Despite being highly rewarding, small business ownership is often fraught with challenges. In addition to overseeing an entire staff, meeting with prospective clients and staying on top of financial matters, many small business owners attend to a host of other daily tasks. Unsurprisingly, this can be highly conducive to mounting stress levels – which, in turn, can be equally conducive to a wide assortment of health problems. As such, any small business owner who wants to manage their enterprise efficiently and remain in favorable health should take care to avoid the following behaviors.
Hiring Friends and Family Members
All of us want to do right by our friends and family members. After all, these individuals are the most important people in our lives. However, regardless of how much love you have for your nearest and dearest, they don’t always make the best employees. Although having the ability to staff your business with team members you personally select is one of the perks of being the boss, hiring individuals you know on a personal level can cause a number of problems.
For starters, you may have a difficult time speaking up if an employee to whom you’re related makes a costly mistake or consistently fails to properly carry out their job duties. Since you have a preexisting dynamic with this person, it may be hard for you to view them as an employee and for them to view you as a boss. Furthermore, reprimanding a friend or family member in a professional setting is liable to place a strain on your relationship.
In addition, other employees are liable to resent you giving preferential treatment to friends and family members. Even if you don’t actually play favorites, there’s a good chance other members of your workforce will accuse you of doing so. Needless to say, this can make friends and family members feel ostracized by fellow team members.
This isn’t to say you should never hire people you’re close to, but if you do, they should be uniquely qualified for the position(s) they’ll be filling. Furthermore, you should make it clear from the outset that they should not expect any special treatment at work.
Refusing to Delegate Tasks
Many business owners are natural micromanagers – and frankly, this makes sense. After all, if you’re not keen on performing and overseeing a wide variety of tasks, it stands to reason that small business ownership isn’t something you’d find particularly appealing. However, if you attempt to micromanage every conceivable task, you can expect to see your stress levels shoot through the roof.
With this in mind, you’ll need to become comfortable with delegating specific tasks to your team members. If you can’t trust the people in your employ to carry out their job duties effectively and efficiently, what prompted you to hire them in the first place? This doesn’t mean that your employees – or indeed, you yourself – will never make mistakes, but if you’re unwilling to delegate, both you and your workers are going to experience next-level job stress.
Not Looking After Your Health
While your business is presumably one of the most important things in your life, it should never take precedence over your health. Looking after your physical health and psychological well-being is the best thing you can do for yourself – and by extension, your business. So, if you’re in need of an outlet for job-related stress, seek out the services of a seasoned therapist. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to reach out to your physician whenever you have questions or concerns related to your physical health. Conversely, if you have a minor medical query and are pressed for time, simply arrange a Plushcare online doctor visit.
Small business ownership can be an immensely stressful profession, particularly when you’re just getting established. Recruiting talented team members, building a solid marketing strategy and winning over clients can be an uphill battle for budding entrepreneurs. That being the case, there’s little wonder as to why so many small business owners call it quits within the first year. While there’s no denying that small business ownership is synonymous with stress, many entrepreneurs compound this stress without even realizing it. As such, all business owners should make a point of avoiding the behaviors discussed above.
