The Nine (9) Symptoms of Entrepreneurial Disease

By: Adrian Samuda

       CEO│Kaluga Kafe

Date: July 6, 2017

Starting up your own business can be a very rewarding and exciting time in your life, but ‘being your own boss’ can take its toll on your mental wellbeing. Your business is totally dependent on you, if something goes wrong it is your fault and what happens if the business fails? Aside from the good aspect of doing what you love every day, there are many worries and stresses in the lives of entrepreneurs that are carried heavily until it's like a disease. Here are a few 'symptoms' that you will be required to carry daily:

1. Loneliness

So you’ve decided to set up your own business, but no one else seems to understand why. Hence, you become completely isolated, with no one to talk to, and you have very little access to guidance should support is needed. Your family and friends don’t get what you’re doing and you’re putting in so much work that you never get the chance to socialize. Thus making your newly adopted entrepreneurship lifestyle extremely lonely.

2. Fear of the UNKNOWN

As an entrepreneur, it is impossible to know what will happen in the future, and you will never know what troubles lie around the corner or what hurdle you will have to jump next. No amount of organization and planning will truly prepare you for what may happen in the future and this can be very stressful. The harsh fact is that 90% of start-up businesses fail, and it’s hard to know if you will be in the lucky 10% that rise above expectation.

3. Financial Concerns

Your business will ultimately become your life, you are financially dependent on it and your family may be dependent on you, so what happens if something goes wrong? A poor month of sales or customers not paying on time can have a detrimental effect on cash flow. With cash flow problems being one of the main reasons why start-ups fail, it is bound to make you feel the pressure with may cause depression.

4. Paying debts

Many entrepreneurs opt to take financial assistance from banks to grow their businesses. It's all good when the money is disbursed but when there are cash flow problems and deadlines for payment as passed, it can be the most stressful encounter. Hence, that annoying ring from your loan officer at the bank on a Monday morning will greet you like a happy customer, because remember; they are in business too. These calls can be very nerve breaking and may send any entrepreneur to the hospital bed. Being that all entrepreneurs have to maintain a good credit score and reputation in order to receive more loans down the line.

5. Workload

Take it from me, starting up your own business, and running it, is a lot of work! You may experience sleepless nights, and constant worrying about your 'to-do list.' Thus all the hours' invested may not seem substantial until your time to happily reap your rewards appear. Please be advised that the high workload experienced by entrepreneurs is an enormous life stressor that must be acknowledged and respected.

6. Mounting Responsibilities

Being the owner and director of a business comes with a huge amount of responsibility, both for the business itself and all the staff you employ. If anything goes wrong, it is you who has to deal with the consequences. The stress of this responsibility can have huge complications on your wellbeing and the overall success of your business.

7. Managing time and DEADLINES

You may find yourself wishing you had more time or wondering if you actually do need to sleep. Deadlines can be the source of enormous stress for entrepreneurs, and managing time can often prove very difficult, particularly when no matter how hard you work, it seems impossible to keep up with everything. The aspect of time will be highly valued by yourself, hence the need to fully utilized it will be extremely pivotal towards your success.

8. Finding the Right Team

You would think that with the high level or rate of unemployment, it would be easy to recruit competent employees for your business. Well, think again! Entrepreneurs can experience enormous difficulty in finding suitable workers for their business. When resources are scarce and time is limited, it is essential that you are able to find the right team to help you grow and scale your business. If this is not possible, then this can cause huge amounts of pressure on you as a business owner. Thus, adequate time should be taken to recruit and train competent employees for your business.

9. Customer Expectation

A business owner's aim is to satisfy customers in order to realize repeat and referrals. Revenues completely rely on his/her abilities to meet or exceed customers expectation. Once not achieved it can be very nerve-racking because it will have negative implications on business growth. 

Over the past months, many entrepreneurs are becoming ill and thus being admitted because of the symptoms. Some never get to enjoy the fruits of their labour or even get to see all their ideas manifest towards its maximum potential. Entrepreneurs will tell their staff they are stressed, the staff will in reply say 'I am stress too.' We are not saying that you are not, but the entrepreneur's stress is on a completely different level. You can't compare apple and orange, hence making yourself not competent or suitable enough to make a single recommendation on that note. One thing I've noticed that works for many, is finding the right support group to talk to. Being around people that understand your pain and grind. You may need to vent at times or get a second opinion, then talk to other seasoned entrepreneurs who might have gone down that road. 

Thanks for reading, please leave your comments below and do remember to TAG and SHARE with your friends.

Edited by: Kmar Henry

                      CEO │ BIZcare Consultation & Accounting Firm

Adrian Kaluga Boss Samuda is the owner and founder of renown restaurant Kaluga Kafe located in the fast rising economic town of Old Harbour, St. Catherine. He possesses to his armor an MBA in Entrepreneur and started Kaluga at the young age of 29.

BIZcare Consultation & Accounting Firm is a consulting agency that operates within the small parish of Clarendon in the beautiful land of Jamaica. We are geared towards educating the minds of upcoming entrepreneurs of the important aspects that must be considered before starting their businesses. Hence why we operate under the slogan 'Your Business is OUR Priority' and tagline 'Helping Small Businesses & Individuals to better Organise their Business Functions.'

PLEASE Subscribe by CLICKING HERE