Just the other day I was thinking through the essentials for successfully building a multimillion dollar enterprise and I came up with a list of things which I consider to be fundamental. Today I’ll discuss the need for entrepreneurs to practice self-care and I’ll follow that up soon with an article on hiring and delegation to a team.
The initial ingredient needed for success is an idea with the potential to become the basis of a multimillion dollar business. Even more important, however, are the people who will execute the idea and bring it to fruition. In the early phases of the business the founder may be working alone or with the assistance of one or more partners or an employee or two.
The temptation to work all hours to service customers, keep the admin up-to-date and market the business is very strong but it can lead to burn out and collapse due to accumulated stress and fatigue. This could be catastrophic for the fledgling business especially if the founder had been working alone or if one of a small team was suddenly unavailable for an indefinite period.
It is for this reason that people working in start-ups have to make their self-care a top priority so they can continue to operate the business in the long-term. In that respect they are no different to equipment belonging to the business which must be serviced and maintained.
My general advice to entrepreneurs and business leaders is that need to be kind to themselves at all times. This includes:
- Getting enough sleep
- Getting adequate nutrition
- Getting exercise which is a good stress relief
- Avoiding isolation by keeping time aside for family and friends and socialising with other entrepreneurs and business people
- Minimising the amount of work taken home and keeping the business mobile switched off outside work hours, if at all possible
- Being organised at work and selecting and prioritising the tasks to be completed
- Eliminated distractions where possible by switching off social media while working and only checking e-mail every couple of hours
There is no doubt that starting a business is hard work but to ensure success that has to be tempered by an ongoing programme of self-care. Next time I’ll have a few thoughts on hiring and delegation to ensure the success of the business.
