How can entrepreneurs manage crisis stress?

Other entrepreneurs may have different methods, but I’ll share what I’ve done. First, some outcomes that cause high stress are a matter of waiting, such as a customer saying yes, or funding approval. The more I sit around, the more stressful it becomes, so I work on other parts of the business, preferably something that breaks up the routine. So, if I’ve been concentrating on raising money, I’ll work on customer engagement, and preferably in a different environment.

There is another kind of stress, and that happens when you are managing a disaster, like lost funding, or a big customer loss. In those situations, I hit the whiteboard and get to work. I’m big on, “What if we do…” scenarios on a whiteboard and work through the problem until I come up with a roadmap to get me out of the situation I’m in.

Character comes out in bad times and our real value often shows up when there is a crisis. Great entrepreneurs are built from navigating sudden hits to their business that they were not expecting, and that crisis management is what sets great leaders apart

from others.

Ask anyone and they will claim to have great character, but if you’ve ever been in an emergency situation, you can see who has it and who doesn’t. Some immediately think about themselves and others immediately think of others. Those who think of others the people with the great character, and the ones you want in your organization.

I discovered that walking meetings help a lot in a stressful situation. There was a time when a competitor was intentionally attempting to damage my company. It hit a boiling point and so I went for a walk with one of our investors to discuss our company’s deflective strategy. Seattle has a lake with a 2.8 mile paved trail around it. The two of us set out on that trail and started walking through solutions, completely lost in the distance we were covering. We circled the lake three times and came up ideas that we later implemented that ultimately worked.

During rough times, I never ever do anything destructive to relieve stress. I know of some who go out and get drunk or smash something, or take it out on others, and I’ve always done the opposite. It’s where having a dog, hitting a trail and just thinking through the problem seems to help. Everyone who has pets, knows that they can snap us into living in the moment and more than once it’s made a big difference.

Entrepreneurship is anything but stress free. It’s the opposite and probably some of the most stressful experiences I’ve ever had, yet doing something positive, even something like taking a break to straighten up the garage can make a difference, but no matter what, always do something constructive.   - Tom Nault

Their are following ways by which entrepreneur use to manage crisis stress are as follows-

1. They have network buildup of investor .
2. Government program are used to manage loan issue
3. Crowd Funding for their idea
4. They have incubator who support then in crisis
5. Bootstrapping for funds

They also manage their idea in feasible model and know days they have incubators and other crowd funding agency which support them in crisis period. - Ankit Ramaiya.

There are few things you can do. Crisis and Stress are part of life and more so for entrepreneurs.

1. Maintain contact with some friends / similar entrepreneurs - they may be of help to you - some of your entrepreneur friends would have faced problems similar to what you are facing and they can give advice.
2. Develop your own set of mentors - periodically brief them on what you are doing and they may offer a few insights which will be useful to you. Also before taking any major decisions consult them - they may caution you if they feel that it is not a right move.
3. Engage a young lawyer on retainer basis and let him / her check various agreements, contracts and legal compliances. If you go to a lawyer only when you have difficulty, it doesn’t work. You need a lawyer to prevent mistakes not for litigation after the mistake has occurred.
4. If you are the entrepreneur, make it a habit of having breakfast with an employee on his birthday - you get to know what is happening in your business which your reports do not show.

Basically, be aware/ prevent / consult people and well wishers - this will help you sail through crisis. When you are not doing well, you have a natural tendency to not meet people …. you have to overcome this natural tendency. - Raghavendra Ravi