By Yhordan Serpentini | August 22, 2022
Starting a business is scary. It’s tiring and expensive work that’ll overwhelm you and stress you out more times than you could imagine; however, starting a business also has its benefits. You are your own boss, you earn the most profit, and you work your own hours.
Although most entrepreneurs set aside their fears and push through the struggles for their success, some never make it to the planning board because of their concerns. Know that the odds are likely in your favor, more than you’d expect. Here are the 5 biggest fears of starting a business, and how you can overcome them.
1. Fear of Failing
Starting with the most obvious fear every entrepreneur has and will continue to deal with for the entirety of their time as a small business owner, is, of course, the fear of failing. Failing is terrifying. Watching all of your hard work fall apart is not exactly anyone’s cup of tea—especially with the amount of planning, time, money, resources, and energy you invested into the growth and success of your business.
One thing to keep in mind is that the chance of failure is no different from the chance of success. Both are outcomes that may happen only if you start; however, if you never try at all, you’ll never know—don’t miss out on what could happen on the fear of what couldn’t.
Success is also something that you have to define and decide for yourself. In other words, your business becomes successful the moment your goals for them have been met. Don’t feel discouraged that your business is failing because the unrealistic or incredibly high expectations of those around you aren’t quite matching your own.
2. Fear of Funding
Starting a business will require a lot of funding, with a bare minimum of $10k upon start-up, and far more throughout its lifespan. Most entrepreneurs don’t have this kind of money just lying around to throw out on a project, which is one of the reasons some never start working on their business.
Funding is an essential part of business growth, but there are numerous ways to achieve it. Of course, you have dozens of sources of capital to choose from, private investors, lenders, crowdfunding, credit cards, family support, bank loans, business loans, etc. There are a variety of ways to fund your business, so you don’t have e to worry too much about not having the money right away.
3. Fear of Leadership/Self-doubt
Another big fear many entrepreneurs and small business owners have in common is having a lot of self-doubt about their management and leadership capabilities. Know that no one is naturally confident in themselves, and no one is naturally good at anything. It takes a serious amount of time, dedication, and experience to reach a certain skill level, some just catch on faster than others.
Whether you’re a fast learner or a slow one, understanding that every great leader was, at one point, in the same position as you will help you realize that you have the potential to be just like, or better, than the current leaders you look up to. What are the qualities of the most effective leaders? What do the most successful business owners have in common? Regardless of confidence, you will likely fail a few times before you succeed; it is simply a part of the process of growing as a person.
4. Fear of Success
One of the fears most individuals will find surprising to know about themselves is the fear of success. Yes, that’s right! People actually have a fear of being successful for a multitude of reasons. Would the fame get to your head? Will it begin to invade or affect your personal life? Will you be too busy running one of the most popular businesses to do anything else? What goals would you do after?
On top of those common fears associated with success, there is also the major anxiety you might feel from how others may react to your accomplishments. Remember, as mentioned with the fear of failure, your definition of success is reflected in the goals you’ve placed for your business; you define what success means to you, and you also decide when you’ve reached that title. The expectations of others, whether bigger or smaller, should not be a factor in defining your success for you.
5. Fear of Cluelessness/Adaptability
One of the other types of fears most entrepreneurs will come across is the fear of being clueless, as well as lacking the ability to adapt to such extreme positions. When you’re a small business owner, you will have to do the dictations which can be very uncomfortable at times considering you’re likely used to having your boss make the decisions, and tell you what to do—it can honestly be tough. Not knowing when to decide something, how to decide something, where to start, etc., are all things you’ll quickly learn to adapt to as you gain more experience.
Remember that being a small business owner is something out of everyone’s comfort zone. There will be plenty of times towards the beginning of your business’ roadmap when you will feel clueless as to what to do, or where to start. That is why there are businesses—like us at Jaeli Capital Consulting—that specialize in consulting new entrepreneurs with the success of their company in mind.
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