Small businesses need more support to help encourage and fund mental health initiatives, but there are strategies they can implement in the meantime
For many small business owners, stress is a part of everyday life. Our recent study found that disturbed sleep, anxiety and feeling irritable, the most common symptoms of poor mental health, were experienced by eight out of 10 small business owners over the last two years.
With this in mind, recognising and addressing the issue feels more significant than ever.
Mental wellbeing is a key factor in business success
Struggling business owners face a particularly tough predicament because they are partly responsible for their employees’ mental wellbeing as well as their own. But with the cost-of-living crisis, rising energy prices, inflation and the threat of recession, it’s unsurprising many are struggling to find the capital or time to invest in mental health initiatives.
However, the same study found that many of those who have been able to focus on wellbeing for them and their staff have experienced a more productive workforce and better economic outcomes. Small businesses need more support to be able to embrace these initiatives so that not just they, but the economy as a whole, can see real benefits.
Steps to destress
In the meantime, there are ways that business owners can drive positive change. For example, it’s important to ensure that mental health support is readily available to all staff.
This includes the materials and resources offered by mental health experts like Mind, which provides useful information on topics like where to find support locally and understanding different mental health problems.
Businesses can also work with organisations like St John’s Ambulance, which offers mental health training for workforces.
There are also coping strategies that small business owners and employees can implement to help alleviate stress. Take the container method, for example. This encourages individuals to think of the mind as a ‘stress container’, into which stressors flow in and out. Sometimes, the container has too many stressors that it can’t empty fast enough, manifesting in symptoms of stress.
However, individuals can drain the container and balance their mental health by using healthy coping strategies, like speaking to friends and family or practising mindfulness.
Even simple things like taking proper breaks throughout the day and setting clear boundaries for working hours (bearing in mind the importance of flexible working, too) can help alleviate stress for owners and their staff.
Our study also found that nine out of 10 small business owners hadn’t taken a single day of sick leave in the past two years despite the same number having experienced poor mental health. It’s important that business owners take time out when they can to rest and recharge, not just for their own wellbeing but to set the same example for the wider business.
Adjusting the priorities list
Business owners given the support to make mental health more of a priority will be in a much better position to thrive in times of uncertainty.
About the author
Kate Hayward is Xero’s Director of Operations for UK & EMEA, a role she was appointed into earlier this year following her time as Xero’s Executive General Manager – Global Group Strategy.
