Entrepreneurship is not only a tough but challenging act. It’s not easy when you are your own boss. It does not mean that you don’t have to do anything! Having your own business means more hard work. Because you don’t have a fixed-hours job like government officials do. You have to work for longer hours day and night. These things are quite challenging when you have to send your deliveries and place orders in a specific time-frame. Or your orders will be cancelled by your clients!

Therefore, being a business entrepreneur focuses on your priorities. And you have to spend more time and energy on your business. At the same time, you have to supervise and assist your team so that you can get desirable results. Otherwise, you will lose your regular clients and you have to be in a position to make wise decision at a particular time which does not affect your business. Sometimes, especially on weekends, you spend your time on your business. Only then you can deliver your goods along with your team.

On the other hand, you may be stuck up in your office and at the same time, you are getting several phone calls from your clients regarding your delivery to be sent in time. Imagine a critical situation that arises at times. But you have to be a calm, cool and quick decision-maker who not only focuses on his business but thinks more on your future and family as well. That is more important. Therefore, make good decisions and get help from your family members.

Three Sets of Plan for Every Entrepreneur

Ideally, you should establish three sets of plans:

A family plan

Whereby members determine the overall goals of the family and the resources needed to achieve those objectives.

An individual plan

This helps each family member determine his or her own personal goals and how to balance those needs with the family’s and business’s needs.

A business plan

This addresses issues as ownership and management control, family involvement in the business and overall strategic direction of the business.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, aged 68, has been described as India’s richest self-made independent and successful woman entrepreneur now. She is ranked at 68 in Forbes’ List of 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. Founder-Chairperson and Managing Director of Bengaluru-based Biocon Limited, India’s largest-listed biopharmaceutical firm by revenue, Kiran is the leading provider for bio-pharmaceutical needs in Asia. She is the pioneer of the biotech industry in India.

Though she has established herself as a successful woman entrepreneur, she admits she is an accidental entrepreneur. She has been into the pharmaceutical business for over four decades. She wanted to become a doctor but could not get into medical school. She studied in Bangalore University and Melbourne University (Australia). Her Biocon’s real time networth stands at $4.1 billion.

Kiran is on the board of governors of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and a former member of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), also in Hyderabad. She became the first woman to head the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru.

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, investor, and author. In the 1970s, he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records (later known as Virgin Megastores) in 1972. His Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s as he started Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. He founded more companies such as Virgin Airlines, Virgin Express, Virgin Mobile, Virgil Hotels, and Virgin Cruises.
In 2004, he founded spaceflight corporation Virgin Galactic, based at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, noted for the SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane designed for space tourism.

In March 2000, Queen Elizabeth knighted Branson at Buckingham Palace in London for “services to entrepreneurship”. For his work in retail, music and transport (with interests in land, air, sea and space travel), his taste for adventure, and for his humanitarian work, he has become a prominent global figure. In 2007, he was placed in TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World List. In February 2021, American business magazine Forbes listed Branson’s estimated net worth at US$6.5 billion.

One can get inspired by the real story of a successful business entrepreneur like Branson who wanted to be an editor or journalist and was keen to join the media profession. He was not interested in becoming an entrepreneur. But to get his magazine running successfully, he needed money. Thus, he took an interest in business entrepreneurship so that he can earn money and can survive as an editor.

One can easily read and understand the fascinating example of Branson, who is not only a multimillionaire but famous business guy who launched his first business when he was just a teenager. He started a mail-order record business and after two years he was running a chain of record stores at the age of 22 years. He then went on to found many companies.

No doubt, he had exceptional qualities along with self-confidence. Having the ability or knowledge to create entrepreneurial success sets him apart. Branson seems very happy. During his busy official schedule or working along with his team, he makes it a point to spend quality time along with his family and friends. He always takes his time and does some efforts to utilize and utilize his precious time for positive thoughts.

Business, like any engagement, is just an extension of an individual. This implies that the wellbeing of the individual has a direct bearing on the success of his or her business. Having a successful business means you have to be a successful team player. But many entrepreneurs are not able to understand this. This often manifests itself in unhealthy habits that aren’t healthy or productive. But there’s also something to be said for taking time to ensure you’re emotionally and physically cared for. And you have to be self-seeking! Only then can you take care of your business.

How to Take Care of Your Priorities?

Everyone’s needs are different. As a busy entrepreneur who’s grown accustomed to selflessly serving everyone’s needs but your own, here are a handful of things you can focus on:

Watch Your Diet: As busy entrepreneurs, we often get stuck in ruts. We usually stop with easy things which are familiar and comfortable. This is fine. However, it’s not always good. Sometimes, it can be risky.

As a busy entrepreneur one has to ask oneself about not having too much fast food. For instance, you are busy in the office, feel hungry and order a pizza, Chinese food or burger. But it is harmful for your body. It affects your body in the long run, and has side effects, too.

So, it’s not a great idea to simply consume fast food that takes care of your hunger. But you should have adequate amounts of vitamins and nutrients for getting physically healthy and fit.

