UNITED STATES—Whether you’re finally going solo after years of working for “the man” or simply fancy a career change, starting your own business is an exciting venture. However, the freedom that you gain by doing so is often offset by the added stress and pressures entrepreneurship brings with it. When the success of your company and livelihood is resting on your shoulders, it can often feel like the weight of the world. Indeed, recent reports find that one in five Americans face mental illness every year. With this in mind, we’ve put together a quick guide on how to reduce and cope with the stress of starting your own business.
Learn How to Delegate
Biting off more than you can chew when launching your entrepreneurial career is fairly common. After all, you’re new to this and in order to figure out your own limitations, you have to see how far you can push yourself. However, the gig is stressful enough without taking on more than you can handle and this is why it’s imperative that you learn how to properly delegate. Although your business is your little baby, try not to get too possessive and instead put your trust and faith in those around you to do a good job. Whether you like it or not, it’s impossible to do everything yourself – once you realize that and learn how to distribute your workload, you’ll find that your stress levels will reduce dramatically.
Take Out The Correct Business Insurance
As a business owner, you have much more on your plate than the day-to-day running of the operation. In addition to this, you have to take into account the weight of potential costs to the business, including lawsuits and employee injuries. In the world of business, some things are out of your control and this is where having the right business insurance comes in handy. Firms such as Next Insurance now offer a tailored service which takes into account your location, number of employees and industry before offering an insurance package that best suits your company. With the right type of insurance, you can help eliminate the number of sleepless nights you spend “what-iffing” and wondering what will happen if X or Y happens.
Recognize and Learn Your “Stop Signals”
While the business world is full of unfathomable jargon and mumbo jumbo, “stop signals” are an integral part of entrepreneurship and reducing stress. The truth is that most of us don’t know when to quit. This then leads to fatigue (both mental and physical) and impacts on both the business and your wellbeing. We recommend keeping a diary and taking note of the next time you feel bored, tired or worried. With this, you’ll be able to identify patterns of behavior and by finding out your triggers, you’ll hopefully be able to navigate around the most stressful events throughout your business life.
The Bottom Line
Before you start any business, it’s important to remember that no matter how hard you work, some things are out of your hands. While accepting and recognizing responsibility is important, blaming yourself for every little hiccup isn’t healthy and will certainly make things worse. At the end of the day, we all get stressed at work from time to time and finding your own ways to deal with this will help you become not only a better business owner but a more well-rounded individual.
