You are already aware by now of how difficult entrepreneurship is. The people around you and your experiences have made you know that you will need to put in long hours, work weekends and resolve stubborn challenges to find success in what you do.
However, the conventional sources of stress are not the biggest risk in entrepreneurship. These stress are rather something that an efficient entrepreneur is well prepared of and predicts it and most likely is quick to manage it.
However, there are more chances of you being stressed about things that you never saw coming. Here are the less predictable things new entrepreneurs might face.
The cash-flow hiccups
Any potential business can start with little or no money. However, when you start going the flow of cash becomes very important. The cash flow is vital to a business, it is what keeps the business going. It helps you in paying debts, paying your employees stocking your shelves and making you capable of reinvesting in the business.
Any profitable business can suffer at the hands of cash flow. It could be when customers don’t pay on time or sudden emergency expenses etc. You need to be proactive here and keep a check on every penny that goes in and comes out of your business.
Loneliness
There are many entrepreneurs who are introverts and flourish working in solitude. But some are extroverts who want the constant engagement with their team. But anyways feeling lonely is always associated with entrepreneurship.
You represent your business and thus need to hide any concerns about your business and cannot really talk about the stresses of your business. You will be away from your loved ones investing long hours on work. It is very hard to prevent and you start feeling isolated.
Partner Departures
A partner could be your business partner or a mentor or an employee or two you started with, who helped you with brainstorming and tackled challenges in business with you. Just because they were with you from the start doesn’t mean they will stay forever. Sooner or later they are likely to leave. It might be by surprise and you might have to face a drastic change which can be difficult psychologically.
Substantial Client Departures
There are many businesses that grow dependent on a client and they act as an “anchor”. They provide with the major part of your revenue. It may seem like they’ll stick forever but they eventually leave and you experience shock within your system. This will make you change your approach and rebalance your sales and outgoing efforts for client retention.
Burnout
There is a great possibility of you facing burnout. It may occur gradually within a few years or few months and becomes a danger when you still go on with the work hardly noticing that you have started to feel resentful towards the business. The one thing you were passionate about becomes a stressful chore for you.
The best you can do is prevent burnout from growing by not putting in over exertion and working too hard.
Imitation
You have built a great reputation for your business but eventually, a competitor comes out and replicates your business idea and jeopardizes your company. At the same time if the competitor brings something innovative within the same business idea to make his business different and better it might become an invincible threat to you.
You will have to find a way to outcompete them which may require a complete brainstorming session.
These potential sources of stress are most likely to catch you off guard. You need to stay adaptable and focused. Build a fall back network to help you build a strong foundation and provide you with resilience to handle anything.
