I recently took an unexpected trip away and it made me think about how much stress that causes. Like a good business coach, I thought about how this must be for my clients – the owners of trades businesses – and how it must be when they “leave” their businesses.
You can leave your business for many reasons – to help with family, like for me or just for a holiday but, whatever the reason, it can cause stress. I found myself worrying about letting people down, them not getting the proper level of service while I was away (the level they paid for); I worried about losing momentum in my business – it’s been going well lately, growing well and I was a bit scared it would stop; and I had a more global niggle about messing up this job of being a businessman.
This is something I see in my clients and in you too, probably (and in me) — this fear of somehow not measuring up, or not being good enough or, not doing a good enough job.
It’s probably more stressful for a trade business owner – you have more staff to manage and you have projects that need your constant attention to make sure they go well. Lots of the tradies I meet work very hard to hold everything together and feel very necessary to the day-to-day running of their businesses. So the thought of going away makes them very anxious – or they don’t feel like they can get away so they rarely take a holiday or a long weekend. For some people, January is quiet enough that you can relax and have a holiday but some people feel very chained to their businesses – by their own stresses and by being so needed.
On my trip, while I was stressing, I found myself talking myself down: “It’s ok, you’ve sorted everyone out, rearranged meetings, they’re all nice, they will understand; you’ve set things up to handle this (or some of this); it’s only 2 weeks; the girls are smart, we’re a team and stuff’s happening”.
This helped me manage my stress and I want to think about 2 things:
- Stress management
- Setting it up right in the first place so situations like this aren’t so stressful
Stress management
It’s a big topic and there’s lots you can do. Michelle (my partner) is a psychologist and she has much to teach us about how to manage stress. It’s going to be part of the coaching program when I get her to make the videos. For now, think about the ‘talking yourself’ down like I’ve been doing.
Make a conscious effort when your head is going in those loops to see what you’re doing and remind yourself that that’s all it is — a stress loop.
You can reassure yourself and remind yourself it’s not so bad and put it in context.
It’s part of what I do as a coach and obviously, you should hire me if you stress out, but you should also practice it yourself.
I also find myself reassuring people that “You are good enough and smart enough”. You are. Don’t let yourself make you believe otherwise.
Manage your stress by being conscious about it – by recognising when you’re in these loops, when you’re feeling less than capable or overwhelmed and by talking yourself down like I did. I helps. If it doesn’t help, then go and get proper help from a Psychologist like my girlfriend. They aren’t just for people who are in trouble, they can help you with strategies to manage your mental health – and that includes stress.
Just like a car, your brain needs some maintenance – learning to manage the stress that comes from busyness or from anxiety about money or work or people is part of that. Exercise is helpful and a necessary part of maintaining your mental health. Sleep is important and drinking to unwind can interfere with your sleep and your exercise.
Sometimes, when I’m coaching someone, this stuff comes up and we set a goal of them doing more exercise or reducing their drinking. I’m not a health coach or a psychologist so I can’t go too deep here and, anyway, I think I’ve just told you everything I know. If you’re feeling stressed and anxious, please get some proper help. You’d get help if you cut your hand open with an angle grinder, get some help when work gets you down.
Set things up
If you are able to set your business up so it doesn’t need you so involved in the day-to-day workings, it is much easier for you to leave it and go on a holiday. Set things up right so you are less needed, so your business is less dependent on you to make every decision and fix every problem and make stuff happen.
I’m talking about systems and structure so your business runs by systems instead of by you making decisions all the time. This helps you take time away but it also helps you build a business that is less stressful when you’re there – people make decisions without having to come to you and ask you to help them – because they know their job know the rules and the systems and they can do their jobs properly.
The way to set up your business so it has the best chance of operating without you is to document systems and train your people in the systems. So you’ve got people who are:
- Competent
- Trained
- Empowered
Have systems for them to use so they know what to do, so they don’t have to come to you when anything happens or anything difficult happens. So:
- Systems
- Processes; and
- Good people in place
You can write systems to help you hire the good people and systems to help them do good work. If it sounds boring or difficult, it’s because good things usually require some investment of effort and work before you get your reward. The rewards are real, though. And you don’t have to do it on your own. I can help you. The Tradies Toolbox Coaching Program will help you document systems for a better business that can give you a break from it and I will help you through the process of writing them and implementing them.
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