I’ve been binging on materials about sleep, health, and fasting (you heard about my 40-hour fast last week). Once my social media feed algorithm gets me, I go down knowledge tunnels about staying young and vital. While my job is marketing and business development, my hobby is self-development – body, spirit, soul, mind. So you can imagine my shock when I read that the Oregon Health and Science University research claimed that getting less than seven hours of sleep was closely correlated to all-cause mortality, second only to smoking. Even terrible diet, poor bodily conditions, lack of exercise, or being a hermit weren’t as closely related to death as getting less than seven hours of sleep. That scared me. Luckily, I’m hitting 7-9 hours most nights (my Oura ring tracks sleep hours, when I fell asleep, wake-ups, heart rate). Thinking about why I’m not sleeping led me to statistics about why entrepreneurs aren’t sleeping right now..

The Top 5 Business Worries of 2026

Adobe’s 2025 research found 82% of entrepreneurs can’t sleep from thinking about their business. Here’s what’s keeping us up: First, inflation and rising costs. It’s keeping consumers up, but especially business owners – 45% of American businesses say it’s their biggest issue, and 75% say rising costs are barriers to growth and the biggest threat to their business.

Second, margin squeeze for products and services. Beyond inflation, 34% say cost of goods and services are the biggest stop to growth and expansion. Almost 60% will raise prices but still expect lower revenue this year. Things aren’t looking great for sleep in 2026.

Third, cash flow and revenue uncertainty. About 76% are uncomfortable with cash flow on hand, and revenue is the second highest worry behind inflation – they’re desperate for new clients.

People Problems and Policy Paralysis

Fourth, attracting and retaining talent. Despite thousands of workers being made redundant and rising unemployment, businesses still worry about finding the right talent on time. This worry doubled versus last year, and a quarter say talent remains an issue – people problems always keep you up at night. Fifth, economic and policy uncertainty. They’re talking about government policies.

In fact, business owners are cautious to hire and invest, delaying major decisions. I saw this in 2025, it didn’t go away at year-end, and it’s continuing in 2026. However, my business did really well because I got into more action last year. My clients who got into action the same way also did better, even though it was very uncertain for many businesses including mine.

Aggressive Marketing Cures Insomnia

What’s the cure? Well, naturally as a Marketing Strategist, I recommend more aggressive marketing and selling. If you’re taking money from any part of your business, put it into marketing and sales. You have no idea how much better you sleep when you have a full sales pipeline, when you know exactly what you’ll do rinse-and-repeat style to get more clients and prospects, when your share of voice in the market is way bigger than your market share.

Marketing and visibility way bigger than you are creates perception that your company is larger than it is. Build brand equity, pipelines, and aggressive marketing strategies. Do marketing that scares you and differs from what you’ve done. Things scaring my clients (besides sleeplessness): videos. Many clients in my 45-60 age group reached success without much visibility, vulnerability, getting on videos, figuring out technology, or talking to prospects on screens. But it works to get attention. Send door-opener gifts (working well for me and clients).

Go to in-person events. Many CEOs get stuck behind desks, getting too comfortable sending staff. But there’s much to gain by getting out, putting your ear to the ground, having a pulse on the industry you’re targeting, being the only person from your industry in your target industry’s associations, organizations, and events.

It’s not all gloom and doom – I’m very excited about 2026. Make this the year you try new marketing, things that make you nervous or scare you or you never thought you’d do.

Want to reposition your messaging to grow your leads? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, watch my Podcast onYouTube or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk.