Survey by De Amersfoortse: lack of time is main concern for business owners
Too little time for innovation and for clients, not enough time to focus on the strategy or strike the right balance between professional and private life, or to pursue a healthy lifestyle: these are the five main dilemmas that give business owners their biggest headaches, according to a survey by De Amersfoortse.
De Amersfoortse asked approximately 1,000 business owners to list their main dilemmas as entrepreneurs. Their feedback showed that the biggest concern for most of them was not having enough time.
The top 5 dilemmas business owners struggle with are:
- Do I concentrate on the day-to-day running of the business or address structural issues?
- Do I focus on existing or new clients?
- Do I schedule in sports or physical exercise, or only when I've got time left over?
- Do I listen to my body when I'm tired or go on until the work is done?
- Do I take a long-term view or concentrate on day-to-day matters?
Lack of time among business owners is reflected in various ways. Over half of the respondents spend 15% of their time or less on innovation, yet only 40% say this was enough. They also say they want to spend more time on new clients.
Only one in five has a long-term strategy for the next one to three years. A quarter says the biggest challenge in compiling a long-term strategy is day to day pressures.
Four out of five feel they had a healthy lifestyle, however. They also believe they eat healthily and regularly enough, take sufficient physical exercise to stay fit and stop working when they feel tired.
And while they admit they are always busy and work a 58-hour week on average, 9 out of 10 are happy with the balance between their private and professional lives.
Frank Romijn, Managing Director of the Occupational Disability Business at De Amersfoortse (a subsidiary of a.s.r.), says: ‘Most entrepreneurs relish a heavy workload and a long working day, but that's also their downfall. They tend to ignore the physical and mental signs of the toll it's taking on their minds and bodies. Often they only realise this when it's too late. As a business insurance company, De Amersfoortse has decades of experience in preventing and treating occupational disability. Our prevention programme is geared to helping entrepreneurs ward off health problems. With a personal profile of the entrepreneur, a profile of their business and a personal health check, we help business owners find the healthiest way to carry on working.’
Go to www.amersfoortse.nl/dilemma for a summary of the survey.
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