Evan Oliver and Matthew Walters

1. Startups and Depression
- the dark side to Entrepreneurship
Evan Oliver and Matthew Walters

2. Depression
- feelings of severe despondency and dejection.
“Only 7% of entrepreneurs report suffering from depression, but
a whopping 30% of founders report dealing with its effects.”
Only 44% of UK business startups survive the first 5 years.

3. The Effects of Entrepreneurship
Heavy Workload – the unpredictable work schedule of an entrepreneur can cause
tiredness and lead to stress.
Average Hours Worked in a week – 39 hours for a full time employee
- 44 hours for an entrepreneur
No Social Life – the commitment to a new business or company can lead to
having to sacrifice a social life in order to make it successful.
Family Relationships Suffer – the responsibility than an entrepreneur has to their
business can lead to time not being spent with family and loved ones, this can
potentially cause loneliness, which commonly leads to depression.

4. The Effects of Entrepreneurship
Frustration – starting a business is never easy and there is a guarantee that
things will go wrong, this can have a negative mental effect on a person and
they can question whether the business is worth the time invested.
Insecurity – following on from failures come the doubt that one makes in
decisions. You are often alone and so have nobody to guide you.
Self-worth issues – this is where depression can really become a problem. If
the business isn’t at first successful one can start to feel that they are not
worth of anything.

5. Debt and Liability
Many startups come with unlimited liability, meaning that an entrepreneurs
personal assets may also be at risk is the business takes a downturn.
This can potentially have a greater effect on the personal life of the
entrepreneur than the business itself.
Putting a family home and a families security at risk through a business can
be too much for some.

6. Insecurity
Milan Heger is an entrepreneur who started his own architecture company in
Seattle.
"The biggest pressure is the status of my mortgage, college payments," Heger
says. "I felt not like a failure, but like a father who wasn't doing what he was
supposed to do. I'd sit in the car in the driveway and not want to get out. It's
hard and continues to be hard.”
This highlights that the effects of being an entrepreneur can go beyond the
business environment.

7. SimVenture
The mood of the entrepreneur on SimVenture is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
This relates to the hours worked and the time invested into the business by the person,
tiredness is measured and so by carrying out more and more tasks in a month the
person is likely to become more tired.
This can cause lower efficiency levels – resulting in the business suffering.
To cope with this would recommend hiring employees as soon as its affordable to help
to share the workload.

8. MCQs
1. What percent of entrepreneurs report dealing with the effects of depression?
a. 50%
b. 20%
c. 30%
d. 10%
2. On average, how many more hours does an entrepreneur work than a full time employee each week?
a. 10
b. 5
c. 8
d. 1
3. Which of the following is an effect of entrepreneurship?
a. Heavy workload
b. Insecurity
c. Frustration
d. All of the above

9. References
Chris Myers. 2015. Entrepreneurs: Don't Lose Yourself To Depression. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrismyers/2015/07/23/entrepreneurs-dont-lose-yourself-to-
depression/#38cca27f4758. [Accessed 05 February 16].
Joe Robinson. 2011. Managing the Stress of Starting Your Own Business. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220235. [Accessed 05 February 16].
Barclays . 2015. Entrepreneurs in numbers. [ONLINE] Available
at:http://www.barclays.co.uk/BusinessBankAccounts/Entrepreneursinnumbers/P1242621930322. [Accessed 05
February 16].
Pardeep Goyal. 2015. No one is telling you the dark side of becoming an entrepreneur. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://yourstory.com/2015/06/dark-side-entrepreneur/. [Accessed 05 February 16]