Treat Your Business

Thrive Through Summer Bonus EP01 - The Summer Struggle Is a Mindset Problem (not a business one)

• Katie Bell • Season 1

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Welcome đź‘‹

Hello my lovely people! Welcome to this juicy bonus episode of the Treat Your Business Podcast. I’m Katie Bell, and yes, I am 37 weeks pregnant, recording podcasts while preparing to go on maternity leave and exit two businesses at the same time. Because why not throw in four bonus episodes for you to enjoy over the summer? My gut told me you needed this, so here we are!

Episode Summary 🌞

This is the first episode of my brand new “Thrive Through Summer” bonus series. I created this for clinic owners and business owners who want a summer that isn’t defined by financial dips or emotional burnout. Whether you’re juggling kids, staff on holiday, or just trying to take some well-deserved time off, this series is all about flipping the script. Summer doesn’t have to mean lost momentum or money. Let’s make it a season of leverage, not survival.

Key Takeaways 🌱

  • Mindset is everything. The expectation of a slow summer can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Plan for the season, don’t just react to it.
  • You deserve time off. Your business should support your need for rest, not fight against it.
  • Vision needs space. You cannot grow your clinic from a place of depletion. Taking intentional time off leads to creativity, better leadership, and stronger boundaries.
  • Rest is revenue generating. Your worth isn’t measured by how available you are. Model healthy boundaries for your team and your clients.
  • Leverage the summer slowdown. Step back from the doing and review your business design, delegate, automate, and pre-sell packages.
  • Set clear boundaries. Book your own time off first, communicate plans early, and set digital boundaries for true rest.
  • Less is more. Focus on the one or two things that protect your revenue and profit right now. If your business relies on you 24/7, it’s time to make a change.

Resources & Links đź”—

If this resonates, here’s where to go 🚀

You’ve built something incredible. Now it’s time to step into a season where your business works for you, not the other way round. If this episode resonated with you, take action - don’t just listen and move on. And if you’re not already a member of our Thrive Programmes, explore the Evolve waitlist

[00:00:00] Katie Bell: Today's episode is sponsored by VBS Medical Limited. It's the exclusive distributor of K laser therapy and indi a radio frequency therapy in the UK and Ireland. K Laser and Indi A are non-invasive therapies that enhance and accelerate the healing process complementing standard of care. Broadening therapeutic opportunities, improving clinical outcomes, generating new profit, and distinguishing your clinic from the competition.

[00:00:27] Katie Bell: Kay Laser and Indi A have a medical [00:00:30] device regulation approval, meaning they have scientific publications to validate their clinical applications in practice. To learn more, visit www.pbsmedical.com and book your free trial today.

[00:00:43] Katie Bell: You are my lovely people. Welcome to this juicy bonus episode for the Treat Your Business Podcast, I have decided because I'm obviously about to drop a human. For those of you who don't know, [00:01:00] I am 37 weeks pregnant recording these podcasts. And just because, I haven't got enough to do trying to exit two businesses just as I depart from maternity leave.

[00:01:10] Katie Bell: I thought I'd throw in four bonus episodes for you guys to enjoy over the summer because something was calling me to do it. So I just trust my gut. I trust my intuition, and here we are. So welcome to the first episode of the Brand new bonus series. I'm calling Thrive through Summer, and [00:01:30] it's created for you guys, for clinic owners, for business owners who are craving a summer, that doesn't feel like a financial dip or.

[00:01:40] Katie Bell: An emotional burnout. And I know a lot of you who listen to this podcast have children, and for some of you you are juggling kids, being off staff, being off. You having annual leave, actually going on a holiday, you knew that was a thing in business. Yes, you get to take some time off. And if you don't have [00:02:00] children.

[00:02:00] Katie Bell: Then you are also facing, probably being the only one that's in the clinic and trying to do all of the clients and everything else. 'cause everybody else wants time off at this time of year. How dare they? So let me ask you something. What if I told you that taking time off this summer doesn't have to mean losing momentum or losing money?

[00:02:20] Katie Bell: What if I told you that you could actually use this time of year to strengthen your business, protect your profit, and be more present with. [00:02:30] Your friends, or even maybe just with yourself. So this series that I have put together is about flipping the script that we have been handed. The one that says, oh, summer expect cancellations, everyone disappears.

