When it comes to kids, you have some control ”“ underline “some” ”“ and you know they will grow up. Not so with a small business, which is subject to a multitude of external factors, everything from the state of the economy and the state of the credit markets to business sentiment.
Those were the responses of small business owners in Fairfield County to a Bank of America survey that found owners feel running a business is three times as stressful as raising children. Three hundred small business owners were surveyed in the New York metro area, which included Fairfield and Westchester counties. The findings were part of the bank”™s small business owner report in which 1,000 businesses were surveyed nationwide. All had annual revenue between $100,000 and $4,999,999 and employed between two and 99 people.
Bill Klein, managing director of Hanseatic Capital Partners L.L.C., investment advisers in Westport, and the father of 18- and 14-year-old boys, said it”™s hard to compare the two types of stresses.
“You have more control with kids, but a lot of external factors come into play in running a business. But it”™s like eating an apple or playing baseball, they”™re so different. You can tell your kids what to do and keep tabs on what they”™re doing. You can”™t do that with a business.”
Klein said unpredictability is built into running a business.
“You don”™t know the external factors that will hit. And it”™s hard to determine what is in the minds of potential customers.”
Klein has had his business for more than five years, with four other partners who were all on Wall Street at one time.
Devon Fleming, an author and lifestyle expert in New Canaan, who works from home with three teenagers ”“ 18, 15, and 13 ”“ said she agrees with the study”™s findings.
“With children you know they will grow up ”¦ there”™s a light at the end of the tunnel. With a business, it”™s incredibly stressful. With the children I know I”™m making progress. With the business I know I will make progress but it”™s not a given. The growing pains of a small business are very overwhelming, especially when you throw in a recession.”
She said growing her business and raising money are the two biggest challenges she faces.
“It”™s harder to raise money now than before the recession. Local banks want you to deposit an amount equal to what you”™re trying to borrow. A banker told me it would be easier for my 18-year-old to get a loan than it would be for me. And I”™ve been in business eight years.” She said the banker was trying to make the point that it is often easier for individuals to borrow than it is for small businesses.
Among the survey”™s other findings: Maintaining a small business causes their owners twice as much stress as maintaining a healthy relationship with a spouse or partner, and more than four times as much as managing their own personal finances. In addition, small business owners regularly forgo free time (57 percent), exercise (37 percent) and other important personal priorities in order to manage their businesses.
