If you would prefer to watch the video rather than read the content of this blog, please click on the title: 

 

I attended a ‘Fearless Talks’ event last week, where Entrepreneurs (including our very own Andy Hall from Business Growth Hub) talked about their experiences of mental health issues. This event offered a very different view of what it means to be an Entrepreneur, which was worlds away from the sexy personas like Richard Branson that we usually picture when the word ‘Entrepreneur’ is used. I recently posted an article about successful entrepreneurs and the personality traits/habits that help them achieve success. Unfortunately, this is not the whole story when it comes to Entrepreneurs and beneath the success (and failure) there can sometimes be a dark underbelly of emotional turmoil and poor mental health.

What Does the Research Say?

 

• The 2014 ‘Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index’ found that Entrepreneurs were slightly more likely to report feeling stressed ‘more of the day’ and ‘feeling more worried yesterday’ than non-Entrepreneurs.
• Research from Freeman et al (2015) at the University of California found that 30% of Entrepreneurs in the US experience depression. (UK figures suggest that 25% of the population will experience anxiety/depression so it is likely that at least 25% of UK entrepreneurs will be experiencing reduced mental health, possibly even more).
• 49% of Entrepreneurs reported having one or more lifetime mental health conditions The entrepreneurs were significantly more likely to report a lifetime history of depression (30%), ADHD (29%), substance use conditions (12%) and bipolar diagnosis (11%) than were comparison participants.

 

Why Might Entrepreneurs Report More Mental Health Symptoms?

 

A survey of 301 small business owners revealed that entrepreneurs are working an average of 50.5 hours per week, compared to the UK average of 37 hours.  Bizdaq estimates that some 94,000 enterprise owners are working 80 hour weeks while some 660,000 entrepreneurs are having their mental health negatively affected because of poor work/life balance. This is not really surprising, when you consider that the journey for entrepreneurs can be tough and relentless, with 90% of start-ups failing.  Having a business fail is traumatic for any Entrepreneur but for some, it can have psychological costs alongside reputational and financial damage.

 

The risk of having a business fail is not the only downside of being an Entrepreneur, according to Freeman et al (2015), “Entrepreneurs have lower initial earnings, lower earnings growth, lower long-term earnings, greater work stress, and more psychosomatic health problems than employees.  Choosing to be an Entrepreneur then, does not look as though it is the most sensible choice and yet it is still a choice that an increasing number of people are making.

Freeman et al (2015) suggest that Entrepreneurs have innate characteristics that make them vulnerable to mood swings. He comments that “People who are on the energetic, motivated, and creative side are both more likely to be Entrepreneurial and more likely to have strong emotional states,” These emotional states could include depression and feelings of hopelessness or even thoughts of suicide. This idea of certain personality characteristics being a double edged sword is echoed by Bruder (2014), in her article on Entrepreneurs and depression. She refers to research carried out by the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, which suggests that the same drivers that lead some Entrepreneurs to success can also lead to their downfall.

 

The research in this area is still limited so we do not know whether stressors in the Entrepreneurial role lead to reduced mental health or whether a high percentage of Entrepreneurs have mental health conditions which can either drive them to the dizzy heights of success or plunge then into despair. I suspect that the truth lies somewhere between the two, where creative individuals with a vulnerability towards reduced mental health are tipped over the edge by excessive demands.

So what can be done to help Entrepreneurs become more successful and avoid them being consumed by their fears and pressures?

Helping Entrepreneurs Survive and Thrive

 

There is a wealth of research into what makes entrepreneurs successful and some of that is about practical, issues e.g. choosing the right product to take to market, getting the right investor at the right time. Equally, however, there are a number of psychological success factors around Cognitive Coping strategies, Emotional Resilience and how Entrepreneurs perceive and respond to failure.

We have pulled together cutting edge research from a range of sources; including Positive Psychology and Sports Psychology and we have used these findings to develop the ‘Resilient Performance’ model.  The ‘Resilient Performance’ model emphasises the crucial cognitive strategies that enable Entrepreneurs to maintain their resilience and courage when under high pressure and is based on research findings from:

• Hardy personalities
• Neuroscience
• Mental toughness
• Emotional Resilience
• Growth Mind-Set

 

The ‘Resilient Performance’ Model

The ‘Resilient Performance’ workshop is designed to help Entrepreneurs be:

• More In-Control and Optimistic
• More focused and Determined
• Confident Making Good Business Decisions
• Comfortable recognising and eliminating self -imposed limitations on their ability to succeed
• Able to Challenge and Manage Pressures Effectively