The image of the brave and intrepid entrepreneur setting up a new business and striking out in search of self-direction and riches is a classic image. But what about the dark side of this idealistic notion?

A recent report from the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO), which boasts some 10,000 members across 46 countries, highlights that it is certainly not a rose-tinted picture of sexy wheeler dealing and bold dreams made reality for many. Indeed, its analysis of the market in the USA shows that more than half of start-ups go under in the first five years, while the majority of those left struggle to break even month-to-month.

This is a very literal state of affairs in some extreme cases, as a combination of heart failure due to stress and overconsumption of alcohol—even prescription and recreational drugs—ends several bright prospects every year”

The EO looks at this issue from both a business and emotional standpoint, as the danger to entrepreneurs faced with mounting bills and tough competition is often to work themselves to death in pursuit of financial stability. This is a very literal state of affairs in some extreme cases, as a combination of heart failure due to stress and overconsumption of alcohol—even prescription and recreational drugs—ends several bright prospects every year. The organisation thus works to give members a rounded package of both physical and virtual networking, financial advice, training, business strategy, and, crucially, hands on advice on how to make running a start-up part of a rounded lifestyle.

This message from the EO is that achieving a work/life balance is actually the most important part of founding any business or new wing of your company—as if the mental powerhouse that drives it starts to break down then so will the business. With many of SignLink's features focused on the value of buying the right technology from the start to reduce your headaches, then it sees like timely advice to add ‘be good to yourself’ to the daily checklist that keeps your business running efficiently and profitability. Being a successful entrepreneur is recognised by modern western society as a crowning achievement, but those individuals starting out in pursuit of this goal need to weigh up the personal as well as the financial risks of starting-up.

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