‘My weekend starts on Sunday afternoon,’ Jelle Vanheste said a year ago in’Andermanszaken’, the program in which Kamal Kharmach assists entrepreneurs inneed. The overworked entrepreneur put his own struggle into words andimmediately brought a social problem to the table: the number of self-employedpeople with a burnout has risen by 50 percent in four years. “Once my wife hasrecovered from her burnout, I’m really going to slow down.”
Evelyn RoelsTuesday, January 3, 202303:00
At the end of the episode of ‘Other people’s affairs’, Jelle (35) could beseen toasting ‘to a good 2022’ at the Christmas party of Mivan, his companythat makes custom furniture. Did that wish come true? The answer is cautiouslypositive: ‘It was… better.’
HUMO That doesn’t sound convincing.
JELLE VANHESTE “The period after the broadcast was difficult. Due to themedia attention, many orders suddenly came in, but those who have seen theprogram know that the amount of work was not the problem. I couldn’t possiblyreply to all messages. And there were also comments where you don’t…(hesitates) Let’s say: where you don’t get good energy from.
»After that it became a bit quieter, but the last few weeks have been veryintense again. Especially since my wife dropped out.”
HUMO Because of the stress?
VANHESTE “It’s a combination of factors. She really needs to rest, andshe’s having a hard time with that. But I urge her not to go back to workuntil she feels 100 percent again. I know how important that is.”
HUMO You yourself balanced on the edge of a burnout during the recordings.
VANHESTE (nods) “The problem was that I was working with fear as thedriving force. I took over the business five years ago, after my father passedaway unexpectedly. I was so afraid of failing or losing my job that I said yesto everything. Customers sensed that, and some have benefited from it: ‘Wouldyou like to do that too?’ I worked 16-hour days, but I barely got anything outof it. According to the calculations of Kamal Kharmach I didn’t earn morethan 3.5 euros an hour.”
HUMO You received tips from him and from Wouter Torfs, the CEO of SchoenenTorfs, but in the end the conversation with psychologist Elke Van Hoof seemedto have helped you.
VANHESTE “That’s right. I received good tips from Wouter and Kamal, butbefore that conversation with Elke I was unable to do anything with them. Mybucket was just too full. The appointment with Elke was the turning point. Shetaught me to focus. I now ask myself every morning: where do I want to go? Shealso taught me to keep work and private life better separated, for example bygoing for a walk. This is how you close one hatch and start another.”
HUMO Were there, in retrospect, alarm signals that you went beyond yourlimits?
VANHESTE “I had a total lack of energy. I squeezed out what little I hadleft at work, then it was gone. I also felt bad all the time. I wondered if itcould still work out. When you’re in that deep, everything really gets caughtup in your head.
“I also had physical complaints. My neck hurt constantly. It was the same withmy wife. She had started jogging again, but she suffered one injury afteranother, and it never stopped. The doctor finally put his finger on the wound:when your mind is exhausted, your body will also struggle.”
HUMO According to the figures of the RIZIV/RIZIV, the number of people sittingat home with a burnout or depression has risen fastest in the self-employedcategory: from 3,300 to 5,000 in four years. The self-employed would also waitlonger to seek help, which would only exacerbate the problems.
VANHESTE “That is very recognizable. I also knew that I was not doingwell. People have been advising me for a long time to slow down, or even sellmy business. But I didn’t care about that. I had built something and I didn’twant to give it up. I had to keep going, even though it made me go way beyondmy limits.
»Entrepreneurship is wonderful, but you have to be strong. Consumers arebecoming more and more demanding. For many, ‘good’ is no longer good enough.Others try to get the most out of it and demand more and more service for lessand less money. Thanks to Elke, I can deal with that better now too. Whencustomers insist on a discount, I answer: ‘I don’t give a discount, but I dogive a correct price.’ I explain that price differences have to do with thematerials used, and that they should not compare apples with oranges. I alsowant to add that it can take several months before everything is ready. Peopleappreciate that clarity, and for me it was much more pleasant to work thatway. At least, until my wife fell out.”
HUMO Are you taking over her job now?
VANHESTE (nods) “My brother Joren is already up to his ears in work.We could temporarily hire someone, but that is not easy. My wife was trying tobring structure to the chaos, but her work was not yet finished. You can’tjust hand that over to an outsider. Training someone would take me so muchtime that I’d better just do it myself.”
HUMO Many companies also have the greatest difficulty in filling vacancies.
VANHESTE “It’s a disaster. You can still find administrative employees,but not people with a technical profile. We are urgently looking for atechnical draftsman who can assist my brother, as well as two extra workersfor the workplace. Well, we just don’t find anyone. And if someone isavailable, you feel that he is also talking to the competition. Sometimes theycome home from a rude awakening. A while ago one of our employees left. Hisnew boss had promised him all sorts of things, but six months later he stillhadn’t received a company car.
“I’m not going to participate in such an auction anyway. I pay my employeeswell and if I can do something to make work more enjoyable, I will do it. Butpay shouldn’t be the only motivation. Such a person will leave as soon as hegets a better offer. I prefer to invest in a long-term relationship.Especially in a small family business like ours, the working atmosphere isvery important.”
HUMO What can we wish you for 2023?
VANHESTE “That my wife can come back to work soon (laugh). But she can’tdo that until she feels completely better.
»2022 was a challenging year, but I now feel that we are well on our way tobecoming a stable company. The accountant has just informed us that ourfigures look much better than the year before. Then we were also able to closethe year with a profit, but you don’t want to know how hard we had to work forthat. Now it was a lot more livable, and at the same time I learned to makemore time for myself and our family.”