Alcohol is another problem. Drinking too much alcohol will adversely affect your body, and you become unhealthy. Are you drinking too much alcohol? If yes, then you have to stop it before it gets too late. Getting invites and attending cocktail parties is fine occasionally. But it should not be on a regular basis. Getting addicted to these show side effects soon in your body, and you develop skin problems.

Not only side effects, but you will not get good sleep. Slowly, your memory fades, you forget important things. And you may become sexually dysfunctional. So, it’s best that you limit and avoid these dangerous things.

Are you making time for meals? If you are a busy businesswoman, it’s a challenge cooking for your family and finding time to dine with your family.

Because of your hectic time schedule, you are cooking, walking and serving at the same time. You are multi-tasking. So, you get tired. And this is dangerous. It increases the likelihood of overeating. It puts undue stress on your digestive system.

Your diet is very important to your productivity and health. If you want to stay focused at work, then you need to make time for healthy meals. Packing a lunch is often the best solution to ensuring you eat well.

Get More Sleep: Getting comfortable sleep is also one of the important factors for a businesswoman. Getting quality sleep is necessary, and you have to sleep at the right time.

“Those who don’t sleep enough are less productive at work and school. They take longer to finish tasks, have a slower reaction time, and make more mistakes,” reports the National Institute of Health. “After several nights of losing sleep – even a loss of just one to two hours per night – your ability to function suffers as if you haven’t slept at all for a day or two.”
Like eating healthy, getting sleep can seem like a far-off dream for busy entrepreneurs. It doesn’t have to be, though. By making it a priority, you can get a minimum of six to eight hours of continuous sleep each day. And the consistency is as important as the total amount. Try to fall asleep and wake up at the same time each day. This will aid your body’s circadian rhythm.

Spend Some Time in Reflection: When you’re constantly surrounded by people, you force yourself to be “on” at all times. This can be emotionally draining and, ultimately, leads to mental fatigue. The danger here is that you’ll eventually snap, or say something you’ll regret.

While you can’t necessarily reduce the amount of time you spend around your work colleagues, you can maximize the time you have to yourself. For most people, this time is first thing in the morning or late at night. Use these quiet hours to spend some time in reflection. If you’re a spiritual person, this is a great time to pray. If you like mediating, use this time to practice. However, if you like to disengage from the world around you, ensure you’re doing it for at least a few minutes per day.

Get Regular Physical Activity: Physical fitness is one of those things that we all have on our to-do lists, but rarely get around to doing. Unfortunately, being busy isn’t an excuse for not exercising. Your body doesn’t care if you’re busy with a work project or complicated assignment. Gym or other physical exercise is good for the body.

The question is, how do you make time for regular physical activity? The obvious place to start is with your current obligations. Are there things you are currently doing through the course of the day that aren’t constructive or necessary? This includes watching a show on television or on Netflix, reading the newspaper, or mindlessly browsing your Facebook newsfeed. Try replacing this time with 30 minutes of exercise. It doesn’t matter if it’s a jog around the block or a weight lifting session. Anything that engages your muscles and gets your heart rate up is better than sitting down.

Build Relationships Outside of Work: Finally, you can’t forget about the relational side of things. While it’s great to have close friends at work, you need to find friends and develop relationships outside of the office. This will help you enjoy more and take care of your work-life balance.

Opportunities for meeting people outside of work include joining local sports teams, volunteering with nearby organizations, signing up for a position with your neighbourhood’s homeowners’ association and hosting parent-child get-togethers with your kid’s friends.

Make Time for Yourself: There’s something to be said for putting others first. It’s admirable, selfless, and caring – and these are attributes that will take you a long way in your career. However, we also live in a business world that blows selflessness out of proportion. It’s critical that you pay attention to your own physical and emotional needs. And you won’t start slipping down the corporate ladder just because you adopt a few new habits.

Everyone continues to need positive feedback. With work associates, encourage your subordinates, peers, bosses, and also rivals, competitors, past partners. If you admire someone, tell them. If you think they may not need support from you, you’re likely wrong.

We’ve made great strides in recent years addressing mental health in the workplace and more generally. We need people on the frontlines rescuing the physically afflicted, but the emotional aspect will affect everyone.

Taking a cue from a recent study which states that start-up entrepreneurs are highly vulnerable to depression, one begs the question why does the threat of mental stress is more bothersome for entrepreneurs in comparison to those engaged in various other professions. It is not surprising then that the threat of uncertainty around us, especially in the business sense has only spiralled upwards ever since a slowdown was reported in the market a year ago. 

Close on the heels of the economic slowdown, the pandemic has created an unprecedented uncertainty in the markets which has not only killed many entrepreneurial ideas but also the entrepreneurial prospects which has pushed many wanna-entrepreneurs into mental depression.

One can always think why entrepreneurs suffer? Mental health problems exist in every industry; it’s not only in the tech industry, but the statistics indicate that we have a particular problem.