Last Updated on February 21, 2019 by Jessica Adams
A personal crisis can pop up at any time, usually when we least expect it. Just as, in business, there will be conflicts of interest with employees, clients, etc. But then there are conflicts that come from within your own psyche, usually during a setback or personal crisis.
As the owner of your business, it’s up to you to decide how to best cope with any personal crisis especially at a time when you’re already struggling to run your business. This can be incredibly challenging as it requires you to focus on putting your own thoughts and feelings to the side during a difficult time.
If you’re struggling to make ends meet in your business, then suffer a personal crisis, how do we do what’s best for the business and ourselves? Is it even possible? How does one cope with a personal crisis when struggling to run your business?
How To Cope
With A Personal Crisis
When Struggling To
Run Your Business
A Problem Shared?
There are two conflicting schools of thought if you’re to consider divulging the details of your personal crisis with others.
One aspect is that it can be too personal and you should work hard at keeping personal issues separate from your business. On the other hand, “a problem shared is a problem halved”.
Let’s say you’re suffering a personal crisis and decide to let your teammates in on what is happening with you or a loved one. It depends on your relationship with your team and the culture that you’ve nurtured thus far.
You will need to know where exactly to draw the line with your co-workers. This will help you make sure that you’re able to keep the business going despite what’s happening in your personal life. It can become difficult, letting lines between your personal and professional life blur.
For example, if you work at home a lot it can sometimes feel difficult for you to separate the two. This is why delegation is so crucial at a time like this and trust that your team has your business’s best interest in their hearts and minds.
Putting Plans Into Place
If your personal crisis requires that you take some time off, it’s about ensuring that the trust is there. You have to trust the people running your business in your absence, because if you don’t, then this could easily spiral into more anxiety among your team.
At a time like this, you need to focus on the matter 110% but of course, you’ll want to check in to see if everything is running smoothly. But, if you do this too much, you’ll send a signal to your delegates that you don’t trust their judgment.
A contingency plan will always be a good idea before the event, but this rarely materializes because you’ve not been able to put one in place due to lack of time.
At this point, you may have to flee work in a hurry, giving limited instructions to keep the ball rolling. If this happens, you’ll want to keep an eye on proceedings from afar. And if this is the case, set up a daily meeting, so you can give direct instructions but still focus on your personal crisis. Your best option is to keep everything above board, only focus on the essentials, like the work, your clients, and of course, your inventory or flow of services…
What If The Business Is Struggling Financially?
It’s such a difficult thing to go through, suffering any type of personal crisis. If the business is already struggling, you may feel that stepping away from the fold will cause the company to go under. At that point, you’ll have to make an immediate decision about how you’ll balance everything.
A personal crisis needs to be addressed and it is not a time to be distracted. This leaves you to delegate as much as humanly possible and putting all of your trust in your teammates. This can be a lot of pressure for some people but desperate times call for desperate measures…
What If Your Crisis Could Help?
Financially speaking, if you’ve gone through a medical issue, and you’ve been looking to bring this to a conclusion, your personal injury claim could be the financial injection your company needs to survive.
And if you’re scared about losing the business when you’re going through a personal crisis, it may be cathartic to find this professional problem as emotional respite.
Naturally, it depends on the personal circumstances but if you are spending a lot of time in and out of the hospital, either yourself or visiting a close family member or friend, this professional problem could provide some sort of anchor.
We can feel guilty that we’re emotionally far away from the situation. But if we are working at saving our business at the same time, this problem could prove to be a healthy distraction. It depends on your own circumstances.
Ultimately, we have to do what is best for our business and, what’s best for ourselves. Only you can truly know which way to go about handling things in a similar situation. Hopefully here, we’ve shed some light on some potential scenarios, so that you may prepare yourself if need be.
Edited by Jessica Rose Adams
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