Being an entrepreneur and being continually stressed out go hand-in-hand, right? Not necessarily, even though it does seem to be the norm. We have come up with how entrepreneurs can deal with stress because if you’re always stressed out, you aren’t likely enjoying the process nor are you going to be able to keep up the pace.
Stress kills. Not to be overly dramatic, but it does. It’s important that entrepreneurs — and anyone, in fact — keep stress in check. We know it’s not as easy as just saying, “I want to have less stress in my life.” You do have to take stock and take steps.
How Entrepreneurs Can Deal With Stress
Here are some tips that may help you realize you don’t need to be as stressed out as you are and steps to help alleviate stress:
Take stock of what’s going right. It’s easy to make note of what’s going wrong. After all, it’s the disasters that keep you awake at night, not the wins, right? Write down all of your wins, look at it regularly. this may alleviate the stress and the feeling that the sky is falling.
Operate from an organized place. Write down the tasks you need to accomplish. You may want to do a brain dump of everything you need to get done. Put a timeline to it then break those tasks down. Also, once you get the to-dos out of your head they may seem more manageable. Listing tasks and to-dos also helps assure nothing falls through the cracks.
Get away from it all. You need to take a break. sometimes just getting some breathing room for a few minutes, an hour or even a day will help you return to the business refreshed and renewed. Taking a break is beneficial especially if you feel you’re spinning your wheels and if you are overwhelmed.
Breathe. It may sound simplistic, but pay attention to your body. Are you taking full, deep breaths or are you taking quick, shallow breaths? You need to breathe deeply to help alleviate stress. Notice, too where are your shoulders? Are they up around your ears? Focus on dropping your shoulders and relaxing your body as you breathe.
Take care of you. If you get ill, and if you’re a solopreneur, your business may not survive. If you aren’t healthy your business will suffer because your energy is flagging. Do what you need to do to be a healthy entrepreneur.
We are not saying that running a business isn’t a stressful endeavor; we know it is. What we are saying, though is that you need to realize you have stress and take steps to address it.
If you’re like most of us, you grabbed your online name for social media sites, added a bio, set it then forgot it, right? When did you set up your bios? Has it been more than a few years? Have you changed since then? Have the goods and services you offer changed? Have you earned new certifications? Are your online bios current? If you’re not sure, check them out today.
Add to that, when did you last update your professional photograph? Did you set up your accounts with a selfie you’d taken? If that’s still the case or if you still have the “egg” for your profile pic, now is the time to get some professional headshots taken. This is an investment in yourself that just might pay off.
Are Your Online Bios Current?
Add to your to-do list this week: check and update online professional bios. Check all of the sites in which you have a presence. Make certain that all of the bios have the same information. You don’t necessarily need to have them all be the same word-for-word, but you don’t want to leave off a vital piece of information.
Here are the reasons to update your bios today!
Readers want the most important information and they want it quickly. Put, what you believe is the most important information, at the beginning of your bios. Use keywords and short, punchy text.
Look at your bios with a critical eye. If a potential client saw that, what would his or her first impression be? Remember, this could be the first impression someone has of you — make it stellar.
Don’t be coy or use clever titles on your profiles. You want to let a potential client know exactly what you do, you don’t want them to guess whether you’re a fit for a project they have.
Once you’ve updated your online profiles. Ask a trusted client or two to give it a look over and see if they feel it accurately represents you and the services and goods you provide.
For some individuals, the idea that they are an entrepreneur is something they always knew. For others, they wonder if they simply don’t want to work with a boss and wonder if that makes them an entrepreneur or simply someone who can’t work with others. We have come up with 7 signs you might be an entrepreneur. There are many others, but these will help you determine whether you’re ready to ditch the 9-5 and own your own business.
7 Signs You Might Be An Entrepreneur
I knew from an early age that I was going to be an entrepreneur. Those children who run a lemonade stand in the front yard will typically grow up to run their own businesses. The entrepreneurial gene hits some folks early. For other people, dissatisfaction with a job or a downsizing leads them to entrepreneurship.
