Carrying More Than Your Share
For many SME owners, the heaviest burden isn’t found in the finances or operations. It’s the responsibility they carry—staff livelihoods, customer trust, supplier commitments and family stability. This load is mostly invisible, yet it’s often the thing keeping owners awake at night.
Sophie, who runs a small hospitality business in Christchurch, felt this sharply during the pandemic. Borders closed. Revenue collapsed. She faced impossible decisions: keep her team employed or cut back to survive. Her staff were like family, some with mortgages, others with young children. The choices weren’t just commercial. They were deeply personal.
Pivotal People work with owners like Sophie to ensure they don’t carry that weight alone. Pressure doesn't disappear, but it becomes more manageable when shared with the right people.
Why Responsibility Feels So Heavy
The emotional load of leadership in SMEs can be greater than the practical demands.
Pivotal People have identified some key reasons:
Owners often work closely with long-term staff, creating deep emotional ties
Fewer resources mean fewer margins for error
There’s no corporate safety net—failure is often personal
Communities know the owner’s name, not just the business
Family finances and futures are directly tied to performance
Sophie’s situation wasn’t unique. Her sense of duty stretched beyond the company—it touched lives she knew and cared about.
Rethinking the Issue
Responsibility becomes lighter when it’s shared. Pivotal People help owners reframe their role. Leadership is not about carrying everything alone. It’s about knowing who to involve and when. The smartest leaders don’t hoard responsibility—they distribute it.
Think of responsibility like a canoe. Impossible to carry solo, manageable with a team.
Practical Approaches from Pivotal People
Build a leadership core. Even a small team can take ownership if given trust and tools.
Be open with staff. Transparency builds loyalty and invites solutions.
Engage advisors early. People like Pivotal People, accountants and mentors bring clarity in tough times.
Establish governance. Advisory boards or informal decision circles spread the mental load.
Bring your family into the picture. Sharing challenges at home reduces isolation.
Accept what’s outside your control. Focus on decisions that can move the dial.
Share the credit. Celebrating wins as a group reinforces shared ownership.
Owners who follow these steps often report lower stress, not because the stakes change, but because they no longer feel alone.
Case Study One – Sophie’s Shared Burden
After too many sleepless nights, Sophie took a different approach. She called a staff meeting and laid out the business reality. For the first time, her team saw the numbers. Rather than panic, they got creative. Meal kits, online ordering and flexible shifts emerged from within the team. Sophie felt the shift immediately. Support flowed both ways. The business didn’t just survive—it adapted.
Pivotal People later helped Sophie formalise her leadership structure so she wouldn’t default back to carrying it all herself.
Case Study Two – A Waikato Manufacturer
In Waikato, a father-and-son manufacturing firm ran on habit. The father made every decision. When illness forced him to step away, the business wobbled. The son felt overwhelmed. After recovery, they brought in an external advisor to help set up an advisory board. Decision-making became more balanced, and stress levels dropped.
Responsibility spread across people and process. The father saw the value in letting go. The son gained confidence. Together, they created a business that wouldn’t fall apart if either needed time away.
The Emotional Dimension
Responsibility cuts deep because it ties into identity. Owners see themselves as providers and protectors. Many feel they have no choice but to “push through.” But that mindset leads to burnout.
Pivotal People encourage open conversations—internally with staff, externally with mentors or support networks. Vulnerability doesn’t erode respect. It builds trust. Involvement brings buy-in. Sharing the struggle invites shared effort.
Owners often find that staff respond with strength when given a voice. Family feels more supportive when they’re included. The load doesn’t disappear, but it stops being isolating.
The NZ SME Landscape
In New Zealand, SMEs make up over 97% of all businesses. That means responsibility sits on the shoulders of tens of thousands of individual owners—many operating without external support.
When one business fails, the effects are felt locally. Suppliers, communities, and families feel the ripple. That reality intensifies the weight.
Pivotal People see the danger in doing it alone. Kiwi business culture prizes independence, but collaboration is proving more sustainable. Peer groups, business collectives and support advisors are essential not just for strategy but for survival.
Measuring Progress
You know the weight is being shared when:
Staff are involved in key decisions and take ownership of outcomes
Family relationships feel stronger, not strained
Trusted advisors are part of regular planning, not last-minute triage
You’re sleeping more and stressing less
Stepping away doesn’t feel like a risk
Sophie knew she’d turned a corner when her staff started bringing her ideas rather than problems. The Waikato team knew when holidays could happen without worry.
A Final Thought
The weight of responsibility never fully goes away. But it doesn’t need to be carried alone. Leaders who surround themselves with capable people, open conversations and trusted advisors like Pivotal People, build businesses that endure.
What changes is not the size of the load—but how many hands are carrying it. That shift is what turns stress into strategy. And it’s what allows owners to sleep again.
