Starting and running a small business is a stressful experience for any solopreneur. Some of us get a positive charge from stress. In small doses, stress can keep us energized and motivated to achieving our goals. However, when those little doses grow into daily dilemmas, they take a toll on our minds and bodies.


Here are 5 quick tips for keeping your daily stress to healthy limits:


1. Identify your triggers.
While you may be starting your day with some obvious causes for stress (a drop in business, marital problems, work overload), you need to keep an eye on the numerous little hidden triggers that can add up to a bigger problem. You may consider keeping a stress journal. When you feel the stress hit you during the day, take a moment and reflect on possible causes. The first step to taking control of your daily stress is to identify its causes.


2. Take a breather.
When the tension starts to build, take a breather. While you can take advantage of those little doses as daily shots of caffeine, prolonged, excessive stress can lead to a loss of focus and physical ailments. If possible, get in some stretching and exercise. If not, simply focusing on your breathing can help get your stress under control. Breathe slowly and deeply. Let your body and mind relax for 15 minutes before getting back to your daily tasks.


3. Improve your time management.
One of the biggest struggles in a busy day is effective time management. Compound that with a high stress level and suddenly you are spinning out of control. Reduce your stress by putting a focus on your day. Set goals and tasks. Schedule some breather breaks throughout the day. If you find that your stress starts to rise, you can regain focus by going back to your time management worksheet. Tackle a couple of the easier issues or that one big one that has been nagging at you.


If you don’t have a good time management worksheet, go to the Small Biz Break Register page, sign in and then access the Solutions Center once you get your login information. Inside you will find a handy Task Management Worksheet. Registration and downloading are free.


4. Add some green to your environment.
It’s amazing how a little green can liven up a grey world. Add a couple of plotted plants to your office. Not only do they liven up your environment aesthetically, plants can help reduce carbon dioxide levels while increasing the amount of oxygen. They are pleasing to the eye and the body.


5. Set up a reward system.
Setting up a reward system can remind you of the things you did accomplish and remind you that you are up to the challenge of running your own small business even when the heat is on. When you are a small business entrepreneur, you often don’t get rewards until you book some new business. However, you know that there can be quite a bit of work to accomplish to make this happen. Don’t let stress get the better of you and slow you down. Give yourself little rewards along the way.


Get your stress under control in a healthy way before it gets the better of you. Have a successful day!


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide
Small Biz Break

My Small Biz Break partner, Maria, recently posted a great topic on her blog at Multi Entrepreneur Ideas, asking small business owners if they have a disaster plan in place. This question is especially crucial for solopreneurs.


Besides the lagging economy, there are a number of other factors that create risks, potentially disastrous risks, for your business. And I don’t say this to scare you. I say this to inspire you to take action, hopefully.


Let’s list out a couple of real life scenarios:


Your computer crashes and you can’t access your information – or possibly lose all of your data. How many times have you heard this story?


You become ill and can’t work for an extended period of time. It happened with my wife when we owned our restaurant. She developed a sudden, major illness that didn’t allow her to work for a couple of years. This impacted our business drastically.


You have your new marketing campaign planned out and save a budget for it, but then suddenly, you need to divert your cash reserves because you lost a major customer or a piece of equipment fails and you need to replace it.


No, you don’t want to spend your time constantly worrying about what could go wrong with your business. This will keep you from focusing on growing your business. To avoid this situation, take the time to review your business and protect your critical areas.


Even if you have limited funds you can still research and have ready the following:

• Outsourcing providers
• Software packages
• Data backups
• Health Insurance
• Business Insurance
• Access to loans

The worst time to figure out how to handle these scenarios is when the s*** hits the fan. Do yourself a favor and have a plan in place so you can keep your business moving forward if disaster strikes.


If you need help creating a disaster prevention / recovery plan or if you have a business disaster story you would like to share, please leave a comment below. The other readers would love to learn from it.


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide
Small Biz Break

I have a Planning page on my site that gives the breakdown of a formal business plan and what to consider when drafting each section. Typically, the next step is to break down your plan into monthly, weekly or daily task lists as a roadmap to reaching your goals. However, I find that I fail at including consistent health care as part of those plans.

It’s true that investors won’t be looking for an outline of your diet and exercise regime in any plan that you present to them when looking to lock up funds. However, your health is one of the greatest investments that you can make for your business – especially as a solopreneur.

It hit me this morning when I came across an article by the prominent Dr. Oz titled, “Hey, Guys, Stop Babying Your Back”. Here’s the link to the story:

http://bit.ly/HP7ZG

Although the piece by Dr. Oz has some points that are only applicable to men, you women will still get the point and should seek out steps applicable to your unique needs.

If you recall in a previous post, I mentioned that I went under the knife two months ago to correct two herniated and compressed discs in my back that hampered my daily living for over a year. Still recovering from that procedure coupled with for the last week I have been battling a pretty nasty flu / fever / cold / infection thingy has affected my momentum for growing my business – hence why you haven’t seen a post in over a week amongst other activities that I planned on completing during this time.

