Starting your own firm can be exciting and exhilarating, but it can also be
lonely, without anyone to talk through business ideas and problems. The good
news is that there are ways to reduce the sense of isolation.
Heather Bestel, 45, is more isolated than most. Four years ago she and her
family moved from Liverpool to a remote farmhouse near Wigtown in southwest
Scotland, where she runs her psychotherapy and stress-management firm,
Alittlebitofmetime.com, from home, selling relaxation CDs and providing
advice over the phone.
“Some days it is fine, but other days I think, oh my goodness what have I
done, because I love being around people and bouncing ideas off them,” she
said.
“The answer for me has been online social networking. I have joined lots of
internet forums for people running businesses from home. Twitter is probably
my biggest lifeline into the business community. Whenever I need some help
with how to do something, I can just ask someone.
“It is lovely because people can just go online and say, I am feeling so low
and immediately there are four or five people saying, we are here, we are
listening, it’s fine, don’t worry, we have all been there. It makes a big
difference.”
David Wike, 62, also found it hard to adjust to working alone after years
spent in a corporate environment.
Wike, who runs a business training consultancy from the spare bedroom of his
home in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, said: “I missed the camaraderie. In an
office there is always a buzz and people around you and things going on.
“If you are not sure how to do something there will always be somebody there
who knows. But when you are alone at home there is none of that.”
His solution has been to start a group for local entrepreneurs called the
Water Cooler group, which meets once a month to socialise and talk shop.
Raoul Shah, 41, found an ingenious solution to the problem of being lonely.
Six months after starting Exposure, a communications agency, in his flat in
west London, he rented a desk in a friend’s design agency in central London.
Even though the two businesses were very different, he was overjoyed to be
part of a stimulating office environment again.
He said: “It was very reassuring, feeling that I was suddenly part of
something. Even having someone to talk to for five minutes while I was
making a cup of tea helped.
“Renting that desk was a crucial move for me because, apart from being
surrounded by other people, being in the centre of London gave me a real
sense of aspiration, of what it would be like to have an office of my own
one day. It helped to focus my mind on what I wanted to achieve.”
Indeed, he found the experience so enriching that Shah, whose business has now
grown to 150 employees and eight offices, often provides work space for
other fledgling entrepreneurs in his London base.
Even when you do move into proper business premises and take on staff,
however, it can still sometimes be lonely being an entrepreneur.
Tim Roupell is the founder of Daily Bread, the sandwich firm he sold in 2008
for a substantial undisclosed sum. He said: “The big problem is there is a
limited number of people you can talk to on a meaningful level.
“There is a limit as to how much you can bore your friends with business
issues and you certainly can’t talk to your colleagues about certain things,
particularly if you are feeling demotivated yourself.”
His solution was to join Ace, the Academy for Chief Executives, an
organisation that brings together groups of non-competing entrepreneurs and
chief executives for a day a month so they can discuss work freely and
privately.
“Having an environment where you can sit down with like-minded souls and
discuss your inner thoughts can be incredibly valuable,” said Roupell. “I
found that people were very keen to offer help and information, and share
solutions that had worked for them. Or if it was the third time someone had
brought the same issue up, they would say, ‘Sort yourself out, mate, and
jolly well do something about it’.”
Roupell, who is now looking for small to medium-sized companies to mentor,
said: “If you know some people in business who are in a similar position to
yourself and whose opinions you respect, sit down and have a proper chat
with them once a month. It can be very powerful.”
Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, (Enterprisenation.com)
the home business website, said that interacting with people outside your
own business environment was not only a good way of combating loneliness, it
was good for the business itself.
In recognition of this, Enterprise Nation is next month launching a series of
clubs around the country where members can meet face to face.
She said: “One of the dangers of getting lonely and not interacting with
others is that you will lack creativity in your business. New ideas and
business development always come from talking to other people.
“It is important that people working from home on their own have support
networks and groups outside the home because it not only helps them
psychologically, it also helps their business.”
Your Comments
Order By: