Member Article

Survey launched to measure North East entrepreneurs’ mental health

A North East entrepreneur turned business coach is launching a survey to get to the heart of mental health issues among company owners.

Ian Kinnery is passionate about ensuring that business leaders take care of themselves and their businesses. He has launched an anonymous survey, to gauge levels of stress and anxiety among company owners in the region.

He said: “I know myself the pressures that entrepreneurs can face; I’ve been there myself.

“By my mid-thirties, I had bought and built my own car dealership – but, ultimately, the stress very nearly killed me. My business had grown too big, and I just wasn’t equipped to handle the pressure – but I had nobody to turn to for help.

“I’m not alone, either: research has shown that nearly 70 per cent of entrepreneurs claim to have no one to talk to about their problems, with 43 per cent adding that this is because no one understands the pressures of running a business.”

Ian is now looking for North East business owners to participate in an anonymous survey to get a full picture of the mental health crisis affecting entrepreneurs, along with their thoughts on what support they would benefit from.

He added: “We do need people to open up about how they’re feeling and prioritise their mental health to make this situation better. More than 63 per cent of entrepreneurs admit to deprioritising their emotional wellbeing in favour of success, with nearly half not allowing enough time to mentally recover from work.

“I want to change that. I want to create a movement where people are happy to talk about their challenges, with a view to easing them – after all, a problem shared is a problem halved.

“This anonymous survey will tell us more about the region’s entrepreneurs and the issues they face, allowing us to make real change that improves people’s lives.”

The survey is available on Google Forms and the results will be collated into a report, to be released towards the end of this year.

If you would like to take part in the survey, visit Ian’s website or social media profiles to find the link.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ian Kinnery .