Why Indian entrepreneurs are stressed-out

The stress levels of Indian entrepreneurs have risen markedly in the last two years, but are still less than their global peers, a recent survey has revealed.

While 40 per cent of entrepreneurs in India have said their stress levels have risen in the last two years, the figure stands at 46 per cent globally, according to a survey by Regus.

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The rise in stress levels clearly indicate the difficult economic environment of the past two-years which have left a mark not only on business attitudes but also on the entrepreneurs' personal lives, the survey said.

On the major preoccupation behind that stress, the survey found that in India, in particular, late payments were the main concern of entrepreneurs followed by lack of cash or working capital to invest and cost of fixed overheads.

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Globally, entrepreneurs related that they are most concerned with falling profits and revenues.

The survey conducted by Regus, a global workplace solutions provider, sought the opinions of over 5,000 entrepreneurs in 78 countries asking them about their recent revenue and profit trends, along with their main concerns and causes of stress in the past years.

"The second key concern, however, was a lack of cash or working capital to invest in the economic upturn, followed closely by worries over late payment," the survey said.

"This high level of stress among entrepreneurs should ring warning bells among policy-makers as SMEs play a vital role in fuelling the growth of the Indian economy by contributing 45 per cent of industrial output, 40 per cent of exports employing 60 million people, create 1.3 million jobs every year and produce more than 8,000 quality products for the Indian and international markets, it said," Madhusudan Thakur, country head, Regus (India) said.

"Small businesses provide an important barometer of growth and innovation in any country. Entrepreneurial success is an indicator for innovation and future wealth generation. Given its importance, the concerns and obstacles faced by this segment are likely to have significant repercussions on the economy as a whole. In India, in particular, small businesses remain very concerned about key issues such as late payments," ," Madhusudan Thakur said.

Thakur further said that as SMEs exit a period of economic difficulty and prepare to invest in the upturn, their concerns reveal that pressures around securing capital to invest are great.

"In addition to this, SMEs, particularly in India, continue to send out signals to the government for additional assistance," he said.