It was my first year freelancing, and I couldn’t figure out why it was the 4th day of me falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the morning.

My husband had just come down to check on me and ask if I was okay. I mumbled an alright then turned over.

The truth was I was far from alright. I was mentally and physically exhausted and also depressed.

I was experiencing a “holiday sales slump,” as I like to call it.

When you run an online service-based business, sometimes, you run into a “holiday business slump” at the end of the year.

It’s the end of the year, and not only are humans taking off for the holidays, but also it’s the end of Q4 which means companies are at the end of their yearly budget.

It happens, and it is totally normal.

Since it was my first year working for myself, I didn’t understand the situation and felt like a failure.

Have you ever experienced a “holiday sales slump?”

It took me until the middle of January to realize what had happened. That’s when I started booking our clients.

I felt a little relief, but I knew I had to plan for next year.

I was going to use the following “holiday business slump” to work on things for starting my LLC and getting ahead on business administration tasks.

To my surprise, by the end of June, I realized I would be booking clients into the next year and would have enough work to fill both November and December.

I felt relief wash over me. And then I thought about it and skipped booking client work over those months purposefully.

Not only would I be able to give myself a little break to avoid burnout, but I could take some time to work my business without the grind of client deadlines.

When December rolled around, I knew . I was spending extra time with the people I loved and enjoyed not having an endless to-do list.

Owning a business is a bit like riding a rollercoaster. It has its ups and downs.

The trick is to give yourself and your business enough grace to ride out the low points.

XO Katie