Last week I outlined my first “5 Causes of Stress in Business”. To quickly recap, those were: 

1. You get too big too fast. 

2. No cash flow. 

3. No systems. 

4. You have hired a team of YOUs. 

5. You have no plan. 

Today I wanted to share with you another 5, so let’s get into it!

6. You have no vision or values on which to base your decisions. 

I talk a lot about Vision, Mission and Values, and I appreciate when you’re just getting started they seem like a bit of a luxury you’ll worry about “when my business is legit”. But If your values don’t align with the people you have working for you, the products you are selling or services you are offering, you’ll have a hard time being successful. 

It is really important to be able to articulate to your team and customers what your vision is for your business, and what the values are that are driving you forward. Once you put these in place, making decisions becomes so much easier because you have a value system around which every decision will be based. 

This allows you to steer the ship in the direction you want to go, rather than hoping for the best. It also means you won’t be kept up at night struggling over the right move to make every time you need to make another decision. 

7. You’re doing all the doing. 

As the business owner, the buck stops with you. BUT… it doesn’t mean you should have to do every little thing.You want to have people in your business to help share the load. Of course you’ll be managing the people taking on these tasks, seeking regular feedback, and ensuring there are systems in place so things get done appropriately, but you don’t want to be micromanaging. 

As a leader of a team, you need to be able to trust and have faith in your employees to perform the roles you’ve hired them for. 

If you find you’re still the person buying the toilet paper… it’s time to make a change. (True story: I once had to stop teaching a lesson and run and buy TP because we’d run out. It’s critical! Needless to say this was a big lesson for me!)

I thought for a REALLY long time if I wasn’t the person buying the toilet paper and cleaning the toilets I wasn’t a real business owner. But I tell you what … 12+ years into business I can say I haven’t cleaned a toilet in a really long time and that’s a really great thing because it’s not the best use of my time. 

In your business, you need to be spending your time working on the things that are your strengths if you’re going to be successful.

8. You’re not taking care of yourself. 

You have a lot of people relying on you. If you’re not taking care of you and steering the ship, there’s no chance of your business going in the direction you want. 

You must fill up your own cup before you serve others. 

Business is about serving your team, the community, your customers and clients. You will get stressed, overwhelmed and burnt out if you don’t take care of yourself. And that point where you feel completely run down and empty… that’s when people often throw their hands in the air and quit, walking away from the business they’ve invested so much in.

So make time in your calendar for self care each week and always stay on top of the things that are important to you. 

Whatever works for you, lights you up and fills your cup, make time for that.

9. Buying into team drama. 

If you hire people that share your vision and values you shouldn’t have too many HR issues. But aside from money and cash flow, dealing with difficult people whose values are not aligned with yours is probably one of the most common causes of stress. 

One of my values is simplicity. That doesn’t mean easy, but it means I don’t like unnecessary fluff, drama or theatrics. I like my drama on the stage, not behind the scenes or in the studio. 

This is why hiring the right team is so important. I’ve found that in staying true to my values and my vision, those angry people have moved themselves out of my business when they realise they are not aligned with what we have going on. 

10.  The unknown and the uncertain. 

There’s no avoiding uncertainty in business, but we can be prepared by doing everything in our power to communicate well with our team, community, customers and clients. 

Communication is key and when things are uncertain, like they have been this past year, a lack of communication really embeds fear in people—and no one is their best self when acting from a position of fear. When things go wrong and are challenging, be as straight up and as straightforward as you can with your communication. It’s a great way to ensure the situation is far less stressful than it could be. 

Be a leader. Give reassurance and guidance. This is your time to step up. Have faith in yourself that you will do what’s best.