No matter what business you run there are varying levels of stress. Starting up a business may not be as rosy as one would think. Probably, you have only heard about success stories, which outshine the stress, hardships, and failures endured by the young entrepreneurs.
If you own a business, you have probably thought about how stress-inducing elements manifest themselves at your workplace and cause tension, absenteeism, and poor morale. However, there are other more complex ways that stress can sabotage your employee’s performance. As such, this article sheds light on factors that cause entrepreneurial stress and how to control stress in the workplace.
Fear of failure
With close to half of newly established businesses failing to survive the five-year-mark, many young entrepreneurs fear that they would fail. That should not worry you as the chance of your business collapsing lessens with each passing year.
Funds unavailability
Whether you are seeking funds to get your startup off the ground or for expansion, financial unavailability has always been a pain in entrepreneurs’ neck. There are many sources of business financing. However, note that funds are a limited resource, so be wise and prudent when allocating them. That way you can overwhelm common financial drawbacks and save your startup from exhausting its cash.
Competition
Most startups keep a close watch on competitors to know their next move. However, this can hurt your business, especially if the competitor performs well and makes market entry much more difficult for you. The single best strategy to handle competition is to focus on customers and not competitors. You are better off focusing on delivering customer-centric products instead of concentrating on competitors.
Decision-making
Delegating power is a key to a successful business. The onus of making decisions doesn’t have to lie solely on the executives. By involving everyone in the decision-making process, managers can feel confident in allowing junior officers to make some of the less important decisions in their departments. That not only saves you time and energy for making tough decisions but helps hone your staff’s leadership skills. Again, don’t let the volume of decisions you face accumulate.
Retain talented individuals
Statistics show that every employee is in search of better opportunities. Turnover may not go well with newly established businesses as they have to work harder to retain their top talent. A good approach to this is to provide growth and learning opportunities for employees.
Turnover rates and switching trends vary with the nature of a job. A recent study has revealed that companies with high turnover rate feel the pinch of losing experienced and dedicated team members and usually struggle to stay afloat. Employees are the organization’s most valuable asset. Therefore, learn how to appreciate them for good performance and offer compensation for stress at work.
Inability to expand
It is undeniable that nearly every business person needs instant results. Even startups who have just stepped in business world want overnight success. They forget that there are no shortcuts to business success. Surprisingly, young entrepreneurs who strive to expand too quickly often find themselves spending than anticipated. As such, it becomes difficult for them to finance routine operations and eventually affect their long-term survival.
Effective stress management in the workplace starts with understanding the common adage, slow and steady wins the race. Similarly, that holds when it comes to startups expansion. Instead of stressing yourself thinking about business expansion, concentrate your energies on building a good reputation. Once you have built a good reputation, start planning how to expand your operations.
Stressful clients
Dealing with clients can be a daunting experience for young and inexperienced business persons. Nerve-wracking clients are never satisfied with your work and will always demand frequent changes that can be a nuisance. That can put off the entire company from achieving its target and lead to a conflict of interests. For you to avoid conflicts with clients, make sure everything is finalized and meets client’s expectations. That way you minimize the chances of frequent reworks and will let you focus on other projects much better.
Poor work-life balance
Balancing between work and life is a common problem that plagues most of the today’s entrepreneurs. Unlike before where businesses would run from nine-to-five, managing startups today demands round the clock commitment. That means your business will deny you quality time with the family and friends. Consequently, your relationships start to suffer and eventually lead to more work stress. The best way to maintain a healthy work-life balance is to leave work-related stress in office and don’t let it affect your personal life. Otherwise, work-related stress can create conflicts between you and your relatives and friends.
Unforeseen risks
Most young entrepreneurs are grappling with the problem of unforeseen risks due to poor management. While some risks are controllable, others are beyond one’s control. Studies have revealed that many entrepreneurs often ignore controllable risks, which eventually become a serious threat to the survival of their businesses. Risks management calls for a proactive approach and not reactive approach. As an entrepreneur, always keep current on the prevailing risks, mitigate, and prevent the occurrence to keep your business running smoothly. A good approach to neutralizing the risk factor in the future is to develop a well-thought-out risk management strategy.
Conclusion
Whether it is about dealing with stressful clients, securing startup capital or maintaining a healthy work-life balance, you can achieve all these by making small adjustments. While it is impossible to eliminate all stressors in a business, making small changes can make a big difference. Again, don’t fret over what competitors are up to just concentrate on delivering customer-centric services. Avoid the mistake of expanding your business too quickly and get rid of the fear failure and you will go places. A high-stress environment can probably hurt your company’s productivity and the ability to retain talented individuals. Follow the above guidelines to overwhelm entrepreneurial stress and steer your startup to success.
Guest Contributor: Paige Ellingson is a creative communication executive and writer, currently based in Asia. She studied business and communication and proceeded to work in a fast-paced and upscale company in Hong Kong. Her passion for helping people and business in all aspects of content marketing flows through in the job role she is in. Connect to her @PaigeEllingson.