[00:02:45] Katie Bell: You'll just have to ride it out, just knuckle down for a few weeks. And then we'll get back on it in September. Nope. I'm here to say that you don't have to just survive the summer. You can thrive through it. And today I'm going to start with this very quick [00:03:00] bite-size episode. It's 15 minutes, I promise.

[00:03:02] Katie Bell: I'll try and stick to it. And I'm going to start with the foundation. We always start here and it's your mindset. It is the roots of the clinic success tree that we talk about. So let's dive in.

[00:03:16] Katie Bell: Welcome to the Treat Your Business Podcast with Katie Bell. I'm Katie, and this is the place where clinic owners like you learn the strategies, tools, and mindset shifts needed to transform your clinic into [00:03:30] a thriving business. One that gives you more time, more money, and more freedom. Born from a passion to challenge the idea that average is normal.

[00:03:39] Katie Bell: We empower clinic owners to create extraordinary businesses, incomes, and lives through our world class coaching programs. We help you step out of overwhelm and into confidence, turning your clinic into a business that fuels your lifestyle, not drain it, it. So are you ready? Let's dive in.

[00:03:57] Katie Bell: Let's be honest. Every year around this [00:04:00] time, I hear the same old story. I love you all daily, but for fuck's sake, June and July and August, it's so repeating three months of the year, everyone, it happens every year.

[00:04:13] Katie Bell: So does Christmas. And I just don't understand why we have this narrative that is, it's quiet. Everyone's on holiday, it's just what happens. And yes, it's to some extent, summer does bring change. It brings different challenges, but what really [00:04:30] causes the struggle isn't the season. It's the expectation of the season.

[00:04:35] Katie Bell: Because when you expect to slow down, you plan less, you get reactive, you shrink. And that energy. It ripples out to your team, to your clients, to your marketing. So we often go into July and August braced for impact and we're still, we feel guilty for wanting to have time off ourselves and we feel guilty that we [00:05:00] aren't as present as perhaps we should be because it's just one more email and I will be with you.

[00:05:07] Katie Bell: We go into July and August with this attitude that I should just push through. I can't really afford to step away right now. I'll have to just do some work while I'm away. And if I don't stay on top of everything, it will fall apart. And I'm sure that sounds really familiar to you. Now, whether you are a very young, brand, new business owner or whether you've got a really huge clinic.[00:05:30]

[00:05:30] Katie Bell: We need to plan for the summer season. It needs to be in your financial projection. It needs to be not a reactive three months. It needs to be a planned three months. We need to decide when you are going to leverage your revenue, when you are going to protect your revenue, when you are going to have times when you are consolidating within your clinic, and when you are pushing really hard.

[00:05:54] Katie Bell: I first of all want you to know that you deserve to have time off. [00:06:00] If you worked for any business, you would as a minimum get 5.6 weeks prorata, depending on how many hours a week you work annual leave, and that generally, for most companies. I would say apart from if you possibly have a very senior role in that company but even now we're seeing in corporate world, people don't have access to their emails join their holidays.

[00:06:24] Katie Bell: They make something fancy happen in the background. That means that they can't actually access them. So you absolutely [00:06:30] deserve time off as the business owner. And there are lots of things that you can put in place early on to ensure that you get protected time off as well.

[00:06:39] Katie Bell: So let's pause and remind ourselves. You are the visionary of your business and vision needs space to breathe. You cannot grow a business from a place of depletion. When you are constantly on, constantly doing, constantly holding everyone and everything up, you leave absolutely no [00:07:00] room for big picture thinking, for creativity and for leadership.

[00:07:05] Katie Bell: If you have one team member, two team members, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 like we do, then like leadership takes an enormous amount of your time and energy. And what I've seen over and over again is that clinic owners take this intentional time off. They return with ideas, they return with more energy. They return with stronger boundaries, they return with higher [00:07:30] standards.

[00:07:31] Katie Bell: We also see that your team sees that you model rest well, which gives them the permission to do the same because. I want you working. I want you working really hard. I want us to be efficient and effective, and I want you to be well. You have a responsibility as a adult working in my company to do that.

