If you ask most entrepreneurs how they’re doing, chances are you’ll hear some variation of “fine,” or “busy, but good.” Even entrepreneurs themselves feel they’re doing alright, with 79% reporting they are satisfied with their mental health. 

Yet the research paints a very different picture, one that tells us that entrepreneurs are experiencing mental health challenges. Nearly half (46%) of entrepreneurs say that their mental health interfered with their ability to work, and over half (54%) said that stress impacted their ability to concentrate. The impact isn’t confined to work either, with most entrepreneurs (66%) finding it difficult to maintain a work-life balance.

There’s a lot more statistics and percentages that we could share, but it boils down to this: Entrepreneurs experience a lot of stress, and this stress impacts their mental health, which in turn affects their capacity to show up for their business, their home life, and themselves.

To add to this, entrepreneurs aren’t likely to seek or receive support to help them manage this stress and look after their mental health. Only 16% of entrepreneurs would be willing to seek out professional help, and only 6% would consider using online or app support.

So, entrepreneurs say they’re doing fine, but they’re often not fine, and they’re unlikely to access support that might help them.

What does this mean for entrepreneurs and the innovation sector in Alberta and beyond? Ignoring mental health needs in the innovation ecosystem has social and financial impacts for individuals, businesses, and Canada as a whole. For individuals, there’s the impact on their wellness, their relationships, and their businesses. For the innovation sector, we’re not maximizing vital resources, time, knowledge, and funding. For the country as a whole, ignoring mental health needs costs the Canadian economy $51 billion dollars a year.

So, how do we move forward?

If you're an entrepreneur or individual in the innovation sector, great news! Looking after your mental health doesn’t mean taking away from what you do—it means adding to your capacity and being able to sustain it. There are concrete skills that you can build to support yourself and those around you. 

The innovation ecosystem plays a key role in helping individuals gain those skills and knowledge. The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) has clear calls of action for leaders:

• Offer flexible mental health supports tailored to the specific needs of entrepreneurs, that focus on both prevention and intervention

• Provide tools to promote work-life balance by supporting entrepreneurs and their family/social systems

• Strengthen research to better understand different needs, especially of underrepresented groups

• Shift narratives around success to be more congruent with with mental health needs

• Integrate mental health by partnering with mental health experts to meet entrepreneurs where they’re at

Within the ecosystem, there’s a lot of passion for supporting entrepreneurs and the innovation sector as a whole. We know that supporting mental health is a key part of this, and that community and partnerships are essential to create change. Everyone in the innovation ecosystem brings their own expertise and skill set, so it’s okay if mental health isn’t yours. At Collectively Tangled, that’s our role.

Sources:

Canadian Mental Health Association. (2019). Going It Alone: The Mental Health and Well-Being of Canada’s Entrepreneurs. https://cmha.ca/brochure/going-it-alone-the-mental-health-and-well-being-of-canadas-entrepreneurs/

Insights, D. (2019). The ROI in workplace mental health programs: good for people, good for business. Canada: Deloitte Development LLC. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ca/Documents/about-deloitte/ca-en-about-blueprint-for-workplace-mental-health-final-aoda.pdf