Is Fear Holding You Back from Entrepreneurship?

Have you ever just sat and thought about all of the businesses you could start? One idea comes after another–all of them legitimate. Wishing you could implement them all, you come back to reality realizing you are only human and can not possibly tackle all of these projects. So, you end up playing around with one or two ideas that really get your motivation peaked. As you start thinking about your plans and processes, you become overwhelmed by all things necessary to get to where you want to be. Fear grips you by the neck. The shear overwhelm inhibits you from moving forward in taking your vision and implementing it. Fear is the root of all inaction. I believe there are three types of fear that holds us back.

1) Fear of work

You draft up a mental plan on how to accomplish a goal. Once you see everything that will be involved in the endeavor, you come to the realization that is not for you because you do not want to carryout each of the steps and and be responsible for the challenges, you will face along the way. If your fear the work, it is not really your passion. If it is not your passion, it will not succeed. So, how do you know if you have found your passion, you ask. When your values and your goals align you will have found your passion. You will want to work on the business no matter what. So never jump into anything just to make money. Jump into it because you will enjoy the process, the rewards, and the ability to grow from failures.

2) Fear of Failure

Time and time again, young entrepreneurs spend lots of time, tirelessly, working on ideas that are doomed to fail from the start. Other projects are not really doomed from the beginning, but fail to gain traction either because of too much competition or by insufficient marketing efforts. If you face these obstacles over and over again, you will be more hesitant about jumping into new projects in the future. Overtime entrepreneurs and small business owners begin to learn value of their time and will not jump into a project if there is no immediate benefit. The delay of a result can seem like a failure, if you are not looking at the big picture. So, if there is even an inkling of success for your project even in the presence of delayed gratification, go for it and keep your eye on the big picture.

Some times you feel that someone will steal your ideas and be more successful because they have more capital for marketing and innovation. This is inevitable for many small businesses. However, know that competition is good. Competition will allow you to learn various ways to make your product or service even more outstanding. However, take measures to protect your proprietary materials as much as possible. Consult with an intellectual property lawyer to get started.

3) Fear of Success

It is possible to see the success of your project from the start, either by the small scale market research or consumer purchases. However, some entrepreneurs fear success, because they do not have the capacity to keep up with demand. By not investing in additional equipment or marketing projects, you lose sales to your competition who can provide a similar service. Other entrepreneurs feel that they are undeserving of the success.

I think it is necessary to define your idea of success. Is it to provide x amount of products or services to x amount of people each year? Or, it is to make $1million dollars your first year? You must make your idea of success specific. Is your idea of success realistic? If you are trying to generate $1billion in sales, your first year of business, your are setting your self up for failure quickly. Make your idea of success reasonable and rational to what you know you can attain.

What do you fear?

I have been faced by theses three issues time and time again. One is especially significant–Fear of failure.  Especially being an introverted person, many say personality is not suited for entrepreneurship. But, I have moved past this fear many times and did things I never thought was possible for myself. I may not be the loudest one of the pack, but I am passionate about helping other people aspire to their greater selves. That is one of my passions, and I will do whatever it takes to reach my vision. However, each time I have to dig really deep to find out ways I can see the big picture, think long-term, and move past what everybody else defines as success.  What is your major fear?