Question: STRESS AND BURNOUT AMONG ENTREPRENEURS AND THE SELF-EMPLOYED

Entrepreneurs and people who are self-employed often experience high levels of stress and sometimes burnout from high levels of responsibility, long work hours, and excessive demands on their time. Peter Gilberd co-founded and is the CEO of Townsend Networks, a small company that buys and sells used telecommunications equipment in San Francisco.144 He always worked hard to motivate his sales force and meet his company's objectives while enjoying his hobby of mountain bike training. In the economic downturn in the late 2000s, demand for Townsend's products increased dramatically because the used equipment he sells is 60-80 percent less expensive than new equipment.145 With Townsend's business booming, Gilberd started working even longer hours. A new father of a 1-year-old daughter, he was finding that he didn't have much time to spend with his daughter, and he stopped his mountain bike training even though his team was counting on him to keep in shape.

Signs that Gilberd was experiencing high levels of stress and burnout included him forgetting to hold his weekly sales meetings, not taking the time needed to perform important tasks he used to relish, and even losing his temper on the job when sales opportunities fell through. He lost his energy, often felt tired, and no longer had the optimism and enthusiasm that fired him up and helped him motivate his employees.146 Fortunately, Gilberd realized his performance was deteriorating and that he needed to do something about it. Knowing that exercise always helped him to cope with stress, he took two days off from work for mountain bike training. During this time off, he also set up a schedule for the coming weeks so that he knew exactly how much time he would spend and what he would seek to accomplish on his mountain bike training.147 Regular exercise helped Gilberd restore his usually high energy and make some proactive changes at Townsend. He decided to hire an administrative assistant to take some pressure off himself. For example, he always used to send out invoices and mail thank you letters to clients; he realized that an administrative assistant could just as well perform these tasks. He also started delegating more responsibilities to his employees.

For instance, at the warehouse, Gilberd always used to check to see that weekly purchases were received. He realized that his warehouse employees could do this. And he decided to devote more of his time to the parts of his work that really motivated him-developing new business and securing new major customers.148 Sue Reninger, CEO of RMD Advertising, a small advertising agency in Columbus, Ohio realized she was experiencing high levels of stress and burnout when she lost enthusiasm for her company.149 Reninger always had liked to learn new things so she began to listen to recorded business and self-help books on her daily commutes to and from work. She encouraged her 12 employees to do the same and starting having weekly meetings to discuss new skills or ideas. She also started running regularly and runs with some of her employees three times a week. Reninger got her drive back and finds that talking with her employees on their runs together helps all them cope with stressful feelings and emotions, especially in a worrisome economy.150 During the economic crisis in the late 2000s, some selfemployed people experienced excessive levels of stress and given the bad economy, were afraid to take any time off to relax and recharge their batteries.

Richard Abels is a self-employed marketing and communications consultant who used to like to take 4-day vacations with his two daughters who are in college. With the down economy, he was afraid to take any time off for fear of losing business.151 Frank Natoli and his partner provide legal services in New York. In the down economy, he and his partner were worried about missing any client calls because if they were not available, the potential clients would call a competitor.152 Not able to take any time off, a day off for Natoli means only working for a few hours on Sundays. Felicia Morgenstern, an educational consultant, used to have high demand for her services and be able to schedule time off for vacations.153 In the economic downturn, she could not longer afford to do this as demand for her services was down and every client counted. Nonetheless, Gene Fairbrother, who is the top business consultant for the National Association for the Self-Employed, indicates that the self-employed do need to take breaks or their performance will suffer. As he put it, "I don't want an electrician working his seventh day in a row wiring my house."154

1. Why might high levels of stress and burnout be especially prevalent among entrepreneurs?

2. What are some ways that entrepreneurs can cope with stress and avoid burnout?

3. Why might tough economic times be especially stressful for the self-employed?

4. Why might it be important to take time off even when it seems like the worse possible time do so?