Small Business Stresses and How to Deal With Them

In today’s economy, running a business is stressful enough.  Combine that with the added stress of running a small business with limited resources, and you can be assured that there will be difficult times while on the path to becoming a successful entrepreneur.  The good news is this: if your business is stressful, it most often means that you are suffering growing pains with increased work and not enough time to get the work completed.  This is not a bad thing. 

If you find that you are particularly stressed in your business, one of the first things you can do to alleviate some of that stress is to identify the real problem causing it.  If you are dealing with a lack of business or a decrease in revenue, those dwindling figures aren’t your real problem – something else is.  Maybe you’re managing your marketing wrong or you aren’t managing your finances right.  These problems can be easily fixed by bringing someone on board who has more expertise, or speaking with trusted mentors in the business world who can give you suggestions for how to handle the situation in both the short and long terms.

Next, take a moment to learn the difference between fear and anxiety.  The fears you have concerning your business are often rational, healthy emotions that are necessary and can help you find better ways of doing things.  Look at these fears closely and determine a way to actively do something to prevent them from becoming a reality.  However, anxiety is the unhealthy version of this, and is often based on irrational emotions and worrying over things that are out of your control.  It would be best if you could completely rid your mind of anxiety, and find ways to relieve some of the worst of it when you face it.  This can be done through exercise, joining a club, pursuing your hobby, or simply getting out of the office more and getting your mind off of work.