The entrepreneur 500 respondents small business owners across the country to ask how they feel about their business.

Here's what we heard: 61% said they feel stressed – and 56% of those stressed owners said they are loss of sleep because of her.

How much less? The average was 7 hours – although 20% of the group said it was only 3 to 4 hours a week. Millennials are losing more sleep, averaging 7.5 hours per week, and men are losing slightly more sleep than women (7.3 hours vs. 6.9 hours).

Related: Do you sleep more than Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Winston Churchill?

What stresses them out?

In a word – money.

Nearly half of respondents (47%) said they have experienced one lack of cash this year. To make up the difference, 46% dug into their personal savings, while 30% stopped paying themselves.

About half of the respondents said their business is in decline. Unless their circumstances change, they said, the average owner believed they could last 11.9 months before having to close — and 20% said they would have to close within three to four months.

Of the main threats they see, inflation is number one (at 53%), followed by rising costs of operations (43%) and economic uncertainty (41%). In response to inflation, 51% of owners have cut back on non-essential expenses and 38% said they have raised their prices.

Related: Here's how I drove my company's revenue by taking an often-overlooked step

But there is room for optimism

It's not all bad news: 51% of small business owners said their business is doing well better than in 2023, and most owners (84%) are optimistic that 2025 will be even better.

However, this optimism was not evenly split across political divides: 63% of Democrats believed the economy would improve over the next year, compared to just 49% of Republicans and 39% of independents.

Related: 5 Key Personal Branding Lessons From the Harris-Trump Debate

If you are sleepless and stressed…

If you're losing sleep like the business owners we surveyed, please heed this warning: If you don't handle your stressit will only get worse.

Stress floods your body with hormones that disrupt your sleep—and if you sleep poorly, those hormones won't break down, and you'll get even more of them. It becomes a vicious circle, according to Johns Hopkins sleep expert Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., CBSM

Experts suggest finding relaxation activities that work for you and habit building with them. These may include gentle breathing techniques, meditation or movement techniques such as yoga, tai chi and qigong.

The entrepreneurThe survey of 500 small business owners was conducted in partnership with Speaker research in August. For the full results of our survey, click here.

Related: Small business owners are watching the election — but they're deeply skeptical