Being an entrepreneur – mental health and ultramarathons

Recently, I've become anti-entrepreneurialism. These days, I'm all about the franchise model.

Here's why:

Being an entrepreneur is the most insane thing a person can do to themselves.

Who would want to work 80-90 hour weeks? Who likes having little failures constantly thrown in their face? Who wants to give up their social life and make relationships almost impossible?

Especially when three out of four start-ups fail – and a whole lot of the rest (something like 95%) never reach their initial projections.

Put this way, being an entrepreneur means you need to be a little crazy...

So why do people do it?

Being an entrepreneur – why do it?

I think being an entrepreneur is a lot like being a drug addict or alcoholic. Admittedly, you're more productive and you have a different end result in mind.

But you still don't get enough sleep. You don't eat enough – or you eat too much. You don't get any exercise. Your relationships – romantic and otherwise – start to suffer.

The only thing that matters to you is your addiction: making your business a success.

You're always chasing that end. What's happening here and now doesn't matter. Because in the end, you tell yourself it will all be worth it.

You'll have proven that you've “got what it takes” – whatever that means.

Entrepreneurs and mental health

Being an entrepreneur is like running an ultramarathon everyday. It makes people ill:

The number of entrepreneurs who struggle with stress, anxiety, depression and outright despair is on the rise.

Even high-profile founders and CEOs – people who, from the outside, you might think have “made it” – have gone so far as to take their own lives, unable to face it any more.

There is a sort of intrinsic belief that your value as a person is tied to your company's value. This makes growing your company, driving it onwards and upwards more important than just about anything else.

Only recently I spoke with a couple of fellow founders and CEOs. One of them needed some advice about SEO...

He was on his honeymoon.

My advice?

Put the phone down, forget work and go see your wife.

Emotional resilience versus happiness

One of my favourite quotes about being an entrepreneur is:

“Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

It's a fantastic quote. All about resilience in the face of constant challenges. It's an attitude which any entrepreneur will recognise as being one they've had to have since day one.

But if you think about it, it's also more than a little bit mad...

The drive behind so many entrepreneurs compels them to say things which boil down to “throw that shit in my face and I will turn it into diamonds.”

There's a big difference between being emotionally resilient to setbacks and actually being happy.

Happiness must be part of your definition of success

My first days, weeks and months as an entrepreneur were full of the intense grind, constant tiny failures and need to overcome them, poor diet and little sleep that any start-up founder will recognise.

These days, we have our 360 Degree Happiness philosophy. Because, I think if we kept going the same way we were in the beginning we would have burned out long ago.

This means there will now be many times when we focus on people rather than profits. But I know now that, in the end, this will lead to even greater profits further down the line.

What is the point of chasing the ever-illusive unicorn of success when you are deeply and profoundly unhappy?

You need to find the pace, find the peace, find the flow.

Why the franchise business model?

More franchises succeed than start-ups. It's easy to see why:

A franchise replicates the processes and copies the success. The failures have already been overcome.

Sure, those failures led to the improvements which led to the perfection of those processes.

But, as a franchise, you didn't have to spend long, sleepless nights overcoming those failures yourself. Someone else did it already.

Instead, you only need to plug any hole in your thinking which says, “Shouldn't have I had to work harder to get here?”

No, you shouldn't! Why does success have to be hard?

You're not at the gym. It's not a “no pain no gain” sort of deal. If the work's already been done, why do it again?

Being your own boss – but with success support

Of course, you're not going to be lounging around on a deck chair as soon as you buy a franchise.

It just means that the time the entrepreneurs who started your franchise spent on battling failure, you get to spend on having a life, recovering and working out how to grow your business.

The insecurity, the chase for the perfect product-to-market fit, the battle to create the tools to succeed – they've all been taken away.

In their place, you've got shared learning and a support team who know what works because they've done it already.

You are still your own boss. But you are going to get support to achieve success much faster than even the craziest 80-90 hour week-working entrepreneur could manage on their own.

Take a little time out

No one is effective when they're burnt out. No one sprints an ultramarathon.

And yet, in the constant drive to be the next Bezos or Branson – the frantic rush to be a “winner” not a “loser” – that's the attitude so many entrepreneurs have. Or find they have to have to get through the day.

It's not healthy.

Working a lot or working hard won't solve anything. When there's a crisis or a short-term goal or issue to fix, sure. Obsess. Work those hours that make people think you're on drugs.

But then work less. Relax.

Personally, I've hit my targets for this month. I'm off to the mountains for a week or two. It's time to recharge the batteries.

Are you thinking about becoming an entrepreneur?

Let me talk you out of it. Or, at least, let me talk you into doing it in a healthier way.

Ask a question in a comment and let's chat.