And that’s when it really hit home. Although overall I am relatively healthy, I realized that my plan for better health typically takes a back seat to accomplishing my business goals. And I bet that I am not alone.

I took a look at my short-term and long-term goals this morning and there weren’t any mentions synonymous with health other than what applies to profitability. Shame on me. I appreciate being healthy and know of all the benefits, yet instead of making my health a priority on a consistent basis as part of my plan, I leave it up to “when I have time”.

Here’s just a couple of the benefits to being fit:

1. Clearer focus
2. Increased creativity
3. Higher level of energy
4. More positive disposition

All positive qualities for building a business as opposed to the band-aids of high consumption of caffeine, working longer hours, and relying on joint venture and outsourcing partners to pick up the slack.

So I challenge you to take a look at your goals and tasks to see how health integrates into your plan. If you, like me, find that your health is not a prominent piece to building profitability, you are putting yourself at high risk of wasting hours each day to diminishing returns. And those days can build into weeks or longer if you aren’t actively working on improving your health on a regular basis.

If you want a healthy business, you must include a health plan for yourself.

All The Best,

Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide

I have to admit, it drives me crazy when I can’t put in a consistent effort, stay in touch and do something to grow my business. However, I just went through back surgery (two herniated discs and two compressed discs) earlier this week and I’m trying to be a good patient and stay in bed per doctor’s orders without being a victim.

Luckily, my loving wife bought me a new laptop recently with WiFi connection that allows me to stay somewhat active while lying in bed. Yes, I know that WiFi has been around for some time, but I get use to my tools (which had been a desktop) – hence why my blog is predominately about business plans, sales, and marketing and not the latest in IT.

So when I am not in la-la land from the prescription drugs, I choose to do the following:

• Reconnect with people
• Blow through the growing virtual stack of emails in my in-box
• Get some of the business reading done that has been nagging me
• Continue my efforts with customers where possible
• Spend more time studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone
• Re-evaluate my business strategies

Because as a solopreneur, I don’t have someone else to keep the momentum moving forward and completing the tasks on my to-do list. I can either be a victim or modify my plan for a period of time.

This is when having a business plan and a to-do list has made it far easier for me to focus on fulfilling activities versus flipping through 100 cable channels of virtually nothing. And checking things off of my list keeps me positive, while giving me motivation to get back on my feet quicker.

So I apologize that I may not have new insight on this post to help you with your solopreneur efforts, however, I did want to let you know why I may not be as active here as usual.

I hope that all is well with you.

All The Best,

Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide

I am one of the lucky self-employed with a good insurance plan. Fortunately, I had coverage prior to being diagnosed with a condition requiring extensive care. Hoping to qualify for an insurance policy after an injury or an illness is akin to believing in Santa Claus – both are a warm and comforting concept, but neither exists. Sorry if I spoiled the Santa thing for you.

A discussion about the social, political and economic conditions of our current health care system is not relevant to this post. What I hope to accomplish is a call to action for you to seriously investigate your options for health care coverage right now.

As a self-employed, solo entrepreneur, you are your business. Take you out of the equation and your business starts to deteriorate – rapidly if you operate a manual labor business (e.g. carpet cleaning) versus slowly if you are predominately an automated profession (e.g. Internet Marketing). Before you assume that you don’t qualify for or can’t afford a health insurance policy, do your homework.

My recommendation is you check out Health Insurance Resource Center (aka Healthinsurance.org), an independently run Internet-based organization offering free, insightful information and quotes from a variety of insurance providers.

Health Insurance Resource Center began in 1994, making it their mission to become the most-trusted, independent source of free consumer information for affordable health and medical coverage. Some of the features of the site include:

• The ability to receive insurance quotes
• Information about the various types of insurance
• Glossary of industry terms
• State guidelines and health care rankings
• Industry focused news
• Risk Pools (especially important for uninsured solopreneurs)

Consider the alternatives. You can suffer with an injury or illness without treatment. Sure, you save the money that you would have spent on insurance and health care, but now you have to operate your business at less than 100%. And for how long?

Most illnesses and injuries that require you to have health insurance don’t go away on their own. I’m not talking about the common cold. I have health insurance and I don’t go to the doctor complaining of a cold. I am referring to real life scenarios like injuries sustained in a car accident or broken bones, pneumonia, and in my case, spinal surgery. These are not injuries or illnesses that work themselves out. As a matter of fact, they typically get worse the more you procrastinate seeking treatment. And if you thought you may have a cash flow problem including insurance in your monthly expenses, see what happens to your bottom line when you don’t have insurance and you need it.

Take the time to investigate your options. Health Insurance Resource Center is an excellent, one-stop, independent resource for answering your questions and receiving quotes for coverage.

All The Best,

Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide