BellaOnline Forums Career Business Owners What reduces your stress as a Business Woman?

Hi Ladies,

I'm just curious about what kind of stress you experience in your business and how you cope with it. I thought it would be great to support one another as we deal with the different aspects of being self employed.

Of course, I'm willing to go first so no one is shy! My webdesigner/hosting company suddenly withdrew from our webhosting contract a few days ago. This could be a HUGE deal for me, but I've really focussed on being positive about the possibilities this has opened up for me.

I really feel like positive thinking helps me reduce the stress I experience through my business. If I allow myself to think negatively, it's a huge landslide and I can feel buried pretty quickly!

I take things a step further by also visualizing what I really want my business to look like in the future. It gives me encouragement to know that I CAN do this! If I can dream it, I can certainly do it!

What's your stress around your business and what helps you deal with it?

My stress right now is Cash Flow.

I'm kinda of a single mom as my husband is in Ponoka during the week and once they start drilling it will be solid for 4 months. That part is great, love that he's gone most of the time because his attitude is a huge stressor in itself.

However, he doesn't send money home and if I ask for money it's a huge deal and I can't stand asking for it in the first place.

Since I moved to the Okanagan for two months started my business there got it going and then moved back to Calgary and had to start from scratch again, I've had a lot of expenses and not much income.

Add two kids and a messy house and you have more stress. It's not all that bad, just more frustrating than anything.

I started my own legal practice 16 months ago and I find that the biggest stressor is the [b]constant[/b] worrying that it will not work out, that if it doesn't work out I will be left with huge debts and will have to pay it all back and of course trying to keep business coming in and the business overdraft under control. Due to the way we are regulated here, there is very little I can do to attract business. It's a word of mouth type of thing. For me Yoga, exercise and positive thinking are the only things that I find help. Like you Tami if I let negative thoughts in at all I am way back at the beginning and have to start the mantra all over again to get myself back on an even keel.

I'm ready to quit!

As a freelance writer, I'm always looking for the next project, which can be stressful. For over 2 years, I had the perfect client, part time, high pay and creative freedom. When my client pulled the plug on his project, it was a hardship for me. I turned to developing my own health and wellness website, which gave me something to work on and build for the future. It's now starting to pay off.

Working on my own website, which will hopefully lead to some independence from taking freelance work, has been a stress reliever for me.

I recently wrote articles for about 3 months for another client who looked like he would be in for the long term but he had a business problem and that work went away too.

I've come to believe that working on my own projects is the best way to have security so I've tried to be positive about the ups and downs of freelance work.

I do walk every day for about an hour, do meditation and some yoga too, which also helps me. I've learned to live in the moment more and appreciate whatever happens, instead of always worrying about the future.

Hi Carennedy,

It sounds like you are really taking steps to create some financial independence and not become a victim of your situation. Good for you!

Thanks for expressing your strength and your vulnerability at the same time. Sometimes, part of our answer is in knowing what part IS working and what part ISN'T working for us.

What part IS working for you? What part isn't working for you so that you feel ready to quit? Empowerment comes when we look at these areas and decide what we CAN do to strengthen or change those areas.

As well, what has worked in the past to reduce the stress and make you feel stronger?

I invite you to begin strengthening yourself by reminding yourself, "I CAN do this!" Look how far you have come already

Take care,

Tami

Hi Becki,

I see you are new here. Welcome to the Forum!

I understand what it is like to worry about things. One day when I was feeling really stressed about wanting to develop my business, it hit me really hard that most STRESS IS ACTUALLY FEAR. What you are saying just sums it up once again. Does this ring true to you, too? One thing that helped was recognizing that what I was fearing was really not a life or death situation.

Have you ever noticed that whatever we focus on just gets bigger? If we focus on our fears, they get bigger. If we focus on the positive, we see things from a bigger picture and suddenly the little things don't seem to bother us as much.

Another thing that I find helps is mindset. Our belief system can either limit our options or expand them. Have you ever considered opening up to the possibility that there IS something you can do to attract business? Yes, there are laws, but you may just get an idea that honors the law and your practice! When we say yes to possibility, amazing ideas can come. If we say no, the ideas are prevented from coming to us.

Becki, I'm so glad you shared what helps! I'm sure many of us would like to hear more about how you implement positive thinking. As long as we are on this earth, we can learn so much from one another!

Hi Joan,

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad to hear your website is starting to pay off. Congratulations!

It really does seem like there are a lot of ups and downs when we run our own businesses! Like you, I've also found that focusing on enjoying the moment and embracing whatever happens as a learning experience really acts as a cushion for me. It helps me enjoy the "now" more and worry about the future less.

I'm just getting frustrated from lack of patience due to lack of cash flow. I know that starting out takes time, lots of it and you have to establish trust, once you have that the rest will fall into place and one day I won't have to be constantly flogging business. Most of what I do is a free service for now because it is a start up. I just don't get people sometimes, you offer them free marketing etc and you get a slap in the face (mediphorically speaking). I understand that you have to address the WIFM principle in order to get people to buy in but sometimes its like pulling teeth and you start thinking, why am I doing this???????

I have a meeting with Community Futures this week so I'm doing my business plan from scratch because it's changed so much from when I started it last. This is helping because I realize that this is a small part and once the concept is fully understood by business women and I get a cooperative marketing group working successfully then I won't be bagging my head against the wall anymore.

I have my networking meeting tomorrow and we'll see how many serious business women show up. The topic is Cooperative Marketing so hopefully they'll understand by the end of it exactly what that means and how it's going to help them compete in the market place.

When I was getting frustrated with my website-lack of traffic and earnings-a friend and mentor told me to have patience. She said websites need to "age" with the search engines so I should go away and focus on something else for a while. My friend earns about $30,000 a year with her website, which is 10 years old now, so I tend to listen to her!

I did that and all of a sudden, about 4 months ago, it just took off! Now my site is about 18 months old and I feel re-energized.

I am really in to multiple streams of income-a little here and a little there-to make one big income.

Carennedy, starting any business takes time. Your networking meeting could help you a lot. Perhaps you need an impartial person to look over your business and how you're doing it and make suggestions. I couldn't have gotten my website where it is without that kind of expert advice from others.

I think your concept is very good but worrying and fear tend to stifle the creative juices. Take a deep breath and try to relax and visulize where you want to be in a year and how you'll feel about reaching your goal. Keep that picture in your mind.

Joan