Lonely Business: How Small Business Owners Can Overcome Solitude & Learn to Thrive

Research suggests that the nature of founding and running a company can make entrepreneurs more vulnerable to loneliness.

Owning and running a small business is rewarding, but it comes with many sacrifices. This can make small business owners vulnerable to loneliness.

A study published in the Journal of Small Business Management last year suggested that loneliness among entrepreneurs can have "significant implications” on their health and performance. And individual, work, and social factors play a role in loneliness.

Here’s what to know about the link between entrepreneurship and loneliness, and some ways to overcome it.

The toll of loneliness on entrepreneurs

The study authors noted that the existing research on loneliness among entrepreneurs consists of “scattered findings, inconsistent terminology, and insufficient attention to its connection with broader work-context loneliness research.”

To better understand the subject, they reviewed and synthesized the findings of 163 papers on entrepreneurship, leadership, and workplace loneliness, mapped “a landscape of loneliness and related constructs,” and suggested a framework for future research.

The study highlighted several work-related factors that influence entrepreneur loneliness, including working long hours, limited resources, heightened responsibility, high workloads, and remote work. Many small business owners also prioritize their businesses’ needs over their own and don’t have colleagues to interact with.

Lax boundaries between work and personal lives can strain relationships and cause entrepreneurs to feel disconnected. This often leads to adverse physical and mental health outcomes for entrepreneurs, causing high stress and impacting performance, resilience, self-esteem, emotional exhaustion, and the ability to handle challenges. Loneliness may manifest as insomnia, burnout, or depression.

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