You are not the only one. The numbers do not lie.
Money worries, stress, sleepless nights. Six figures from Belgian sources, each with what it measures and what it does not. The problem is not that you do it badly, but that you do it alone.
If you run a business and lie awake at night, you probably think it is you. That others have it under control and you do not.
The numbers say otherwise. Below are six of them, from Belgian and Flemish sources. For each one: what it measures, what it does not measure, and what it means for someone who carries everything alone.
One: half of owners worry about money all the time
UNIZO, press release of 30 March 2026. 50% of entrepreneurs experience continuous money worries. For three quarters of that group, it weighs heavily on their mental space. In the same release: long-term absence of self-employed people due to mental health conditions rose from 6,005 in 2018 to 10,223 in 2024, more than 70% higher. The headline says "almost doubled"; the figure in the text is +70%, so that is the one I use. Source.
What it measures: how many people are worried, and how many have actually dropped out for a long time. What it does not measure: the people who carry on while it is going badly. They are not in the absence figures.
What it means: money worries are not a sign that you are doing badly. Half of your fellow owners have them.
Two: seven in ten sometimes feel burnt out
Xerius, 12 October 2026, survey of 2,282 Belgian entrepreneurs in April and May 2026. 73% sometimes feel burnt out or without energy. 58% slow down their ambition so as not to overstretch themselves. Only 33% are satisfied with their work-life balance, 30% with their stress level. And 55% find that balance more important than extra financial growth. Source.
What it measures: how entrepreneurs themselves say they feel. What it does not measure: why. Workload, money, staff, family: it is all in there together.
What it means: more than half would rather have peace than growth. That is not a lack of ambition. That is someone who knows what it costs.
Three: half have regular stress
Liantis with iVOX, July 2024, survey of 1,217 entrepreneurs. 48.1% have stress regularly to always. 24.3% are afraid of a burn-out.
What it measures: how often stress occurs, according to the people themselves. What it does not measure: how bad it is. Regular stress for one person is a busy week, for another a constant weight.
What it means: one in four is afraid of burning out. In a group of eight owners at the table, that is two.
Four: four in ten sleep badly because of the business
Liantis, March 2022, survey of 1,504 entrepreneurs at the end of 2021. Four in ten have sleep problems regularly to almost always because of their business.
What it measures: sleep, as reported by the entrepreneurs themselves. What it does not measure: the period after. This was at the end of 2021, a heavy time for many businesses.
What it means: lying awake over the business is not an exception. It is common.
Five: almost everyone worries at night
Order of Flemish Bar Associations with UNIZO, reported in De Morgen on 5 November 2015. 86% of Flemish entrepreneurs worry about their business at night, 22% several times a week. The causes they name: financial problems, workload and revenue.
What it measures: worrying at night, and why. What it does not measure: today. This is an old figure, from 2015. I mention it because the causes have hardly changed.
What it means: money, workload and revenue were the reasons then. They are the same three today.
Six: more self-employed people among those off work for mental reasons
Onafhankelijke Ziekenfondsen, reported in De Tijd on 6 November 2025. The share of self-employed people in the group unable to work because of a mental health condition rose from 5.2% in 2018 to 8.2% in 2024.
What it measures: a share. Of everyone off work for mental reasons, how many are self-employed. What it does not measure: a number of self-employed people. That distinction matters, because a share can also rise when other groups shrink.
What it means: the trend points in the same direction as the other numbers.
What all six have in common
None of these numbers say that entrepreneurs are doing it wrong. They say that a lot of entrepreneurs carry a lot alone: the money, the people, the customers, the planning. And that the weight of it does not stay at work.
Part of that weight is not knowing. Not knowing whether there is enough money next month. Not knowing whether that one shop or that one customer is costing you money. Not knowing whether you can go on holiday without everything stopping. That part can be lifted. Not by working harder, but by making sure the numbers are there without you having to go and find them.
And if you recognise yourself too much in these numbers, talk about it with your GP, or have a look at who helps business owners in Flanders. Your social insurance fund also has help for this.
The claim
The problem is not that you are doing it badly, but that you are doing it alone.
Tell me what keeps you up at night. No-obligation conversation. No sales talk.