[00:07:50] Katie Bell: Your clients don't disappear when you go away. They just need to be guided and they need to be reassured ahead of time and they need to be upon in place. And most importantly, your [00:08:00] worth isn't measured by how available you are. let me tell you that again, your worth isn't measured by how available you are.

[00:08:10] Katie Bell: If you are constantly available to your team, if you are constantly picking up your phone and allowing people to dictate when they can communicate with you and when they can't, and if you are constantly available to respond to WhatsApp messages, dms, Instagrams, tiktoks feck knows, whatever else they can now contact us on Google My business [00:08:30] reviews.

[00:08:30] Katie Bell: Oh my God, the list is endless Then. You are actually showing the universe, your team and your clients, that you really don't respect your time and your time is not worth that much money. So you deserve time off. Okay? Full stop. Your business should be set up to support that, not fight against it. So let's reframe summer as a season for leverage.

[00:08:55] Katie Bell: Instead of seeing summer as this struggle that we've just got to get through, [00:09:00] what if we saw it as a season of leverage. Here's what I mean. It's the perfect time of year to step back from the doing and look at the design of your business. It's the perfect time of year to stop sprinting, to start building and being able to use the natural slowdown to delegate more to your team.

[00:09:22] Katie Bell: To automate parts of your client journey to review what's working and what's not working, to pre-sell packages and [00:09:30] book ahead. I'm going to talk more about that on episode number two, which will be released next Friday as my little bonus treat. Ask yourself. How can I earn more while doing less?

[00:09:41] Katie Bell: What would my business look like if it didn't rely on me 24 7? And when you start asking yourself those kind of questions, summer becomes way more powerful because it comes strategic, it becomes your edge.

[00:09:54] Katie Bell: And I want you to know that this comes from a place of like many [00:10:00]summers in my clinic and. Really learning what works and what doesn't work and what you need to lean into more of. And I am here on this podcast mainly to save you guys a shitload of time, money, and energy. I'm trying to figure it all out for yourself.

[00:10:15] Katie Bell: I've done that. I've been there, I've spent the money, I've spent the energy I've burnt out, I've done all that stuff for you. So I really want you to lean into sometimes in the summer season. As we see in [00:10:30] our garden, it is flourishing. It is thriving. There is lots going on. There's people outside.

[00:10:34] Katie Bell: There's lots happening. That doesn't always mean that has to be replicated in your business. Summer season in your business might look more our winter. It might be that's when your busiest time of year is. And when you are really pushing forward with lots and lots of different things going on, but I want you to really check in on less is more.

[00:10:56] Katie Bell: How much am I actually trying to achieve with half a team [00:11:00] with half the infrastructure with people being off and me having to pick up the slack? Am I actually setting myself up for failure?

[00:11:08] Katie Bell: So some kind of mindset things to really anchor you this summer is that rest is revenue generating. Who even knew rest is revenue generating. I lead better when I'm present and well, if you are heading into the summer, absolutely exhausted, burnt out, and you've got to navigate [00:11:30] childcare and all of that complex stuff over the next six weeks.

[00:11:34] Katie Bell: Then don't set yourself up for failing in your business as well. Really get clear on the one or two things you absolutely need to be doing in your business to protect your revenue and your profit. Right now. My business doesn't need me in every moment to keep moving forwards. If it does, you've got a job, you've not got a business, and you need to sort that shit out.

[00:11:53] Katie Bell: My clinic deserves a calm, clear, energized leader, not a burnt out one. [00:12:00]Put these on your phone background, but whatever it takes to stay rooted in the intention rather than the fear. If you go into the summer with the mindset of. Clients are going to cancel. Clients are not going to turn up. We're going to get less people inquiring.

[00:12:17] Katie Bell: It's a quiet season. I've got half my team off. We're not going to make any money. That is exactly the results that you are going to see. So we've got to set some intentional thoughts and we've got to set some intentional [00:12:30] boundaries. So if you're planning to take time off or even just slow your roll down this summer, you need to protect the time.

