SiteMinder co-founder Mike Ford gives his advice to fellow founders
Feeling utterly consumed by your new startup? Or maybe you can’t seem to step away from it, spending weekends working and missing family events…
It can be easy to neglect your own mental health and get caught up in the rush of kicking off your startup, but it’s important you’re continuously investing in yourself as well as your startup!
Just having someone to share your queries and workload can make your journey that much better – so you remember the excitement that comes with your own startup, not just the stresses.
So how do you look after yourself whilst ensuring you’re doing all that you can for your new business?
We spoke to startup founders about their top tips for dealing with the emotional rollercoaster.
Mike Ford, Managing Director and Founder, SiteMinder
You could say that the success of startups is dependent on their business plan, but the reality is they are dependent on the founder in every respect, from the strategy to the go-to-market, product, operations, marketing and finances, to customer support.
As high achievers, many founders fall into the trap of feeling that they need to be engaged with the business every second of everyday. The things that enrich their lives eventually fall by the wayside, in pursuit of success. Don’t let this happen. Spend time with friends and family, and, importantly, time looking after yourself. Whether it’s exercise or time out, make sure you take the time to relieve stress. As a founder, oftentimes your perception is that every new day is the most important. Yet, having gone through that myself, I am still in my business 14 years later and I can assure you there is more opportunity and pace than ever before and some days it still feels like a startup! Only looking back do I appreciate that the business would have still been OK if I had taken time to focus on my wellbeing.
In the early stages, the business is only as good as the founder, so look after your emotional and physical wellbeing always, because it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
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