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Stress Points Entrepreneurs Should Avoid

Being an entrepreneur means being able to pursue a dream, to fulfill a passion, and to realize your full potential. It’s also a stressful role, even for the most intelligent and resourceful. Though we like to think of stress as just an inconvenient emotion, it can take a substantial toll on your health. It’s linked to heart disease, obesity, depression, headaches, gastrointestinal problems, and more adverse health conditions. It’s also one of the most common conditions in starting a new venture or continuing to build a business. However, it doesn’t have to get the best of you.

Stress Points Entrepreneurs should Avoid

Stress is actually a biological response to certain conditions and situations. It consists of releasing hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, which cause the body to physically and emotionally respond to its environment. In an entrepreneurial role, you’ll have a lot invested, which can include your personal savings, time, and effort. What’s more, you’ll be responsible for managing others. That’s certainly conducive to causing stress and you need to be equipped with the right response to make the right decisions.

In the business world, there’s a certain cache attached to being able to soak up all that stress. But people can’t keep putting themselves under a lot of pressure for a long time without consequences. Eventually something’s going to give. —Entrepreneur.com

When you’re an employee, you deal with stress but it rises to a whole other level when you are running your own business. After all, it is you that’s “calling the shots,” and you are at the helm of the enterprise. Stop to think about the entire situation and it can be practically paralyzing. You’ll definitely have a lot to deal with when you’re running or starting a business and one of the single biggest challenges to overcome is how you deal with stress. Because of this, you should know the most common stress points and how to cope with them effectively:

Capital. Money is essential to business, but there will definitely be times when cash flow is anemic. You should learn to use free and low cost resources when money is lean. For instance, you can pay a freelancer that’s just starting out, or, can take-on a little more personally to keep costs down.
Promises. As a business owner, you’ll make promises on a regular basis. When an unexpected event takes shape, it can seriously throw-off your working timeline. When possible, you should rearrange your schedule and revisit your priorities to make good on your promises.
Commitments. Alongside promises are your commitments. When starting or running a business, it’s often tempting to fully load your schedule to help build your brand. This can take its toll, so, think about what’s most important and only commit to these.
Clients. While clients are the lifeblood of your business, early on, you’ll probably take anyone who comes across your radar. Over the course of running your business, it’s helpful to reexamine which clients are worth the effort and which are making your journey an agonizing proposition.
Talent retention. Having talented people on your team is key to success but this comes with a cost. Said cost rises as time goes on and you’ll face one or more moving-on sooner or later. Instead of fretting over the loss, look at it as an opportunity to forge a strategic partnership.

Though these are all real and can be large problems, one stress point is particularly painful: the unknown. As the saying goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” That however, is true with just about everything in life. Instead of letting it worry you, look at it as a new opportunity to embrace. Even if you fail at this or that, it serves as a lesson learned which helps to make you a better leader. Remember, we learn far more from our failures than our successes because it’s easier to deconstruct.

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4 Reasons You’re not Hiring the Best Talent

