Business counselling looks beyond a business as being just an entity.
There’s a person, or a group of people behind it, who have a strong bond with that entity on a personal, emotional, and psychological level.
This deeper, heart element of the founder-business relationship is often overlooked. The internet is full of information and service offerings around practical business coaching, focusing on growth, profit, human resources, and organisational change. Or counselling for stress and its resulting mental health issues. All of these have their place, undeniably.
The heart of the business
What is noticeably missing though, is counselling for the business aspect of the human being. A business entity is deeply intertwined within the human psyche, particularly for the founder of a business.
Entrepreneurs are passionate and enthusiastic about their services, products, and customers. Their staff too, as they expand and grow. This is why they’ve taken the courageous move to step out on their own and spend enormous energy on their venture.
Aside from financial risk factors which come into play, starting a business is a significant exposure of oneself. There’s the risk of failure and judgement, but also, the possibility of great success.
Although seemingly opposite ends of the same stick, both success and failure come with challenges related to our heart space and often link back to emotional trials in our past. Money, although a seemingly rational concept, comes loaded with all sorts of associations, including how we perceive value, both externally of the world and internally within ourselves and our own value.
Building a business creates a sense of purpose and meaning in life. It’s a creative process and one that can consume a significant amount of time and energy.
On one hand, there might be the development of products or services and generation of cash. On the other hand, there’s the building of a community, a loyal and close-knit group of people who really like each other and have perhaps overcome challenges together. Perhaps they’re even family.
Are business decisions really ‘just’ business?
When business decisions have to be made, how will they affect that community? How could it affect one’s own relationships with other partners perhaps, or with staff? How will it affect one’s reputation, and is that even relevant? Could it impact one’s family? One’s legacy? What about one’s relationship with oneself?
Financial issues tend to be the first (or only!) consideration in these cases and are dealt with carefully and with expertise. While money has its own set of complications, unravelling those complications from a purely business angle is often relatively simple. However, the human aspect is slightly more complex and generally ignored, or most often, not even perceived.
What do we mean when we look at business decisions beyond the balance sheet?
Here’s a fictional example to illustrate. Daniel was in his early 30s when he started a small engineering company, specialising in hydraulics. Being a fairly niche market where he was geographically, he did well. He trained a few staff on the nitty-gritty aspects and had a good relationship with them and the company as a whole had a solid reputation. He came up to retirement age and was looking forward to selling the business and enjoying the financial fruits of his labour. He did, initially. He travelled a little and took up a hobby. But there was a sense of emptiness to his days. His sense of purpose was gone, his daily social interactions with staff, suppliers, customers had gone, his perceived value in financial terms had changed; in his eyes, it had gone. He still had the energy and vigour that had pushed him through his days and nights and driven his spirit to succeed. But his life slowed down, he experienced a great void.
Not only was his routine of many years and his stringent discipline disturbed, there was also the realisation that he was actually replaceable in his business. It was now running without him at its helm. Life became boring, meaningless, and depression set in.
From awareness to help
This is not an unusual scenario. People in this situation will often not even be aware of what’s happening to them. They might start another business if they’re young enough. Or rush into consultancy, in order to feel that sense of purpose again.
The idea that they have time and money simultaneously puts them in a position that many of us envy, so there may be shame and guilt attached to the idea that they’re perhaps not appreciative of their situation.
There may be no awareness of what’s happening to them, but if there is, it feels like “a first world problem”, insignificant in the bigger picture. “Wouldn’t I love to have those problems,” is a phrase that springs to mind. Acknowledging the issue itself can be a significant process.
The reality though, is that there is now greater awareness that there is more to money than spreadsheets and numbers. It is a concept woven into our psyche and emotional constitution from a young age. There are cultural and societal quirks, family habits, and personal feelings around money and value. There are now specialist counsellors who provide support for these big business decisions – how they affect oneself and perhaps how they affect others.
In business counselling, the whole human is welcomed into a safe space to explore what big changes in the business life might have in all areas of their life. Change has the potential to feel overwhelming. And businesses always represent more in our lives than their bricks and mortar (or remote) office space and the bottom line.
In my practice, I have the privilege of working with entrepreneurs and business owners from across the world. Together we create a place, via online therapy sessions, where the business and the human are both cared for.
Please contact me if you would like to explore her business counselling could help your entrepreneurial journey.