Should I shut down my $9.5k/mo business?

★★ signal-medium r/smallbusiness · ↑ 120 · 💬 197 · 2025-10-21 · kw: too much time · open on reddit ↗

Tool

Asana

Issue

Agency owner managing $9.5k/mo business experiences client communication overload via WhatsApp, triggering anger/frustration on every incoming message, causing burnout and loss of motivation despite $5k/mo profit after outsourcing design ($1.5k/mo) and media buying ($1.2k/mo).

Cost

$5k/mo profit at risk due to burnout; potential business closure loss of recurring revenue stream

Recommendation

Asana (project management tool for asynchronous communication); establish clear work hours and communication boundaries; hire Project Manager to handle client-side work; consider selling book of business as exit strategy

Date context

2025-10-21; business started June 2023; delegation added 5 months prior (~May 2025)

extracted with

anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 · 2026-05-08

Body

Hey everyone, I need some advice on what to do with my business since I don’t have anyone to talk to about this. Currently I am 25yo and 2 years ago I started a digital marketing agency (June 2023). Mainly focused on web design then started expanding into other services as my clients started requesting (facebook ads, google, funnels, etc.) so I just turned into a full stack agency. First year was hell and really tough but I pushed through and started getting some clients on a recurring basis. Most of them still with me right now. Pricing is different per client some pay 2k/mo while others pay 1.2k or 1.6k depending on the scope. Up until 5 months ago I was mostly doing everything myself and just recently got some people to help me out. I have a media buyer who I pay 1.2k/mo for 3 ad accounts he manages for me and a design agency I started paying 1.5k/mo to take over all the creative production and design for me. Minus other expenses to run the business it brings my profit to around 5k/mo and I feel thays pretty good considering I’ve never seen that money before and I used to make less than 1,600 every month before this business. Sorry about all the details but now to my actual question. I no longer feel the same drive that I used to have when I started my business. I remember putting in 12+ hours every single day and not being able to sleep because I had so many ideas I wanted to execute. Every day I would wake up excited to get to work. Now I have to force myself to work. Dealing with clients, messaging, revisions, out of scope requests, etc. is just irritating now. Every time I hear my phone ring with a whatsapp I feel some type of anger and frustration because It’s going to be some client asking for more things. And I get it sometimes it sucks and you do need to eat shit for a while but I no longer enjoy what I do. I started the business because I genuinely wanted to help these businesses but now I can’t find that passion or energy to work again. So I’m wondering if I should eat shit a little longer and see if I can fix things. Maybe focus on systems and what I can do to actually go back to how I felt. Or if I should listen to this constant dialogue to just close everything down and start something else. And if I’m just whining too much and being a bitch just tell me straight up. I’m the type of person that prefers things straight up hahah so won’t hurt, it’s encouraged. Im curious what are any of your thoughts or ideas on what I could do? It would really help. Thank you for reading.

Top comments (6)

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[score=125] omenoracle

You’re burned out. Just take a vacation. Keep going. Start something new from a position of strength.

[score=83] jjnasty

First off, congrats. Now you need to get control of your communication flow with your clients. No client needs instant access to you, so start cutting the WhatsApp communication. All communication should be asynchronous - like email or your project management tool (we use asana). Then it needs to be clear what your work hours/availability is and stop replying (and even reading) comms during your off hours. Doing this won’t immediately make you excited about work, but it’ll start to give you true downtime to go and enjoy yourself and your success. It’s not time to quit, it’s just time to take your agency to the next level and start treating like a business rather than a freelancing side hustle

[score=151] captainahab52

Can you hire someone to handle the rest of the work and still net positive

[score=19] MikeBaomont

What parts do you enjoy about the business? And which parts are making you feel this way? Best approach is to ditch the parts that you hate so you can focus on what you love. A good Project Manager should be able to handle all the client-side and keep projects on track so you can focus on new client leads to grow. You could also sell the business, there are agencies that will buy your book of business but I don't think it'd be worth a whole ton based on your profit margins. I would look for an exit strategy though if your really are miserable, scale with intent to sell. That being said, it can be rough to find work/grow a new business so I wouldn't give up all together.

[score=19] TX_Sweet_Tea

No! Keep it! This is the real life of a business owner. The “honeymoon phase” you experienced is over and now this is work. You’ll find ways to fall in love with it again.