Crazy Bit Of Business
Chanelle Kirksey
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There is a lot of conversations ongoing about mental health, and somehow, I feel the need to talk about entrepreneurs and their mental health. A recent study by the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that 72% of entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues compared to just 48% of non-entrepreneurs.
Despite the glamourous part of entrepreneurship (which is all we mostly see on the Media), Entrepreneurs have to deal with more challenges, failures, betrayals from trusted staff, abandonment, disappointment, depressions, burnout, insomnia, and other related stuff which affect their mental health.
Even for those that will not have to deal with most of the negatives, growing a business from scratch and running it every single day can be likened to a constant attempt to keep a madhouse in order. Things get hectic. Deadlines not met. Contracts get breached. Productivity has to be kept on the high. Sometimes, there are also irate customers or clients to handle. It can get overwhelming.
Studies say entrepreneurs are twice as likely to suffer from depression, and six times more likely to suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Without mentioning names, some of you may (or may not) remember the story of a certain 29-year-old startup founder who jumped from a rooftop bar and died in 2015 and another who died in 2020 from a combination of drugs and mental illness. Clearly, entrepreneurs have to deal with a lot of bad days than they let on.
One way to protect your mental health is to make it a ritual to take time off work/business. I talked more about this in another post, so I should probably not say more. You need to spend a few hours out of the madness, to regain your sanity, socialize with people, renew your energy and then go back ready to smash more goals. Develop more personal and family relationships. You will need them as much as they need you.
This last tip may not seem like one, but it is. Fix your finances. Financial problems account for some anxiety and depression cases, even among entrepreneurs. If your finances are well-sorted and your books are in order, you should have fewer worries. Have a stable financial plan for yourself and for your startup.
Niche markets often depend on making yourself known to the customers that need your products. Check out our articles on marketing. We offer everything from tips to product recommendations. Our digital marketing tips list is a good place to start.
Pet products include anything from toys to collars, clothing to specialty food items. You can start your business online through Etsy or with an ecommerce website but also consider selling to local pet shops, curio stores, or even veterinarians.
2. Weird DeliveriesDid you know there is a demand for sending people messages on potatoes? Promoted as a fun alternative to greeting cards, Potato Parcel will place your message (or a face or other image) on a potato and mail it for you. The business made $10,000 per month after launching its site and has since expanded into specialty boxes, T-shirts, and even potato-themed swimwear!
You may want to consider running this as a dropshipping business, where you purchase supplies from a third party and resell them directly to the customer. In this case, you do not need to keep inventory, but you need an ecommerce website.
Some pet owners want more for their furbabies than mere boarding when they have to leave them for vacation or business trips. Pet hotels offer upscale facilities, food, and entertainment. Some added services include:
This crazy business idea takes pet-friendly restaurants to a new level. Instead of simply letting pets accompany their masters while dining, pet restaurants have menu items for the animals. They can dine with their owners or you can create an experience just for the pets, like Dogue, which serves seven-course meals for the discriminating doggie palate.
Another twist on this is the cat caf, where people come to have coffee and spend time with friendly felines. In addition to the coffee, pastries, and food you sell, you also charge a cover. Alternatively, you can book time to visit the cats in a separate cat room.
It can prove a profitable source of passive income. You can sign up with a service like Hipcamp, which works similarly to Airbnb and provides $1 million in liability insurance. Or offer your available space on a site like Neighbor. Want to rent out your land for dogs? Look at Sniffspot.
Joining gig and work-on-demand sites is another way to get your service out there for people who are actively looking. Our article suggests the best gig websites for finding workers, but check them out for finding jobs as well.
15. Dungeon Master for HireYes, people will pay to play in live (in-person or online) Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. Dungeon Masters (DMs) charge players $20+ for a four-hour session. Most create their own campaigns (using 5th edition), but some may use premades like Pathfinder, or allow homebrew rules and creatures. If playing online, you should be familiar with tabletop software like Roll20 as well as chat software like Zoom.
You should be as quick with a safety pin as a kind word. You might run last-minute errands or toast the happy couple. Some brides even hire bridesmaids ahead of time to help with dress shopping or writing their vows. While you can enjoy the reception, you should stay sober. After all, this is your job, not your party.
Are you a hugger? Professional cuddlers earn from $40,000 to $80,000 a year, charging as much as $100 an hour. Considered a kind of therapy, there is no licensing, but there are certification courses and a strict safety policy that includes being of legal age, setting personal boundaries, maintaining client confidentiality, and forbidding kissing or other sexual contact.
Cuddling is non-sexual. Cuddlers meet in an agreed-upon location and remain fully clothed. Some cuddlers even work virtually. This makes you accessible to clients who feel safer being physically alone. In that case, the client wraps themselves in a blanket while the cuddler stays with them online.
These kinds of services charge as much as $40 plus mileage for an individual and $200 plus mileage for a group. Another advantage is that you get to drive some awesome cars, as the wealthy are often the patrons of this service.
Hangover Helpers charges $260 to clean after a party but does not list how much to simply help with recovery. You might look at how much a personal assistant charges in your area. You should also know the most common hangover cures.
Some companies offer virtual services for people wanting to make friends in other countries; it can be a great way to share the love of your local area or country while getting to know other cultures. In this case, like with hosting city tours, you should bone up on local history and culture.
There are plenty of online videos and tutorials on how to make an app, but if you hire someone, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars. You still need coding experience, but ChatGPT can assist you with checking the market for competition, providing hints for specific steps, writing plug-in code, and editing and revising your code. It can also supply next steps. David Gewirtz at ZDNet provides an in-depth how-to.
Technology exists to read human emotions. Programs like Affectiva use biometric feedback mechanisms, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and speech analytics to identify human emotional states. Businesses hire people to use these programs to assess meetings or presentations, but there are plenty of other places where this could be useful such as:
Karina Fabian has more than seven years of experience writing on business topics and reviewing software. Before writing for Fit Small Business, she reviewed business software and services for other online websites. Karina has also worked as a marketing content specialist for Naviga. After her husband started a rocket company, Karina got a crash course on the ins and outs of starting a business and all the work that goes into launching a startup. In her free time, she writes science fiction and fantasy.
And now, worse yet, some of these sane, beautiful people are crushed and are questioning their own business model, teaching abilities, and sometimes even who they are as a person. WHAT THE HELL??? NOOOOOOOOOO! This must stop.
Her Pilates journey began in 2000 with the PhysicalMind Institute. She then moved on to Stott Pilates and opened a studio in NH, USA, in 2004. Still wanting more, Sabrina then bridged into more classical studies and became professionally certified through Peak Pilates. She then revamped her studio and transitioned into classical teaching but yet found great value in her PhysicalMind and Stott trainings.
Ever the student, Sabrina then took several other trainings which lead her to a position as Balanced Body Pilates, Anatomy in 3D and Barre Faculty. She now lives in sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico and owns two studios there: Los Alamos and Santa Fe. She continues her fitness career and teacher trainer passion as well as a Master Teacher Trainer for NETA (National Exercise Trainers Association).
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Business partnerships can be a fantastic way to pool resources and knowledge in order to create a successful enterprise. However, even the most well-intentioned partnerships can break down if certain warning signs are ignored. In this post, I will point out the 5 red flags that should never be ignored when you see them in your business partnership and provide you with guidance on how to deal with them.
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