Article 5: The Lonely Entrepreneur | The Financial Strain

My father always joked by calling his “cash flow” his “crash flow” when times were tough. As an entrepreneur for 25 years, I have had my fair share of cash flow issues. Financial pressures are a significant source of stress, sleepless nights, avoiding people and loneliness for many entrepreneurs. The burden of managing finances can often feel overwhelming.

Leadership and cashflow 

I cannot imagine a worse situation than a captain telling his crew and passengers that the ship leaks and might sink soon. They will keep that information to themselves. This is the same situation with many business owners whose ship is about to sink due to financial troubles. Internally, you face hurricanes of emotional turmoil as you try to build a business with little or no cash, and yet you feel that you cannot share any of this with the people who are supposed to help you make this ship stay afloat. 

This is a catch-22 situation and is difficult for an entrepreneur to navigate because your staff can help you get out of this with the right focus and effort, yet we are afraid they might realise what is happening. From a leadership standpoint, cognitive tunnelling leads you into dangerous waters. Cognitive tunnelling occurs when your mind only has the bandwidth to think about the most pressing issue: cash flow. This makes it nearly impossible to think about ideas and initiatives that could turn the situation around. 

Helplessness

We are rarely very creative in this situation, and the constant worry about cash flow, expenses, and financial stability can take a toll on your mental health and lead to feelings of despair and loneliness. Because of your silence about the situation and a worsening situation, you slowly but surely navigate into a deep, dark hole of loneliness and separation from others. 

Shame

It makes things even worse at home. Our loved ones, who depend on us for their lives and financial security, are the last ones we want to inform about the reality of the situation. We feel ashamed for thinking that we failed them and fear how they might react if they only knew what was happening. We avoid them in case the conversation leads to how the business is doing or if they might ask for money to do something. The fear and shame of saying no can be overwhelming and we avoid them. This distancing leads to loneliness and possibly negatively impacts our most important relationships. 

Navigating this Stress

I will not discuss the obvious solutions, such as better planning, consistency, etc. We all drop the ball at some point, and we have to face the results of our actions or inaction. One way to address this situation is to regularly spend time with a fellow business owner who questions and queries us on our actions/inaction and results. I have a close friend with whom I walk and eat breakfast twice weekly, Tuesday and Saturday. They bring a fresh outside perspective and help spot negative patterns and decision-making that could lead to financial challenges. 

If you are in a deep pickle, start speaking to some fellow entrepreneurs. Ask them how they address cash flow issues. Find solutions and a support system. It will probably not be easy, but decisions got you to where you are today, and decisions will get you out. 

Be More Human Centered

We need a more human-centered approach to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship development. A customer-centric approach leads us to focus more on the business than anything else. We sometimes sacrifice entrepreneurs like lemmings just to make businesses succeed, and that needs to change. We put process before people.

Businesses come and go, but entrepreneurs should remain in the game. Don’t build businesses; develop people who can build businesses.

Dealing with Loneliness

As mentioned, I want to start the conversation and build from there. Everyone, absolutely everyone, at some point in their life, gets to a point where they run out of answers. It is normal. 

The simplest advice you can follow for now is to follow these three steps:

1. Recognise
2. Reach Out
3. Talk

Recognise

Recognise that you are lonely. It does not make you weak or broken. You are simply a human being. It is ok to have these feelings. This is normal. 

Reach Out

Reach out to a trusted friend, a fellow entrepreneur, or even an organisation that deals with mental health challenges. You can also search the Internet for such organisations in your local area. Family can be tricky since they might depend on your success; lean on friends, preferably friends who are also entrepreneurs.

Find a space that feels safe for you.

Talk

Talk as much as possible and to as many people as you need to. Simply talking about it will already make it much more manageable. Instead of lamenting your situation try to work towards practical solutions, simple steps you can take to ease your entrepreneurial loneliness.

Join the Conversation

The article series is to start the conversation. For that purpose, I created a simple form to which you can add your name and email. If enough people join the conversation, I will create a mailing list and start taking action to further this conversation.

If not, I will simply delete it, destroy any data contained within it, and move on. However, having seen the prevalence of loneliness in entrepreneurship, I doubt this will be the case. 

Please follow this link to add your name

Resource List: Share Resources

Here is a link to another form where you can submit resources for entrepreneurs struggling with the effects of loneliness, depression, anxiety and more. I will publish this list as a separate article and build on it as it grows. 

PLEASE: No marketing and self-promotion. 

Follow this link to submit a resource

Help Others by Sharing

If you know someone struggling with this issue, please share this or any other articles with them. Thank you for your support. Let’s see where it leads.

The Whole Article Series

Article 1: The Lonely Entrepreneur | We Need to Talk About This More

Article 2: The Lonely Entrepreneur | The Burden of Expectation

Article 3: The Lonely Entrepreneur | The Burden of Performance

Article 4: The Lonely Entrepreneur | The Isolation of Leadership

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