The life of a business founder is often challenging, as the demands of the business pull them in many directions at once and place them under considerable stress and strain.

As outsourced Finance Directors (FDs) and other Finance professionals working predominantly with owner-managed businesses, we see this a lot. Much of the value in what we do is that we can relieve those stresses and strains and help prevent them from developing into the damaging syndrome of full-blown burnout.

But what is burnout, actually – and how do you, as a business founder or owner, know when you’re teetering on the edge of it, and what action to take?

What burnout is – and when and why it happens

Mental Health UK defines burnout as ‘a state of physical and emotional exhaustion’ that can ‘occur when you experience long-term stress, for example, working in a stressful job.’

But in a business context, there are two very interesting things about burnout. Firstly, it tends to occur in two distinct stages of business growth – initially, when you’re starting a business, and then when you’re running an established business.

Secondly, burnout doesn’t necessarily mean you stop functioning. Sufferers of burnout are likely to ‘carry on regardless’ – but what stops functioning properly is the business that depends on their decisions as well as your personal life.

Burnout is often characterised by a 24/7/365 absorption in the business, an inability to switch off and engage with family and friends, emotional volatility and general ‘rattiness’, and often the neglect of nutrition, exercise, and health.

Let’s take a look at the two distinct burnout phases and explore how we at EFM, can help business owners beat them.

Burnout in the early stages of a business

When you start a business, you often find yourself doing pretty much everything – sales, marketing, product, finance and finance management – and this is clearly a recipe for pressure and stress.

 What fuels the flames here is that you don't have the internal resources to delegate to, or the funding to put them in place.

In short, it’s something of a vicious circle.

Burnout in established businesses

In more established founder businesses, burnout is less of an all-at-once problem and more of an issue that builds continuously before it reaches a head.

What makes it so damaging is that those who suffer it don’t notice it accumulating over time, and their leadership sleepwalks into ineffectiveness as a result.

But despite these two distinct phases, burnout has many characteristics that are common to the two – and can be resolved in similar ways.

Burnout behaviours – and how to address them

Founders suffering from burnout exhibit many similar traits.

They often find themselves focusing on the details, rather than on strategic decision-making. Instead of focusing on their products and services, who their customers are and what they want, and how to acquire more of them, they’re more likely to be worrying about toner cartridges!

They also find trust difficult – not only towards others’ ability to fulfil their responsibilities but in their own ability to let go and delegate effectively.

Poor decision-making, or an inability to make decisions, and a tendency to ignore urgent deadlines, or procrastinate, also characterise burnout behaviour.

And very often, those suffering burnout find it difficult to prioritise or to set goals and objectives, and develop plans to achieve them.

Burnout sufferers typically can’t see wood for trees, don’t make rational and effective decisions, take shortcuts and cut corners without thinking through their impacts, and ultimately impair the business’s growth – the last thing in the world they want to do.

How can Finance help prevent burnout?

Changing the way the business manages Finance can do a great deal to resolve burnout issues.

By handing responsibility for Finance over to an outsourced Finance Director and his expert colleagues, you solve multiple issues at once.

At the level of day-to-day operational Finance, you dispense with the stress associated with bookkeeping, and responding to crucial financial deadlines like HMRC submissions and payroll as this will be handled by the outsourced accounting and bookkeeping team.

No more drowning in the details – you’re freed up to focus on your core business activities!

But on a more strategic level, outsourced Finance expertise also makes good decision-making easier, supported by proper analysis of the business’s financial performance, cash flow forecasting, business plans, goals and objectives, and so on.

No more indecision, no more struggling to understand what to prioritise – and no more procrastination.

The worry of cost, too, is minimised; with an outsourced Finance expert, you’re not paying a full-time FD’s salary (currently up to £150,000 in the UK, or €170,00 in Ireland) - instead, you pay only for the hours you need.

And for businesses in those very early stages, there’s a bonus, as EFM’s outsourced Finance professionals can also help you secure funding and other sources of external finance that will enable you to bring on board new resources, squaring the vicious circle and relieving some of the operational pressure on you.

Improved health and wellbeing

 In addition, there can be an immense sense of liberation in entrusting some responsibilities to others, and this can deliver significant benefits to your personal health and wellbeing, but also to the performance of your business, steering you clear of the issues that can cause burnout.

Does outsourced, pay-as-you-go financial management, or business mentoring and coaching, solve all your burnout issues?

No. You also need to eat well, exercise, rest, socialise, and generally ensure you’re fit enough to meet the challenges of running your business. But it’s worth noting that two of the most high-profile men in history – Ronald Reagan and Steve Jobs – both took the view that surrounding themselves with people who could do what they couldn’t was a far healthier way to achieve success than attempting it all themselves.

For more information on how EFM can help take the pressure off you so you can avoid burnout and grow your business effectively, get in touch.