Let’s talk about 5 business boundaries to set as an entrepreneur. These are things that will either keep you loving what you do, or lead you to straight up hating it.

Ask me how I know, and hey, if you’re into things like boundaries, you’ll probably like the rest of what I talk about too, so be sure to hit Subscribe before you go. Right now, let’s dive in.

Watch here or read below.

Business boundaries to set is one of those really juicy but really complex topics.

There’s a lot of angles and facets and layers to this that a lot of people don’t even realize.

So to be clear, in this video I’m talking about the most cut and dry of boundaries. These are the boundaries that you set to teach other people how to treat you and how to respect your needs, because that’s all boundaries are really about.

They’re the strategies that we put into place to help each other meet our own needs.

So I’m going to go through five boundaries with strategies, and then be sure to watch to the very end because I have another gift or tool to help you to take this even further.

BOUNDARY #1 – BUSINESS HOURS

I am straight up surprised how many entrepreneurs these days don’t have the business hours. They don’t have times when they are not at work, or at least not set times when they’re not at work.

That’s a really important thing for you to have just for your self, but also to convey to your clients and your customers.

Nobody wants to bother somebody when they’re trying to rest or spend time with their family, but if they don’t know when those business hours, they’re just going to feel like, hey, you don’t mind if you get a text at 11:00 p.m., right?

If you’re like me, and you work for yourself from home, I know this can feel a little bit more challenging because the lines between work and the rest of our life are often really blurred, but I want to encourage you to have days off every week where you don’t work. Consistently do not work.

I want you to have hours every day where you don’t work, and during those times I actually want you to turn your phone off.

Another way that you can do this is to take vacations, like real vacations where you don’t bring your laptop with you, which I know is a little bit scary. I always struggle with this too. Sometimes I’ll bring it and just challenge myself not to touch it, but it’s so liberating to just not have it with you at all, and really be able to shut your brain and your mind off.

I do this on a regular basis in my business.

At least once a year I will take several weeks, if not an entire month off from my business.

Yes, it can feel a little bit scary at first, and then you get used to it and it’s really, really, really good. It allows you to plan things. It allows you to have time where you can just feed your soul without having to think about being on or what needs to be done.

So this is boundary #1, firm consistent business hours.

BOUNDARY #2 – WHO YOU WON’T WORK WITH

The second boundary to set in your business is knowing who you will not work with.

Now most of us have an Ideal Client Avatar, but have you ever made a list of the clients that you will not work with?

This can be just as important for your business because it allows you to recognize that person and say no to the wrong customers or clients.

Go ahead and make this list.

• Who is not good for you to work with?
• Who can you not help?
• Who are you not the right person for?

BOUNDARY #3 – WHAT WILL YOU NOT TAKE ON

Boundary #3 to set as an entrepreneur is knowing what you won’t take on. A lot of times especially in the beginning we tend to take on anything because we got bills to pay, and that’s okay, but you got to start setting those boundaries at some point knowing what you’re going to start saying no to.

• What’s not in your wheelhouse?
• What’s not in your zone of genius?
• What can you do okay, but you’re not really, really great at, so it’s not going to lead to more business down the road?

BUSINESS BOUNDARY #4 – WHAT YOU WON’T ALLOW

Business boundary #4 is knowing what behaviors you will not allow.

Now this could be in regards to the clients or the customer that we were talking about earlier, but it could also maybe be in regards to the people that you’re working with, or the people that you’re hiring, people that you’re partnering with, maybe in joint ventures, and it could also relate to straight up stranger leaving comments online.

It’s really good to sit down with yourself for a few minutes and just decide what are the things that you will not allow in your online spaces.

Remember that your online space is a reflection of you and your business, and therefore you want it to be a safe space.

You might want it to be an inviting space, maybe an empowering space, but you might not want it to be a space where people come to argue, where they come to name-call, where they come to be racist a-holes.

All of those things they’re okay to draw a line at.

If somebody’s crossing the predetermined boundarythat you’ve already set, how do you want to reply to them?

In these online arenas, I want you to sit down and actually create three cut-and-paste responses that you can use to these kinds of comments.

And by the way, one of those responses can just simply be “Delete and Block”.

The same thing applies to brick-and-mortar businesses or in-person interactions.

If you have a couple easy simple statements that you can memorize, this allows you to fall back on those when you might feel really stressed or taken aback by what somebody has just said.

Remember, you only get really good or really smooth at handling these heated situations when you have practiced them outside of the situation. So take a few moments before these things come up, and decide what is the best, most respectful, most mature, most empowering strongest response that I can have in any one of these situations.

BUSINESS BOUNDARY #5 – PROTECT YOUR ENERGY

This is one part practical, and one part very emotional and spiritually, especially if you work with clients or customers.

It’s very easy to get drained when we are showing up or feeling “on” for other people all the time.

And so it’s very important that we’re protecting our energy.

One way that we do that is through proper self-care through rest, through recuperation, through having those business hours where we can turn things off.

If you are a little bit woo-woo like I am, you may also like to incorporate some metaphysical or energetic boundary work to help you out with that. I use a lot of oils such as Petitgrain, Melaleuca, Lemongrass… all of these help you to release negative energies around you so that you can better rest or recoup or get that self-care in.

WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO PROTECT YOUR ENERGY?

Now I know a lot of women feel like they don’t necessarily have time for the self-care that they would like to have in their life, but I want to show you how that’s not necessarily true, when you just shift a couple things in your perspective of what self-care actually is.

I have a free training called Self-Care in Seconds that yes, will show you how to squeeze in self-care literally when you only have seconds to spare.

But it’s also going to offer you some a-ha moments to help you start prioritizing your health, your needs and those boundaries in you business.

Again, it’s called Self-Care in Seconds, and you can grab it for free with the button below or click here to learn more.

WHAT ABOUT YOU, BOSS LADY?

Leave me a comment letting us all know which of these five boundaries you are the best at setting and maintaining.

Scroll down to leave your comments.

Then don’t forget to share this with your biz besties to encourage them too!