In the spring of 2017 a survey conducted by Bank of America revealed that 41% of 1000 small business owners experience 4 times as much stress than raising children.
If you’re a small business owner there are all types of things that can create business stress in your life. Things like:
- managing and balancing personal & business finances.
- creating harmony among your relationships with your business family and your direct family, spouse and children.
- having enough capital to maintain and grow business operations.
- and the list goes on.
It can really seem like there are almost an innumerable number of sources that can exacerbate business stress; some of which can become the “silent killer”.
That’s understandable when you stop to consider how much is riding on a business owner’s shoulders. It’s a major personal investment, the success of which depends on your energy, creativity and ability to work under tremendous pressure.
The people who work hard on your behalf depend on you, as do the clients who’ve placed their faith and financial well-being in your hands.
It can be very difficult to balance the demands of a chaotic lifestyle and busy work schedule with your personal health needs and the emotional needs of loved ones.
Consider the following 5 tips as you strive to economize on time and become more personally efficient.
1- Consider Funding Options
Finding a consistent flow of available capital is a major source of stress for many small business owners, especially at the beginning. Consider getting a micro or small business loan to help resolve a number of potential problems, including staffing, inventory and a range of necessary assets that require ready liquidity.
2- Lean on Automation
As a business owner, you probably wear a lot of hats and bear responsibility for a lot of day-to- day functions that eat up time. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to automate those responsibilities these days.
For example, staff scheduling alone can take up a majority of your day doing it the old-fashioned way. Instead, turn to an online scheduling tool like Humanity or, if bookkeeping is a problem, turn to a tool such as AI which automates many basic bookkeeping/accounting functions. (You can also automate social media posts if you’re in charge of social media marketing, another useful time-saving option.)
3- Spread the Joy
You vetted, interviewed and hired all that staff for a good reason; now it’s time to take advantage of their skills and dedication by delegating all the stuff that’s keeping you from strategizing, contemplating the “big picture,” growing the business and reaching out to prospective clients. This is where having an extensive knowledge of your employees’ skill sets and interests can come in really handy.
Small business owners often have to spend time writing marketing content or reaching out to the media. These are tactics that an ambitious young up-and-coming marketer would probably love to take on. And don’t forget to delegate the less impactful stuff, like scheduling/rescheduling meetings and other appointments, which a personal assistant can and should be handling for you. You really don’t have to do it all. Especially in this day and age where we live in a world-wide marketing economy. You are literally just clicks away from hiring the right person to do the work for you.
4- Take a Deep Breath
One of the worst things you can do to yourself is to keep grinding when you’ve “hit the wall.” Sometimes, you just have to take a half hour or so and take a deep breath, go for a walk, or watch funny cat videos on the internet – anything that’ll take your mind off the pressure for a while.
Including a meaningful morning and evening routine to your day is also extremely impactful to your personal and professional health.
It can be difficult, but try to build in a little time each day just to clear your mind, focus on nothing in particular, and give your brain a break. After all, it’s your best asset and most important business tool.
5- Eat right
Busy executives and business owners often put eating (other than something quick from the vending machine) on the back burner. That might work for a while, but it’ll catch up with you. Your body needs proper fuel – meaning a healthy diet – to function at the high performance level which you must do every day as a business owner.
Owning a business is an enormous responsibility. Your health and well-being are vital to the success of your venture and to the expectations of those who are counting on you to make it all work. Ultimately, taking time to keep your mind and body functioning is the most important business investment you can make.
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