13/07/2026
Death by 1,000 tiny cuts.
Last week, I had a disturbing dream. I was sitting in a waiting area when a group of people gathered around me, each holding a safety pin. One by one, they started stabbing me while a woman watched from across the room.
When I woke up, the symbolism felt pretty obvious: death by 1,000 tiny cuts.
I think this represents a part of running a small business that most people do not see. Everyone sees only their one interaction with you: their one forgotten task, missed detail, mistake, delay, unanswered message, or problem that needs fixing. Because it is only one thing to them, it may not feel like a big deal.
What they do not see is that there may be 99 other people who also have "one little thing" that day.
Behind the scenes are clients, students, employees, contractors, tenants, suppliers, products, websites, booking systems, emails, social media, schedules, invoices, animals, property responsibilities, and personal life.... all needing attention at the same time.
They also do not see what it takes to correct each small mistake: the messages, screenshots, troubleshooting, explaining, following up, or stopping the work planned to fix something else.
To each person, it is one small mistake. But when you are responsible for catching, correcting, explaining, and carrying hundreds of those little things, they accumulate.
This is not about expecting perfection. People make mistakes. I make mistakes. It is about recognizing how much small business owners carry behind the scenes.
Sometimes burnout does not come from one catastrophic event. Sometimes it comes from hundreds of small demands, mistakes, interruptions, and responsibilities accumulating over time.
One safety pin may not seem capable of causing much harm. But 1,000 tiny cuts can wear a person down.
To all the small business owners carrying the weight of 100 things nobody else can see: I see you. You are probably doing far more than anyone realizes.
