5 Challenges That Entrepreneurs Face

Being an entrepreneur can take a financial and mental toll on you. You can face several different challenges, from trying to launch a business to day-to-day operations.

Some challenges that most entrepreneurs face include:

1. Burnout
2. Judgement and Doubt
3. Money Management
4. Time Management
5. Recruiting and Delegation

Burnout

Burnout is more than just feeling tired; it is being mentally drained and physically and emotionally exhausted. Burnout is stress that builds and builds to the point that you can no longer meet the demands of daily life.

Entrepreneurs are at a high risk of burnout because becoming an entrepreneur is both time and mentally consuming. Everything is on your plate, the risks are high, and it requires a lot of work and dedication. Handling burnout requires constantly taking a mental check to ensure that you are not overburdening yourself and seeking help when you need it.

Judgment and Doubt

There is a lot of judgment and doubt that entrepreneurs can face. Judgment can come from clients, customers, and even friends and family. It can be a judgment about what we are selling or a judgment of ourselves. Entrepreneurs can also be more afraid of the potential judgment rather than the judgment itself—the fear of the unknown and the possibilities. Starting and running your own business puts you in a vulnerable position. If you are someone who is more guarded, it can be hard to expose this vulnerable part of yourself to the world. Where you feel too vulnerable to put yourself and your ideas out there.

With self-doubt, you will end up second-guessing yourself constantly or doubting your ability to handle a task. You worry about how you can handle something and if other people see that you're doing something wrong. This is where we can see self-judgment and the fear of judgment pop in.

It is important to remember that you are trying your best and doing the most with the choices you have. Be patient and gentle with yourself.

Money Management

Money management is something that everyone struggles with, especially entrepreneurs.

Trying to finance your business, regardless of the type or industry, can be costly. If you qualify, there are several options for outside sourcing, including lines of credit, business loans, crowdfunding, and angel investors. Even with outside sourcing, many entrepreneurs will still put in their own money or require help from friends and family.

To help better manage your finances, you must prepare and follow a budget. Learn what you will need to save for taxes and put aside an additional percentage of your annual income to save and grow. Make sure you are collecting all debts from clients and customers, and open a bank account to separate your personal and business finances. If possible, hire a professional to help you start and manage your account.

Time Management

Learning the art of time management is important when everything is on your plate. You will have to learn to balance different duties, including marketing, operations, sales, production, and financing. Your business will require a lot of your time to ensure you can get your idea off the ground. This becomes an art when you start to add your personal duties such as family, chores, personal financing, personal time, etc. Often as entrepreneurs, your work life will invade your personal life.

That is why you will want to schedule everything you can. Make a task list, prioritize, and make a schedule for the day, week, or month, whatever works best for you. Part of this is trying to manage your attention and limit distractions. We can often have random thoughts or items that we need to add to our to-do list. So, unless these tasks are urgent, write down the details and, at the end of the day, review your random thought or "distraction list" and add them to a later schedule if needed.

Recruiting and Delegation

You'll have to start recruiting other talent and delegating duties at a certain point in your business. When recruiting, you'll need to have the full idea of what your company is; What the company's mission and vision are so you can find talent that fits within the business you are building. Do your research into the role you will be hiring for, expectations of duties, pay scale, and the type of candidates you want to apply. With small businesses, it is common for people to have overlapping responsibilities, but it is important to understand what duties fall under what position, especially as the business grows.

Aside from that, you must take the appropriate legal steps to hire either employees or independent contractors. You'll also want to look into local and federal laws regarding taxes, insurance, and labor laws.

Once you have your workforce, it is time to start delegating. For many entrepreneurs, it's difficult to delegate because we are so used to controlling all aspects of our business that it is hard to hand control over. Delegating is relinquishing control. When you offload a task, you give control of that project to another person because you already have enough on your plate. When delegating, be clear about what the project entails as well as the desired outcome. Be specific with any constraints or issues with the project, and be explicit with the deadline.