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Published On: Tue, Apr 28th, 2015

New Study: UK Small Business Owners Are Too Stressed to Enjoy Time off

photo/ Andrea_44 via wikimedia

photo/ Andrea_44 via wikimedia

New research has demonstrated that small business owners across the UK are finding it difficult to relax. Indeed, a study by CyberCompare.net has shown that they are so stressed that they struggle to enjoy any time off they do have. This is a worrying statistic in terms of quality of life and overall health.

It seems that small business owners are too stressed out to enjoy their holidays and properly relax, shows new research by Cyber Compare, a leading provider of online comparison services. They surveyed around 750 small firms and it was found that the fact that businesses would lose revenue when they were closed worried them too much.

Most felt they would lose out on some £16,500 per year by going on holiday, and they also worry about leaving the rest of the running of the store to their staff without them being there to monitor behaviour. Many have also reported that these feelings have led to arguments with their loved ones.

Everybody knows that small business owners have to work incredibly hard nowadays. This means that they not only should be allowed to have a break, but that it is actually vital to their health. However, the study of 756 firms demonstrated that around 65% felt that taking time off was something they couldn’t enjoy.

Additionally 42% reported that they worried about their work so much that they couldn’t relax. 32% would continue to complete work related tasks while being on holiday. Also, 18% say that this stress has caused arguments with their loved ones.

The economy, while recovering, remains challenging. It is certainly true that it could also lead to loss of money. Estimates from the business owners surveyed is that they experience £16,754 per year in losses, on top of the £3,517 they would lose out of their personal income as well.

In light of that, it should be no surprise that some 35% were unable to really detach themselves from their job. Many find it difficult to leave go of the reins. The most concerned are the older generations, with some 77% of the over 55s feeling incapable of relaxing. They reported a number of particular concerns:

  • 26% worried about administration not being done properly
  • 26% worried about customer enquiries not being dealt with
  • 23% worried about forgotten orders
  • 19% worried about mislaid materials and paperwork
  • 19% worry about broken communication between suppliers and customers
  • 13% worry about payments not being taken.

Anthony Shapley, Managing Director of CyberCompare stated: “It should be no surprise that business owners find it difficult to separate their business and personal lives, particularly when they should be enjoying time off. The research completed clearly showed that most business owners also felt that they would be better served if they had more online technology at their disposal. If nothing else, this would allow them to immediately reply to any concerns that their customers or suppliers raise.”

Five different key areas have been identified by CyberCompare.net to help businesses. These are:

  1. Opting for mobile email, including file sharing, calendar sharing and so on.
  2. Online data transfer and storage, allowing information to be shared regardless of physical location.
  3. A website that customers can easily engage with, as well as attracting new potential customers.
  4. An online store that takes automated payments, so that people can purchase even if the owner is on vacation.
  5. Excellent search engine marketing as this helps to drive traffic much better.

“Hopefully, by implementing these tools, business owners can breathe a sigh of relief”, added Anthony Shapley.

Guest Author: Lolita Di

 

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