Believe it or not - women have more trouble sleeping through the night than men, and it isn't because of their hormones! Women worry about everything....but, women entrepreneurs obsess the most, particularly at night.

For whatever reason, as a woman entrepreneur, I wake up every night, just around 2 o'clock, and begin thinking about everything that I could do better in the day that is about to start. So, as a business coach, I know how important it is to support women entrepreneurs with all the issues that keep them up at night!

The fact is, in 2013, women have more choices than ever before in our U.S. history. And, although most of us don't have a choice of whether or not we work outside the home to contribute financially to the family, many of us do have a choice as to what work we do to earn it. This fact keeps me quite busy as a business coach, as an increasing number of women want to join the ranks of entrepreneurship.

Many, however, think that by controlling their time and energy in their own business they will be able to control their commitment. Of course, I caution them at the beginning. Starting a business is just like giving birth. In other words, it requires 100% and more of your time. A new business needs all your energy and time and more. It will suck you dry just like a newborn baby can!

But, the ranks of women entrepreneurs continue to grow just as the ranks of women waking up during the middle night and worrying grows!

So, back to the question of what keeps women entrepreneurs up at night?

First, a new study out from Travelers’ small business division, focusing on women business owners, taken at a recent conference in Miami, NAWBO Women’s Business Conference suggests that 56% of women entrepreneurs at the conference worry about their business continuity plan. Although exit planning is important, both women and men entrepreneurs, don't plan as much as they should. However, statistically it is women entrepreneurs that worry about it much more often than men. The solution is for women business owners to come up with a plan regardless of how they exit -- health, disability, death or sale. Planning takes the worry out of it!

Second, women entrepreneurs are much more likely to worry about the attitude, or better said, stress affecting their employees. Women are much more empathetic by nature than men and it tends to strike in the middle of the night. Of course, worrying about employees is, for the most part, worthless as entrepreneurs generally have no control over the lives of those that work for them. But, worry about them, women entrepreneurs do!

An employee's divorce or troubled child can be a tremendous burden for a woman entrepreneur if she allows the personal lives of staff to penetrate the day-to-day business conversation. The best advice for every entrepreneur is to keep the workplace as professional as possible. Employees benefit as well from taking time off from obsessing about stresses that they can't do anything about doing the work day.

But, back to what keeps women entrepreneurs up at night. Here is the list I have compiled from 5 years of business coaching. How many can you check off as reasons you are also a member of the 2 A.M. Club?

I wake up because:

I make mental lists of all the things I need to do when I get out of bed....

I worry about an employee with family problems and how it affects her/his work...

I have to let an employee go who isn't doing the job; or is always late; slacking off; etc....

I think about what to say to my partner who isn't doing anything to help the business.....

I plan my marketing campaign....

I plan my customer pitch, proposal, face-to-face meetings for the day....

I worry about having enough energy to get through the day ahead...

I stress about next quarter, even though this quarter is still underway....

I worry about not having a stronger online presence....I don't even know what I don't know..

I worry about what I'll do if X quits or asks for a raise or wants a piece of the business...

I think about balancing work with family...particularly meeting the needs of my elder parents...

I think about whether or not I am a good enough mother, wife, daughter, volunteer, person...

I worry that my family doesn't eat as well as we should because I don't cook often...

I worry about not getting enough exercise, sleep, or down time...

I worry about not having any friends...I only have time for work...

I worry that I really don't know what I'm doing as an entrepreneur...

I wonder if I should grow the business...but I don't really know how...

I wonder where the money will come from for salaries, inventory, marketing, growth, etc....

I worry about what will happen to my business if I'm not good enough...

I worry about the past, the present and the future...

So, how many of the 20 worries above keep you up at night? If you are a member of the 2 A.M. Club because even one of the worries listed above keeps you awake on a regular basis YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!

The one thing I know is there is only one thing you can do at 2 o'clock in the morning that will help you become a successful woman entrepreneur and that is SLEEP. A good night's sleep will give you what you need to prepare to take on the worries that can only be attacked at the morning's light.

The best advice I have for all entrepreneurs is to first: accept the things you cannot change; second: change the things you can; and third; to know the difference. Many of the things we worry or obsess about are out of our control and letting them go is the only answer. The worries we have that require preparation must be recognized and planned. Get yourself a consultant or business coach to help you so you will be doing something about these and not spending sleepless nights with no results.

Finally, as Scarlet O'Hara famously said in Gone With The Wind...After all tomorrow is another day!