With technology, social media and a growing number of individuals looking to make their mark in the world, it’s no wonder that entrepreneurial spirit in the UK is so high. It’s never been easier to take your talents and turn them into a business, whether it’s selling crafts, coding the next hit app or making your coffee shop the coolest in town.
Brits haven’t let the economic challenges of recent years grind us down, instead finding new ways to make our dreams get bigger. It’s fantastic to know that the chance to do what we love is just around the corner at any given moment.
However, as anyone who’s made the plunge to work as a freelancer or establish their own business will tell you, success and a stable income don’t just happen overnight. To get your dream off the ground, it takes long working hours and massive commitment. But new research suggests this is making more and more of us give up our much needed summer holidays.
Hard work, but no play?
In a report made available by SmallBusiness.co.uk, it’s been discovered that 30% of independent business owners pump over 48 hours of work per week into their beloved vocations. That’s 10 hours more than the average full-time office worker will put in per week, and even that pales in comparison to the 6% of business owners and freelancers who used the survey to report over 64 hours per week spent working.
Luckily, they say it’s always good to do what you love, and three quarters of the surveyed entrepreneurs said they had a work-life balance that made them happy. Yet what we found astonishing is that almost half of all those individuals – that’s 44%, to be exact – haven’t been able to give themselves a week or more of holiday over the last six months.
Taking time for yourself
While that’s well and good, we mustn’t forget that holidays are rejuvenating and reinvigorating, as well as proven to be hugely beneficial to our health and wellbeing.
So why do we forego those little luxuries and well-earned breaks? Is it because we’re absorbed in our work? Partly, but the research shows that it goes deeper than that. It seems that people who own and run their own businesses, or who work as freelancers, are frightened that if they take a break, they’ll lose money, momentum or valuable time.
However, even an armchair psychologist will tell you that working on through without enough breaks to recharge our batteries has a greater impact on our health, our functioning minds and as a result, our businesses in the long term. It’s easy enough to keep things ticking over for a week or so while you refresh yourself, and even the most dogged of us deserve a break.
Revitalise your ambitions with some autumn sun or a winter break, and you might just find that it’ll work wonders for your productivity once you’re back. How many of you entrepreneurs out there reckon you’re well overdue a holiday?
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