Angels Den Blog

As a small business owner, you’ll know that frustration is part of the everyday life of starting, running and growing a new company. Being an entrepreneur can be stressful, and therefore small business owners need to find some way of either channelling this stress or dispelling it, otherwise the emotions it creates it will eat up your confidence, energy and prospects.

If you have ever suffered stomach cramps in the aftermath of a business meeting, responded to official correspondence with indigestion, experienced insomnia due to worries about turning a profit, or felt tension headaches coming on as soon as the phone starts ringing in the morning, you might be a small business owner who could benefit from channelling your emotions.

This was the basis for some scientific research reported by the BBC recently. As odd as it may sound, researchers discovered that the occasional bout of foul mouth – you know, the words you are not allowed to utter in front of mixed company or your mother – can actually increase a person’s pain threshold. Could this really help with the pain of stress that every small business owner is likely to feel in varying degrees? Try it now with me. Take a deep breath in … and out … in … and out … now all together … @#~$£ *@##~~@ and what’s more ****^@:~# *///*/**//@… Now how do you feel?

Of course, there’s a time and a place for this form of stress relief and no small business owner must be caught swearing in front of their team (unless you have team-building swear-time, much like the traditional Chinese corporate practice of pre-work Tai Chi to centre their employees before the rigours of the day), within earshot of a client (although we’ve all made that mistake just once in our careers) or when you are at home (because work stress should be left at work).

Stress can lead to frustration, frustration can lead to anger and anger can lead you to the dark side! Being known for having an explosive temper in the business community may cause folks to step on eggshells around you, and it may also cost you a significant amount of business. Some discreet defamation, subtle swearing and candid cursing may well save you from this fate if you can expel all of your anger in one short burst.

But be careful – researchers found that overusing the cuss words actually decreases their effectiveness in reducing pain and taking care of stress. So small business owners beware – moderation is key to stress-relief success.

Consider the notion of including a regular regimen of expletives in the privacy of your office, just like you might go to the gym to loosen your muscles. As a matter of fact, the savvy small business owner could actually include a steady stream of swear words into midday exercises – those that take place away from polite company, of course. Consider adding an exercise space that, for lack of a better word, becomes your ‘closet’ in which you may utter the kind of language that would cause you to wash out your child’s mouth at home.

As it is uncertain what the long-term effects of this swearing therapy might be, it’s probably a good idea to keep an eye on your attitudes and stress levels. If you find that you become desensitised to coarse language to the detriment of your personal relationships, you might be one of the small business owners who need to investigate other means of stress relief. In contrast, if you find the whole exercise strangely liberating, this may just be your own personal fountain of renewal where you can let go of the daily frustrations and release them from your mind and heart in a stream of swear words.

The small business owner who holds a deep religious conviction about not letting unwholesome talk cross their lips most likely will not find relief in this way but instead will encounter guilt. This is not the right exercise for you and it might rather be a good idea to either discuss swear therapy with your faith community leader or investigate other more acceptable means of blowing off the kind of steam that can lead to physical ailments in the business community. After all, learning how to channel your anger in a healthy fashion is the best way to ensure that you will not suffer any of those nasty, stress-related, physical side effects that snuff out the fire of so many small business owners before their time.