[00:12:38] Katie Bell: With boundaries. So book your time off first. Don't fit it around everyone else's holidays. Get it in the diary and treat it as non-negotiable. If it's too late now start looking at October, half term at Christmas. When are you booking your holiday in? Not when's everybody else, and then I'll just squeeze what I can in around it.[00:13:00]

[00:13:00] Katie Bell: Communicate early. Let your team and your clients know your plans well in advance. It builds trust, reduces drama, allows for really good planning. Set digital boundaries. Can you delete certain apps for a week? I'm going to let you into a secret here. As I birth this human, human boy, actually, we know it's a boy.

[00:13:19] Katie Bell: And there's been much talk around this in the podcast, so I apologize if nobody's really interested, but it's going to end soon. I am going to be coming off social media for a minimum of 30 days. I'm going to [00:13:30] attempt to do it for 60 days. I'm going to delete the apps from my phones because, instagram and Facebook are only giving me reels now, which is completely focused on how you should be birthing your child prepping for your birth and breastfeeding on the other side. All very great information but. That can help. Is it overwhelming? Do you constantly compare? Do you constantly be overstimulated by [00:14:00] so much information that I often just step back and think, you know what, my mum figured this out and she didn't have any of this, and so did our, all of our mums and our nanas and our grandmas in the past.

[00:14:12] Katie Bell: So why is it that we now need to be overstimulated over informed. I'm just going to crack on and I'm just going to figure it out. So can you delete certain apps for the week, because make it really hard for yourself to check back in. [00:14:30] Particularly if you are in a state of overwhelm, if you are in a state of procrastination, if you have a tendency to try and do a million things at once, I would really encourage you to just strip everything back, stop listening to stuff.

[00:14:44] Katie Bell: I encourage you to take two or three weeks off listening to the podcast. Please do come back because it would be really helpful if you. Don't be overstimulated by information. When you are on holiday, that is your time to have a reset. Can you set an [00:15:00] autoresponder up? That is very clear that states you are now on annual leave and that there is nobody checking these emails.

[00:15:08] Katie Bell: And guess what? Clients will figure it out. Can someone triage your messages while whilst you're away? My VAs will be managing my inbox so I don't have to. Boundaries aren't about restriction. They're actually about freedom. I. So I want to leave this with you. Oh my God. 15 minutes. thirty five seconds. I said 15, 15 minutes.

[00:15:27] Katie Bell: You've earned a summer that supports you. [00:15:30] You've built something incredible. It's now time to step into a season where your business works for you, not the other way round. If this episode really hit home for you in one way or the other, I want you to go and take some action. Please do not be one of these people that consumes and does nothing about it.

[00:15:47] Katie Bell: If something inside you whispered, this is really what I need. I need to get a grip, and I don't want to have a repeat of being burnt out and tired and juggling a million things, and I want to have more [00:16:00] time off in the summer with my kids next year, then we need to do something about it now. Then I'm going to if you remember, you can now stop listening and go about your day.

[00:16:09] Katie Bell: But if you are not currently a member of our Thrive Programs, then I'm going to invite you personally to have a little look at our wait list for our Evolve program. Which is reopening in September. We have just finished with our graduates who have just come through, and this is a 12 week. It's a short course where you [00:16:30] get to really step into working on your business, not in your business.

[00:16:35] Katie Bell: It's for clinic owners who are ready to earn more whilst doing less to build a business that doesn't rely on them to create systems support and strategy that sets 'em free without the big investment. Because your business might not be there yet in terms of revenue. So we generally in the Evolve program work with clinic owners who are already in business, but probably making between one and five [00:17:00] K a month.

[00:17:00] Katie Bell: We're going to strip back all the noise for you. We're going to focus on what really matters and help you create a business that serves your life, not swallows it. If you are interested to just see some of the amazing results that our evolved members have had, head to the wait list. In the show notes and just take a little look at some of the stuff.

[00:17:16] Katie Bell: It is incredible what people have achieved in just a short 12 weeks. There's no commitment. Just first access. If you get on the wait list, chance to secure your place before the doors open to the public. And this summer, don't just [00:17:30] survive. Thrive, and I'll be right to here with you. Join me again next Friday for your second bonus episode in this series.

[00:17:38]

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Katie Bell

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