10 Fears to Overcome if you want to be an Entrepreneur
Do you have an idea that you believe you could build a viable business around? Have you seen a gap in the market for a product or service and believe that you can effectively fill it? Do you have a desire to own your own business, to be in control and be your own boss?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then it is likely that you have given some thought to
the idea of registering a company, starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur. If this is the case, what is holding you back? For most potential entrepreneurs the greatest barrier they face is fear. Here we will look at some of the most common fears faced by budding entrepreneurs and how they can be managed, so that in the words of Susan Jeffers, you can “Feel the Fear and do it anyway”.
1.FAILURE
The most prevalent fear among those wanting to start their own business is fear of failure, there are a number of reasons for this; If you have been dreaming and nurturing a business idea in your head for a long time, you may fear that if you try and fail, this will mean the loss of all your hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future.
There is also the fear of loss of status and of humiliation, failure in business is very public, and you may be scared that people will think less of you and lose respect for you, or that if you fail it will impact on negatively on your loved ones.
HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR OF FAILURE:
You don’t have to learn to like failure, most people don’t, but you can reframe your thinking about it. Firstly, when you go into business expect some level of failure, not every idea will be a great one. From the beginning, decide that if you do make mistakes, you will use them as opportunities to figure out how to do things better. This shift in thinking will change how you view failure and enable you to see how it can actually help you by making you more creative and innovative. Bill Gates himself once said “Failure is a great teacher”.
Once you have the support of your immediate friends and loved ones, try not to care too much what others think and always keep in mind the fact that when you are older you are much more likely to regret chances not taken and missed opportunities than you are to regret a few mistakes made along the way.
2.SUCCESS
It might seem like a strange idea, but some potential entrepreneurs can actually be put off by fear of success and of achieving their goals and dreams. You may be afraid that if you become successful, you are putting yourself in the spot light and people will judge you in a “who do you think you are” sort of way.
You may have long-held deep down beliefs that you somehow are not good enough and don’t deserve to be successful, these feelings are usually related to relationships or incidents from the past.
Many people too have an intrinsic belief that success with financial reward is somewhow wrong or that money is evil and that they will have to compromise their ideals and values in order to become a successful business person.
SUCCESS IS GOOD:
It is an unfortunate fact of life, that if you become successful, there are alway s people who will try to put you down, learn to ignore these people and realise that the putdowns are usually rooted in their own insecurities and jealousies.
If you think you may be sabotaging your success by believing that you are not good enough or that it willl make you a bad person. Examine these beliefs, remind yourself why you want to run a successful company, if it is for greater security for you and your family, for improved fulfillment and job satisfacton or to find new and better ways of providing a product or service, these are all great reasons for wanting to be successful at business.
3.CHANGE
Are you afraid to change the status quo, scared to rock the boat? If so, are you are not alone, there are millions of unhappy, unfulfilled employees around the world who dream of living a “life less ordinary” and pursuing their dreams and passions be setting up their own business, yet they remain stuck, because there is a large degree of comfort to be found in routines and predictability.
EMBRACE CHANGE:
Examine your feelings about change, why are you scared of change, what are you scared of? Consider the immense possibilities that await you if you step out of your comfort zone, focus on the
posiives; the potential to live a full and satisying life that you are in control of. Learn to be more open-minded and flexible so that you are adaptable enough to cope with the many different twists and turns life will take as an entrepreneur.
3. FINANCIAL RISK
If you are in a job that is relatively well- paid and you can live quite comfortably within your means, then you may be afraid to jeopardise this, and you may be worried about having to survive on reduced income in the period when you are building your business.
You may be scared that you will not be able to attain the required funds to start your business or that you will run out of money during the process so you won’t be able to continue.
You may be scared of debt, many businesses take a few years to become profitable and the idea of living with large debts which can be accrued building a business may be terrifying if you have no prior experience of this.
