Startups and Depression- the dark side to Entrepreneurship

Evan Oliver and Matthew Walters

Depression

- feelings of severe despondency and dejection.

“Only 7% of entrepreneurs report suffering from depression, but a whopping 30% of founders report dealing with its effects.”

Only 44% of UK business startups survive the first 5 years.

The Effects of Entrepreneurship

Heavy Workload – the unpredictable work schedule of an entrepreneur can cause tiredness and lead to stress.Average Hours Worked in a week – 39 hours for a full time employee

- 44 hours for an entrepreneur

No Social Life – the commitment to a new business or company can lead to having to sacrifice a social life in order to make it successful.

Family Relationships Suffer – the responsibility than an entrepreneur has to their business can lead to time not being spent with family and loved ones, this can potentially cause loneliness, which commonly leads to depression.

The Effects of Entrepreneurship

Frustration – starting a business is never easy and there is a guarantee that things will go wrong, this can have a negative mental effect on a person and they can question whether the business is worth the time invested.

Insecurity – following on from failures come the doubt that one makes in decisions. You are often alone and so have nobody to guide you.

Self-worth issues – this is where depression can really become a problem. If the business isn’t at first successful one can start to feel that they are not worth of anything.

Debt and Liability

Many startups come with unlimited liability, meaning that an entrepreneurs personal assets may also be at risk is the business takes a downturn.

This can potentially have a greater effect on the personal life of the entrepreneur than the business itself.

Putting a family home and a families security at risk through a business can be too much for some.

Insecurity

Milan Heger is an entrepreneur who started his own architecture company in Seattle.

"The biggest pressure is the status of my mortgage, college payments," Heger says. "I felt not like a failure, but like a father who wasn't doing what he was supposed to do. I'd sit in the car in the driveway and not want to get out. It's hard and continues to be hard.”

This highlights that the effects of being an entrepreneur can go beyond the business environment.

SimVentureThe mood of the entrepreneur on SimVenture is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

This relates to the hours worked and the time invested into the business by the person, tiredness is measured and so by carrying out more and more tasks in a month the person is likely to become more tired.This can cause lower efficiency levels – resulting in the business suffering.

To cope with this would recommend hiring employees as soon as its affordable to help to share the workload.

MCQs1. What percent of entrepreneurs report dealing with the effects of depression?a. 50%b. 20%c. 30%d. 10%2. On average, how many more hours does an entrepreneur work than a full time employee each week?e. 10f. 5g. 8h. 13. Which of the following is an effect of entrepreneurship?i. Heavy workloadj. Insecurityk. Frustrationl. All of the above

ReferencesChris Myers. 2015. Entrepreneurs: Don't Lose Yourself To Depression. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrismyers/2015/07/23/entrepreneurs-dont-lose-yourself-to-depression/#38cca27f4758. [Accessed 05 February 16].

Joe Robinson. 2011. Managing the Stress of Starting Your Own Business. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220235. [Accessed 05 February 16].

Barclays . 2015. Entrepreneurs in numbers. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.barclays.co.uk/BusinessBankAccounts/Entrepreneursinnumbers/P1242621930322. [Accessed 05 February 16].

Pardeep Goyal. 2015. No one is telling you the dark side of becoming an entrepreneur. [ONLINE] Available at: http://yourstory.com/2015/06/dark-side-entrepreneur/. [Accessed 05 February 16]