Alon Lits and Allan Sweidan are co-founders of the new Join Panda App, which gives people access to the right resources and support while on their mental health journey.
Alon joined Uber in 2013 as its first employee and the General Manager for South Africa. In 2015, he took on the role of General Manager for Uber in Sub-Saharan Africa and in 2019, Alon moved into his role as Director for the Region. Since leaving Uber in August 2020, he has been advising early stage tech companies across the continent.
Allan Sweidan was the CEO of the Akeso Group of Psychiatric Hospitals, which he co-founded in 2008. Starting with one hospital in Randburg, the Akeso group grew to 12 hospitals across 4 provinces before it was sold to Netcare in 2018. Allan, a clinical psychologist, has been actively involved in health-related start-ups, retirement villages and child and young adult focused NPO’s.
Here are their tips and tools for small business owners:
The more of your business that you can digitise, the more you can measure. The more you understand your data, the better you are positioned to inform your business strategy. Use digital tools to process your data.
There are a lot of tools out there from Asana to JIRA. Ultimately, you need to find a tool that meets your needs. Personally, I prefer setting up simple trackers using Google sheets. The most important thing (in my mind), is to ensure that each task has a clear owner and due date.
The reality of an SME is that there is too much to do and not enough time. Linked to the above, it’s important that you prioritise workload and focus on the highest impact initiatives. Use digital means to do so.
It’s always important to share what you’re going through. Find a confidante, or digital/ online coach or forum where you can safely discuss where your business is at and get some clarity and hopefully some ideas for how to start turning things around.
Use apps like the Join Panda Mental Health app to speak to therapists, find your tribe of individuals going through tough challenges, and to monitor and evaluate your mental health progress. You can download and use the Join Panda app for free – search join panda in the apps stores.
While digital tools are remarkable, do take time out from social media and your digital devices. So no scrolling Facebook or even recipes online – put your device down for some time every day and do something different like take a walk or read the newspaper.
They will know that you’re stressed and they will feel it too. With reasonable caution and good boundaries, take your staff into your confidence. They know the business as well as you do and may have some ideas how to pull through the crises together. If anonymity is key, and while building trust – use digital tools like Survey Monkey to poll employees.
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