had one or two of them. They don't pay they're not on board with the project, they're not down with the coaching, whatever your service is, and they're just not a good fit. And I want you to really hone in on who that great fit client is, understand her or their reality when you are thinking about marketing, because you want to attract more of those. Because often where this business slump, business burnout can happen is when you are working with too many of the meh clients, or the bad fit clients, and you you want to and need to work with more great fit clients over the longer term of your business. So when you think about that internal misalignment, people can feel it. So it's not only you that feels it. It affects your energy, your consistency in showing up and marketing and selling your offer, and the resonance of your message, it really does have a big impact on your business growth. The second area within why business slumps happen is the external strategy gaps. So on the flip side, you might be internally clear, but missing some external pieces. So it could be the strategy piece. Could be the clear client pathway, from what you put out there, from your marketing to what you sell in your offer, and I talk a lot about in my program and in the work that I do, the customer journey map, and that's going from someone not even knowing you exist to then hopping on your customer journey map, so to speak, all the way from being aware of you deciding whether to stay or go in your online world, in Your marketing and then making a decision in that consideration stage of wanting to work with you, all the way through working with you, and then either becoming a repeat client or a referral client. So that's a very sort of simple way to talk about the customer journey map, and I'll be talking about that a lot more in future episodes. And I have actually spoken them about it in the past as well. Sometimes we don't have that clear strategy of how to get more people onto our customer journey, the right people and take a certain percentage of them because it's not everyone who gets to know you is obviously going to become a client, but getting the right amount of them through your customer journey all the way to the other end, which is working with you and either becoming a repeat client or referring you. So sometimes we don't have a clear understanding of what to do there. The other external strategy gap can be not having the right pieces of the puzzle when it comes to your marketing and sales process. So, you know, reflecting in going, Okay, I have clients, I have an offer, or, you know, potentially might need to redefine my offer. But Am I growing my email list? Am I posting on social media consistently, in you know, one or two platforms? Am I getting out there and networking whatever it might be in your marketing and sales process? Am I getting onto discovery calls and working out what the right mix of marketing and sales activities is for you, and ensuring that you do them consistently and often. What I see with people is they'll either shy away completely, and I see this a lot with Discovery calls or sales calls when it would be the perfect fit for their business because their offer is priced at a certain point, or people really need to have that one on one discussion, and they rely too heavily on selling from the DMS, or whatever it might be through email, and there's all this back and forth, back and forth that goes on, and it could be so Much simpler and a better outcome for you and your potential gret fit client to jump on a call and a really fantastic call that helps onboard the right person. Or you could be focusing too much on your social media and not enough on building your email list, or perhaps getting out there. And networking is a really great and powerful thing for your business, but you haven't actually done any for six months, working out what the right mix is for your business is really powerful, and then doing it consistently is going to help you get out of that slump. And not everybody who comes to me, to work with me in my program, get clear and grow, is currently experiencing a slump, but I know a lot of people have and what I do in the program is really help you identify and get clear on the foundations of your business, and then create the right messaging and marketing and sales process and understanding all of the pieces of puzzle that you can choose from that works best for you, so that you Have a really tailored to you marketing and sales plan so that you can get clear and grow your business, and I've designed the program to be a really clear step by step process. And then you've got accountability and support with me on a group Q and A call weekly, and then also the option to get personalized feedback each Friday that you email me, and I create a tailored to that individual response, so that you're always getting clear, tailored advice from somebody with 10 years of business experience, which is me. So if you're feeling stuck and potentially in a business slump or just second guessing everything, and you want to get more clear and grow, then you can check out the website, or you can jump on a clarity call with me, and we can map out how the program would work for you. So if you are in a slump, know this. It's not the end. Please don't burn everything down, so to speak, it's often the start of a new chapter that's asking you to get clearer and braver and be more aligned with what it is you're doing. So don't rush to fix it. Just reflect for a moment, reconnect with why you started your business in the first place, and re energize and then you can figure out the steps take what has resonated today, and maybe it's just one simple tweak or a new perspective, and give yourself space to explore it. And if you're ready for more support and clarity and accountability, you can always check out my program. Get clear and grow, because you don't have to do business growth alone. Have a great week, and I'll be with you next week.