PLAN WELL:
Before you start your business, assess the risk, do a detailed business plan to see exactly how much money is needed to start and grow your business. Assess your personal and family financial situation to see where cutbacks can be made and exactly how much you need to live on.
Do your financial homework, find out as much as you can about business loans and overdrafts, most financial institutions have start-up packages to support new entrepreneurs. Find out about any grants you may be entitled to.
When starting your business, be as frugal as possible, e.g do not spend lots of money on a fancy advertising campaign if you can use social media and other cheaper methods.
While there will always be a level of financial risk involved as a business owner, by taking the above steps, you can minimise the risk and be more confident of financial success.
5. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
You may think that you do not know enough to start a business. You might have a good idea that you
believe can make money, but may feel you lack the necessary skills and knowledge to take a business through the stages from company registration to a thriving profitable organisation. There are many element s involved in starting and growing a business;
Product or service development, financial managment, tax implications, legalities, human resources, marketing and advertising strategies to name but a few.
YOU CAN LEARN:
It is virutally impossible that you will be knowledgeable and skillful in all of these, but you can learn. You may choose to take a “start your own business” course before you begin, in order to learn the basics of running a company or you may decide to learn on the job as you go. Most governments now provide business start-up support initiatives that can help you with a lot of the non-financial parts of the business, seek these out and use them.
As the founder of Linkedin , Reid Hoffman said “the entrepreunerial journey starts with jumping off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.”
6. SELLING YOURSELF AND YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE
If you have not had previous experience of selling, you may feel intimidated by the sales process. Many people are put off selling because they do not want to be seen as being “pushy” or they take refusals and knock backs personally. However, if you are to operate a successful business, you must learn to sell both yourself and your product or service and develop the resilience to keep going.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF:
Remember when you are selling, why you are selling, if you have a good product that will fill a gap in the market then tell people this, show them how your product or service will be of benefit to them.
Start small, when you are building your business, tell people what it is about, get used to describing your product and service and having positive feedback will boost your confidence and above all practice, like any skill, selling skills can be learned and improved with plenty of practice.
8. SOLE RESPONSIBILITY
Are you fearful of having total responsibility for your business , of having to make all the decisions by
yourself and the consequences of making the wrong ones?
Are you afraid that you will become overwhelmed by the pressure and the amount of work you will need to do and that you will not be able to cope, or that you will neglect other parts of your life such as family and health.
SEEK SUPPORT:
If possible, in the early stages of your business, find yourself a business mentor, contact your local business enterprise groups, and see if they can match you with someone that can support you and who you can bounce ideas off. Join local networks and associations that are specifically related to your particular industry.
Try to develop a high level of efficiency, have systems in place and if necessary outsource some tasks or bring family members or trusted friends on board for some help. If you are in a position to employ staff, learn to delegate and share the workload.
10. NOT HAVING THE PERFECT PRODUCT OR SERVICE
Starting a business is an emotional process,Fear can trigger the “fight or flight” response and cause a person to freeze into inaction. Many potential entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking that their prodcut or service must be perfect befor they take it to market.
BE GOOD ENOUGH:
This is not the case, a minimum viable product is enough to get you started. If you look at other successful business, they are continuously changing and improving their products and services, so don’t be afraid to take the leap even if your product is not perfect, like all businesses your will change and improve as it grows.
It has been shown that self-employed people experience less negative emotions than those who are employed, so if you wish to be one of those people, go for it. You do not have to be fearless in order to own your own company, in fact some level of fear is good as you are less likey to make rash and possibly harmful decisions for your business, but don’t let fear stop you.
In the words of Dale Carnegie, author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, one of the best-selling self-improvement and motivational books of all time:
“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit at home and think about it, go out and get busy”.
Written by Carlos Rivas at 1st Formations. 1st Formations is an authorised company formations agent that helps entrepreneurs to set up their new companies in 3 – 6 hours. For more information on setting up your business visit https://www.1stformations.co.uk/
