17 May Entrepreneur Tip of the Week: Dealing with Stress

Too many entrepreneurs, excited and yes stressed about their business, get hit with the dreaded burnout. What causes it? Amazing success and the incredible burdens that creates (a good problem, I tell my staff, is still a problem) can do it. Failure to achieve what you thought and a bit more of a struggle than you anticipated can also help bring on exhaustion. Family and spousal pressures, especially where a spouse is not necessarily entirely supportive of the venture, can have more of an impact than you realize.

How to prevent this from happening? Take breaks. Even mini-vacations are good. Hand more responsibility to capable subordinates. Adjust your business plan if things are not going that great. Find something else to occupy you – a hobby or distraction can really help clear your head.

If you can’t shake it and you are really having trouble functioning, consider the options you have then. First, you can try to sell the business and just be done. Alternatively, hand control over to a subordinate but remain involved but much less actively. Of course you can always just shut down the business, as an exhausted client of mine did after he made and pocketed over $20 million from the business operations.