No matter your reasons, if you’re still struggling with whether you’re an entrepreneur, here is a fun list.
Your family has run its own business. When this happens children are either drawn to running a business or they’ve seen how much work it is and will run the other say and gather a paycheck.
You’ve got confidence to spare. Being an entrepreneur is not for the meek. When you strike out on your own, you need to be able to sell yourself, sell your products and services and build community. Being an entrepreneur is not easy if you’re a shrinking flower.
Passion is your middle name. Entrepreneurs need to be passionate about their self-employment and the product and/or service they produce.
You want to work in your fuzzy slippers and the only traffic jam you want to deal with is from family and pets!
You have a competitive nature. If you look at something and think, “I could do that better or faster!” you might be an entrepreneur.
You’re not afraid of hard work. As an entrepreneur, you don’t earn money unless you produce. It is much easier to work 9-5 and pick up the paycheck on Friday — regardless of how much work you did.
You see opportunities everywhere. Where others see a problem, you see a challenge and a problem to be solved. You don’t even think about all of the opportunities — they are just there!
Are you an entrepreneur? Are you constantly seeking opportunities? Do you want to be an entrepreneur, but don’t know where to start? We can help! Leave us a comment or contact Rex.
Even your clients and potential clients are too busy enjoying the summer to think about business — or your goods or services. What can you do? Some entrepreneurs find that summer is the best time to regroup, revamp and rework some business goals and reset priorities.
How To Stay Motivated This Summer
Even if you want to kick back this summer, don’t let all of your business momentum slide. Here are a few things you can do to stay motivated and keep your business viable and moving forward:
Look at your goals. You’re midway through the year. Are you on track to meet the goals you set? Do you want to, or need to, revamp the goals? Are they still relevant? Have you made changes in the business that should be reflected in your goals? Take a few hours to look over your business plan and your goals and update them if necessary.
Don’t completely stop marketing. Just because “everyone is on vacation” doesn’t mean you need to stop marketing. In fact, not everyone is on vacation. Stay in front of your ideal clients and continue your marketing efforts. Once summer is over, you don’t want to be scrambling to make up for lost ground.
Routines matter. Just because it’s summer and business is slower doesn’t mean you want to get out of the habits you’ve established. Go to the office. Write down your daily to-dos. Keep on track with your goals. Call on clients — whether in person or on the phone. In fact, this may be the best time to reach out to clients and do a check in — they may be slower too and this is an ideal time for you to both talk without feeling rushed.
I know in Arizona with our triple digit temperatures it’s hard to consider leaving the house. If that’s the case with you and you don’t want to leave your air conditioned office, use these summer months to continue marketing because the holidays will be here before you know it and you need to be ready!
The mantra in business has long been, “the customer is always right.” Is that still true? Is the customer always right? Maybe, but again maybe not. Today, a customer is more likely to complain, cause a fuss or demand changes and make unreasonable demands. A disgruntled customer is also more likely to jump online and leave a bad review.
In light of this, why isn’t the customer always right?
Is The Customer Always Right?
Here are some reasons you may want to give your employees, and yourself, more support and not give in to the customer and his or her demands.
It diminishes your employee’s power and autonomy. If you have hired and trained your people and contractors well, you need to trust that they followed your policies and procedures and that the customer just might not be as right as he or she thinks they are. You will have unhappy employees who feel you don’t value them — and just may leave.
It gives a customer the upper hand and may make an angry customer even more abrasive. This may mean the squeaky wheel is getting the grease and bad customers may receive better treatment (simply to shut them down) than does a good customer simply because the bad customer is angrier and louder.
Maybe you don’t want that customer. How will your business suffer if you tell that bad customer, “we appreciate your business, but we don’t want to do business with you any longer?” Will you have to close the doors because of this one customer? Will you get more customers if you kick the bad one to the curb? You just might.
If you’re still operating under the adage that the customer is always right, you may want to rethink that. You need to talk with your employees and see what the situation is with the customer who is always unhappy. How can you support your employee — the lifeblood of good customer service?
Have you ever bid a bad customer adieu? Did your business suffer?
