Managing stress and business; entrepreneur dilemma

Running for the rents, running for the rates for wages and staff… you won’t believe it… I’ve got income tax, I’ve got VAT to pay, I’ve got [an] accountant to pay. Where is that money going to come? It’s hard. It’s very, very hard. (An entrepreneur dilemma)

Just before Christmas I sold a dress to somebody. I sold it for £40. It was a Christmas dress. She had broken it. All the crystals have all come out. She had washed it. She said even the label wasn’t inside and all the dresses have got labels inside with washing instructions — she want [sic] a refund! (An entrepreneur catch-22)

The entrepreneur’s metaphorical kitchen is hot: anxiety about getting paid, customers complaining, the government forever introducing new laws to make business more difficult and more expensive. There are ominous envelopes from the Inland Revenue awaiting your attention. Partners may not be pulling their weight – and so on. To a point, stress is probably what you enjoy. But only to a point! Too much stress is destructive. Even moderate levels of stress can undermine decision-making ability, while prolonged stress can result in serious illness and even early death. This article explains what causes stress and what entrepreneurs can do to reduce stress, while simultaneously improving the performance and profitability of the firm.

WHAT IS STRESS?

The word ‘stress’ derives from the Latin word stringer, meaning to draw tight. Psychologists regard stress as a person’s adaptive response to any form of stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands upon them

A stressor is any psychological or physical factor that places excessive demand upon the individual. It can be virtually anything: a sudden loud noise, an interruption, a piece of equipment failing, through to the more chronic forms of stress such as long hours and constant long-distance travel.

To be more precise, stress results from the gap between:

■ The demands placed upon the individual; and

■ The individual’s ability to cope with those demands.

The bigger and more uncontrollable the gap between demands made and coping ability, the higher the level of the stress experienced by the individual.

Note that the individual must experience the demand as excessive and uncontrollable for it to be stressful. Moreover, stress only results where the demand threatens something important to the individual. This explains why different people find different things stressful, though, as we shall see later; there are things that stress most people.

WHY IS STRESS HARMFUL?

Prolonged exposure to stress is associated with a long list of illnesses. Although the precise links between stress and illness are unclear, medical scientists believe that stress probably damages the body’s immune system, rather as does the AIDS virus, thus leaving the person vulnerable to life-threatening illnesses including coronary thrombosis (heart attack) and strokes, and less serious but nevertheless debilitating conditions such as headaches, ulcers and insomnia. Stress is also associated with profound psychological problems including anxiety and depression, and can undermine our ability to manage our business and make good decisions.

A vicious circle may be set in train whereby people experiencing stress damage their health by resorting to excessive smoking or excessive alcohol consumption. Such behaviors afford temporary relief but at the expense of compounding the stress, thus triggering more damaging coping behaviors.

WHAT CAUSES STRESS

There are seven general causes of stress:

1. Overload;

2. under load;

3. Responsibility for others;

4. Personality and demands for success;

5. Relationships with others;

6. Major life changes;

7. Daily interruptions and problems.

Recall that stress results from the uncontrollable demands that are made upon us. People are the biggest source of variation in a business, so it is hardly surprising that responsibility for others is stressful. You may be highly committed to the success of the business, but your employees may not always share your enthusiasm. Entrepreneurs frequently resemble what psychologists call ‘Type A’ personalities. Type A’s are particularly stress prone because they are ambitious, demanding, results orientated, impatient and driven — sometimes to the point of an obsessive and compulsive need for achievement and success. Yet the pleasure obtained from success is only a fraction of the pain created by failure. For instance,

In August 2008, multi-millionaire businessman

Christopher Foster shot his wife, his daughter and his collection of animals before setting fire to his home and shooting himself — an act believed to have been precipitated by the imminent collapse of his business empire.

Foster’s is an extreme case. Some entrepreneurs content themselves with committing psychological suicide. When Bob’s business failed, he retreated to the settee and devoted his days to drinking cans of beer, throwing the empties into the corner of his living room. Another entrepreneur said:

When you’ve worked for yourself, you would like to see something for those 25 years — because that’s why you’ve worked 70-odd hours a week.

You’re always working for the future. You’re always working for tomorrow.

And you get to your mid-forties and you think, ‘Well, hang on a minute, when does this future arrive?’ You seem to be putting it off and putting it off. At some time in your life you’ve got to take stock and think to yourself, ‘Well, the future’s got to be here — sooner or later.’ ‘Major life transitions’ refers to the big events in our lives. The loss of a spouse registers 100 on the scale of stressful impact. Divorce or separation is next on the list, along with major illness, both registering 50 points. In business, the experience of merging or demerging, or of being involved in a takeover bid, or experiencing the loss of a major customer are major transitions.

Major life transitions are stressful because of the scale of adjustment required. Misfortune loves company, so one major change like divorce can trigger a series of other changes such as loss of one’s home and children, loss of financial security — all adding to the stress. This was Peter’s experience when divorce coincided with a business downturn:

The business is my life, as a marriage is to most people. Sometimes I feel I have lost everything. I’ve lost my family, I’ve lost my children because I don’t see them and [in tears] I may very well be losing the business in the near future.

Peter’s problems were so acute that he decided that he could not afford £70 to replace a broken security camera: ‘I might need that money for something else,’ he said.

Interestingly, good experiences such as winning a large sum of money, achieving a major contract or completing a successful acquisition can also be stressful, as they too require adjustment. Many entrepreneurs find retirement more stressful than working because the transition from a full and busy life to a sedentary existence does not suit their restless nature.

Entrepreneurs are exposed to the same daily interruptions and problems as the rest of us. The central heating boiler fails; the children get mumps; the dog gets into a fight and has to be taken to the vet; the invoice arrives but not the goods. These minor problems are stressful because they throw us off our game plan and disrupt other important activities.

Indeed, psychologists believe they may actually be more stressful than the seemingly much bigger problems posed by major life transitions.