17/06/2022
Borrowed from another page but still rings true.
The unfortunate truth of owning and running a successful business... in fact not even a successful business just any business that you put your everything into!
Running a business is really hard.
What they don’t tell you is that it can cause severe stress and anxiety, and drains you mentally to the point of depression in even the most laid back of people.
You try to have time off, a holiday, a few days away, a week away, but you cannot stop, thinking if you don't reply to that call, that email, that Facebook message hidden away you will lose the customer.
People will talk about you, compare you to others, slag you off, use you, they will view you as a service and not a person anymore.
Friends and family will expect discounts and people will value you and your hard work less than a big chain store.
You have to worry about if you forget to email/message someone back, are they going to think it was on purpose? Did you disappoint them? Will they hold that against you? When in reality you just can’t get to everyone’s messages and emails.
Starting up and running a successful or indeed any business puts incredible strain on personal lives and relationships, many of which fail because there is just often no work life balance. You need to be the director, the worker, the admin, the marketing team, the accountant, the cleaner..... All whilst being a parent, a husband, wife or a partner, family support, friend... it’s one of the hardest things you will try and balance.
There’s a reason you don’t see many people succeed in small businesses after 5 years. If they are successful then they are overwhelmed.... because it takes a toll... in fact it's exhausting!!
Especially the past couple of years when so much has been out of our control.
Here’s a small reminder that we are just normal people with hectic lives.
Thank you for your custom though.
Cheers Martin
Be kind, be patient, support small businesses…….and hopefully more of us will stick around
