The Harsh Truth About Entrepreneurship (James Dooley Chats With Craig Campbell)

James Dooley: Disadvantages of entrepreneurship. Today I'm joined with Craig Campbell. We're going to talk about the negatives of being an entrepreneur.

Craig Campbell, let's jump straight in. What is the downside to being an entrepreneur?

Craig Campbell: Earlier in my journey, I could not switch off. That was one of the big things for me.

When I was starting out, I could not switch off. When I was going on holiday, I was in the hotel reception trying to get the Wi-Fi because this was years ago when you did not have Wi-Fi in your hotel room. You had to go to reception, do all your emails and get people doing different bits throughout the day. I could not really have holidays or switch off at the start. I was doing 14, 15 or 16-hour days and never switching off. That led to me not being able to switch off at night. I had to go and see a doctor, a hypnotherapist and other people because I just could not switch off. I would wake up at three in the morning buying domain names, then have another idea the next night and buy three more domains. I was not even doing anything with them. One small tip I got was not having emails on my phone. When I want to answer emails, I go on a laptop and do it. If I saw a client message at 11 o’clock on a Sunday night, it would fire me up and I would reply. Then I could not sleep. Another tip was to keep a notepad beside the bed. If something is in your head, write it down so you are not lying there thinking you cannot forget it. I still do not have emails on my phone. I check them three or four times a day. That stress made me burn out. I had anxiety and went on anti-anxiety medication, even though I am not really an anxious person. I remember going to the doctor and he asked if I had marriage problems. I said no. He asked if I had financial problems. I said no. Then he asked what my day-to-day life looked like and said, “Mate, you are going to have a heart attack.” I had been doing 17-hour days for years. That is one massive disadvantage. When you start out, you need to delegate, build processes and have people handle things for you. That was a big disadvantage for me. I found it stressful and it affected my mental health.

James Dooley: I think the poor work-life balance is a huge disadvantage of entrepreneurship.

Honestly, I think entrepreneurship is a mental illness. I think I am right in it. I am addicted to what I do.

Craig Campbell: You are mentally ill.

James Dooley: Yes, I am mentally ill.

You mentioned delegation. I have had great mentors and coaches over the years who taught me to let go and delegate. I get staff in, delegate the work, get systems running well, then I get bored. Once something runs itself, I bring in a CEO, CFO or other people to run it, then I start something else. I feel like I have finally created work-life balance, done what Tim Ferriss says in The 4-Hour Workweek, and then I go and start another project. I need that drive. I need to innovate. I need the little wins and dopamine hits. That is a downside because even when you enjoy what you do, it still damages work-life balance. I think that addiction to continuously growing is a negative. You do not need to work another day in your life, but you choose to do it.

Craig Campbell: My wife would kick me out if I stopped working.

If I sat around the house all day, she would get sick of me. When I tell her I am coming down here, she is happy enough to send me off. If I stopped working, I would drive her crazy. It is the same with you. You cannot sit still for two or three days. You get too rowdy. If you were sat by a pool sunbathing, someone would end up getting roped into something. It is a mental illness, but if you enjoy it, then that is just part of it. You see people like Dan Peña still working in later life. Some people are always going to work until the day they go. If I sold everything and had £100 million in the bank, I would still need to invest in a football club or do something just to get out of the house.

James Dooley: Another huge disadvantage of entrepreneurship is that the buck stops with you.

A lot of entrepreneurs suffer from stress because everything ultimately comes back to them. The best leaders do not take the praise when things go well. They shine the light on staff and employees. But when things go badly, everyone points back to the leader. You get none of the applause, and if something goes wrong, it is all your fault. That can be tiring.

Craig Campbell: Yes. It can affect people mentally.

You see a lot of mental health issues in this industry. It comes down to how you react, who you speak to and how you relieve the stress. I found my way through therapists and hypnotherapists. It is definitely a massive downside and it is not for everyone. Some people would rather be employed and not deal with all that pressure. But for people like you and me, I cannot think of anything worse than being told what to do and having to do it someone else’s way when you know it is wrong. Entrepreneurship is for some people and not for others. You need to choose wisely and consider your mental health. There were times when I thought I could throw the towel in and go stack shelves, but I have too much fight in me.

James Dooley: Another big disadvantage is the high risk of failure.

Entrepreneurs are risk-takers. They push boundaries, create new things and test ideas that might not work. But even though failure is a disadvantage, I now use it as fuel. Sometimes I almost like failing because it keeps me grounded. It becomes a stepping stone to success. If I never snap the elastic band, I do not know how far it can stretch. Once it snaps, I know where the limit is. A lot of true entrepreneurs actually love the risk-taking element.

