During this current economic downturn, if you run or own your own business, it is highly probable that you’re facing more challenges and tougher decisions than you have in years. Stress is amplified for the business owner due to the relative isolation, unique responsibilities, long hours, and constant threats that affect the survivability of their company.

As one of my instructors in graduate school, Peter Drucker, always told us, “If we identify and truly understand the problem before we implement a solution, our life will have much less stress.”

In light of Dr. Drucker’s wisdom and our years of working with business owners and managers, we have put together a list of the “BIGGEST STRESS CREATORS” in hopes that it will enable you to identify the causes of stress in your business and take corrective action.

• No communicated vision for the future of the business, no shared goals to the management and staff
• No written or communicated financial goals for the business
• No clear chain of command (no written or published organizational chart
• No clear guidelines for job performance
• No written policies
• No marketing plan
• No defined “key performance indicators” that drive results in the business
• No systems that measure the “key performance indicators.
• No requirements on the quality or timeliness of financial information
• No cash flow forecast that predicts cash shortages in the future
• No effective communication in the direction of the business to their capital partners, their lenders

It’s important to identify and tackle those issues that create stress in your life because added stress has a cumulative effect. In many cases, it will start to affect your physical well being, impact your relationships with others in your organization, and impact your bottom line.

We have helped hundreds of businesses identify and solve those issues that are causing stress in their business and their lives. In just a few months, with corrective action, management is much happier, the employees are more engaged, cash flow improves, outlook improves, and work becomes fun again.

Here’s to your business success!