June 14, 2018 No Comments

We’ve previously covered how to deal with a lazy employee. Now, let’s take a look at the other side of the coin. Or, how do you hire the best talent out there? It’s more complicated and difficult than one would first suppose. That’s because practically every candidate will put their best foot forward to make the best impression. It’s only after you hire do you really know what you’ve successfully recruited. But, to get an advantage, you should be only interviewing the top in the game. Signs You need More Talent Before we go there, let’s take a moment to look at your current situation. If you get the feeling you need more talent or at least one or more highly productive team members, your intuition just might well be spot-on. For instance, if you can’t seem to break previous work production levels, that’s one sign. Or, if you’re employees aren’t growing your business, that’s another. Legendary Texas football coach Spike Dykes once said, “You give me the best players and an average coach and we will beat the best coach with average players every time.” CEOs should take this approach and own recruiting instead of abdicating it solely to HR. One of the five critical CEO responsibilities is to provide the proper resources, and people are the most important. In fact, to scale your business, it requires 4 key components; people, strategy, execution and capital. In my experience, people are the greatest resource in growing any business. —Inc.com Of course, if you’re losing business, that’s a big red flag. Another way to tell if you need more talent is when your company feels stuck. If the status quo keeps chugging along with no breakthroughs, that’s a problem. (This is one reason why it’s always a good idea to bring in a third-party, like a professional business consultant and coach.) 4 Reasons You’re not Hiring the Best Talent Now, we’ll take a quick look at some of the most probable reasons you’re not hiring the best of the best. It could be one or a few combined. But, if you identify or feel familiar with any part of these, it’s time to reflect. Here are the four most common reasons you’re not hiring the best talent: Your casting net is way too small. Let’s begin with the most obvious — you’re casting too small a net. Sure, you’re probably comfortable recruiting from your locality. But, that leaves out a whole lot of people. Your job description is too generic. This is something that too many businesses do: they copy and paste job descriptions when there’s an opening. This is a bad practice because it doesn’t “speak” to individuals who would otherwise engage. You’re not getting back to candidates. Okay, so this is a difficult one. If you do make a great hire, you’re probably not keen about letting others know they weren’t chosen. But, this is not only selfish, it’s rude. Keep everyone who has interviewed in the loop. Your interview doesn’t give an in-depth view. Just like generic job descriptions, when interviews are overly generic, they won’t reveal how candidates think and feel. Those are very important insights you’re not gaining. What other advice would you give about how to hire the best talent? Please share your experiences and thoughts by leaving a comment! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

Why Small Business Owners Should Start Asking Employees Why They Stay Instead of Why They’re Leaving

January 22, 2026 No Comments

Exit interviews have been part of corporate America since the 1950s, but gained widespread adoption in the late 1980s, exploding in popularity in the 1990s. Fast forward to 2021 and 2022, another tool was introduced and is steadily gaining adoption, and it’s known as the “stay interview.” Like many other tactics used by big businesses, these trickle down and are used by small organizations. So, what is a stay interview and why should small businesses start using them?

Should I Automate Part of My Business?

December 30, 2021 No Comments

The use of automation in small business is becoming more and more popular. We all know that machines can do things faster and better than humans, but what about when it comes to replacing them altogether? In this blog post, we will discuss the pros and cons of using automation in your small business. The Automation Conundrum Automation can help businesses run more efficiently by replacing manual labor with machines. This can lead to increased productivity and lower costs. However, there are also some disadvantages to using automation in a small business. For example, automated systems can be unreliable and may need maintenance or repairs that can be costly and time-consuming. There is a growing need for business leaders to seek innovative ways to increase the output of their workers in order to retain their competitive positioning. Deciding to automate your workplace, partially or fully, is an important decision that needs to be made after carefully considering the pros and cons. —Businessing Magazine Additionally, if not used correctly, automation can actually decrease productivity by replacing skilled workers with machines that do not have the same level of expertise. In conclusion, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of using automation in your specific business before making a decision about whether or not to incorporate automation or even replace human employees. Business Automation Advantages and Disadvantages Of course, there are always upsides and downsides to making such changes in any size company. So, let’s take a look at the biggest advantages of using automation in a small business: Increased efficiency and productivity: Automation can help small businesses to run more efficiently and produce more output with fewer inputs. This can lead to increased profits and competitiveness. Reduced costs: Automated systems often require less maintenance than human workers, leading to reduced costs over time. Reduced risk of error: Automated systems are far less likely to make mistakes than human workers, leading to improved accuracy and reliability. Although these reasons definitely make it seem like a smart move and bode well for streamlining with technology. There are distinct disadvantages of using automation in a small business, like the following: Lack of flexibility: Automated systems are not able to easily adapt to changing circumstances the way that humans can. You might be faced with expensive and tedious reprogramming. Extra expenses: Can be expensive to set up and maintain automated systems. Machines break down and this alone could lead to substantial out-of-pocket costs. Overall efficiency: Automated systems may be less efficient than human workers in certain tasks. What other pros and cons would you include in regard to introducing automation in a small business? Please share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your perspective! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.