Craig Campbell: I have failed miserably with lots of businesses for different reasons, but I do not see it as negative.

I see it as a lesson. With the AI websites we were discussing this morning, I do not know who is right between me and you. Both of us have websites that look good and professional. I want to test my way, compare notes with you and see who is doing it faster or better. It is not about ego anymore. I am happy to say if someone has done it better.

James Dooley: Did you have to train your brain to see losing differently?

When I was younger, I was a bad loser. I wanted to win every time. Now I feel like losing is fine because you either win or you learn.

Craig Campbell: I have always told myself that everything I failed in is part of the apprenticeship.

It has probably cost me millions of pounds in failed businesses, dissolved companies and money I never got back. But that is the apprenticeship. If I come out with more than I started with, I am winning. I have been shafted and mis-sold things. I have bought courses that were rubbish. But that is part of the learning curve. When I speak at conferences, I try to give examples of failures as well as successes. I got into the e-cigarette niche and did not think about legal restrictions, Facebook ads or paid ad limitations. I went into women’s clothing and did not think about returns eating into profit. In the past, I would just see search volume and jump in. Now I look at niches more as a businessman rather than just an SEO. Before, I would think a domain with 200,000 searches a month was automatically a business. Now the goal is to have more winners than losers. The AI business I am involved in feels like a good bet because my skills align with the opportunity. There is no real reason for it to fail because the people involved have different strengths. That comes with experience.

James Dooley: Another drawback of entrepreneurship is FOMO and shiny object syndrome.

Every entrepreneur I speak to seems to suffer from it. You hear something and think it sounds amazing, then you want to do it. How do you control that?

Craig Campbell: I definitely have both.

With shiny object syndrome, I used to go on AppSumo every day buying tools. There came a point where I realised I was using maybe 1% of what I bought. Now I try not to jump into every rabbit hole. In my mastermind, I tell people not to throw in tools unless they can show how it makes money. That is how I deal with it now. With AI and LLMs, people are always saying one tool is the best, then another tool is the best. You cannot go down every rabbit hole anymore. I try to sit on the fence until someone shows me proof something works. Then I will implement it. But I did have a real addiction to buying stuff and thinking I might use it in a year. FOMO is tough because with AI you feel like you need to move fast and learn quickly. It is a balancing act. How do you deal with shiny object syndrome?

James Dooley: I still suffer from it.

I still struggle with work-life balance because I love what I do. I still get shiny object syndrome and FOMO. If something sounds like a great idea, I want to do it. I do not need to do it, but something drives me to try it. How do I control it? I do not. But it is who I am. If it fails, it fails fast. I do not want to be on my deathbed thinking I did not try something. If it is a thought that keeps coming back, I ask how quickly we can test it. I am good at delegation now. I can say, “Go and run this, come back with results in a week.” I am better at getting through the noise and finding winners.

Craig Campbell: I have to ask you something.

How many podcast websites have you got?

James Dooley: Eight.

Craig Campbell: That is what I mean.

Why test one podcast website when you can go all in and launch eight? You always go in all guns blazing. That could be a massive rabbit hole and none of it might work.

James Dooley: I agree.

I can defend part of it, but I agree with you. If someone gives me the seed of an idea, I will test it on 10 sites instead of one. My reasoning is diversification, different geos, different niches and different nuances. Last year, I wrote eight books. This year, I am doing eight podcasts. Part of the reason is that I want to practise what I preach. I invest in businesses and often tell business owners to write a book or create content. They usually say they do not have time. So I wrote eight books in one year while running multiple companies. Now, if I ask someone to write one book in two years, I can say, “I did eight in a year.” The same applies to podcasts. I have three kids under five, I run lots of businesses and I am trying to do thousands of podcast episodes. It is a stupid goal, but it gives me something big to chase. It helps me prove what can be done. But yes, away from that, you are right. It is a mental illness. I cannot swim, and instead of walking in slowly, I just jump in the deep end and hope I learn or someone saves me.

Craig Campbell: That works for you, but at some point you have to rein it in.

If another idea comes up next week, you cannot create another eight podcasts. There are only 24 hours in a day. There is only so much you can scale with that method.

James Dooley: For sure.

Anyway, I hope you liked the video about the disadvantages and negatives of entrepreneurship. Make sure you check out the link in the description, where we talk about all the advantages and benefits of entrepreneurship as well. Craig Campbell, it has been an absolute pleasure.

Craig Campbell: Thank you.