The Fears that Come with Starting a Business | Just Start
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Show Notes
Hey, friends, and happy New Year! In this episode, we’re talking all about the fears that come along with starting a business. Especially starting a business in 2021 where nobody really knows what to expect. So join us as we cover the fear of the unknown, the fear of failure, the fear of success, and everything that you need to combat those fears so you can start your business this year with confidence.
What better way to kick off this New Year than talking all about starting. Are you going into 2021 with the hopes for a fresh start, something new and something exciting? I want to encourage you to just do it!
I have the privilege of working with a lot of entrepreneurs on a daily basis. I am in the business of providing branding and web design for people early on in their business, whether they're just starting out or and they're in their first few years, I get to hear a lot of those initial fears that we all have when it comes to starting. Let’s address some of those fears right now!
Fear 1: The fear of the unknown
This is something that I think everybody has, whether you're starting a new job or you're starting your own company. The fear of the unknown can encompass literally everything and anything that could happen after you take this leap of faith to start your business or start your side hustle. The fear of whether or not it's going to be a total flop, or whether or not people are going to want to buy from you, or what your friends and family might think of you, or the humiliation that can come if it's not successful. All of those unknown factors when you're starting a business, can really hold you back and prevent you from taking that leap. I see this fear a lot with clients who get trigger shy when it comes time to go live on their website because they start worrying.
I want to encourage you that just because there are unknowns, it's not a good enough reason to not start your business. There are always going to be some unknowns! I know for me when I was working in corporate America for a few years before I started BrandWell, I always had a fear of the unknown. When I would start a new job, I had this anxiety from the fear of “will I be able to perform well at this job” or “will I be accepted by my new coworkers? Will my boss like me?” So whether you're starting a business or you're doing any other thing in life, there's always going to be a little bit of that fear of the unknown.
To be honest, this fear never fully goes away, BUT you can help diminish the anxiety that comes along with it by having a very clear plan. When you are about to start your side hustle or your business, you need to go into it with a game plan, with an action plan of steps, written out that you can follow. Take a look around and learn from the people around you that have already been successful. Success always leaves a trail and it's ok to steady that trail and take notes.
Fear 2: The fear of not being ready
The most common fear I hear when it’s time for my client’s website to go live is, “am I capable of doing this” or “why should I start a business at this when there are so many other people out there already doing it that are better than me?” It's good to be self-aware and know that there are people out there that are better at what it is that you're about to start offering. Maybe just because they have more experience and expertise in the field, BUT it doesn't mean there's no room in the game for you!
Survey your competition to know what's out there, where has the bar been set, so that you know what you need to aim for. The goal should always be to become an expert, but you don’t have to start off as one. I know today, I'm not where I'm going to be three years from now because I want to continually be learning and growing and sharpening my skill set. That's where you get to continue raising your prices and building and scaling your business. You have to start somewhere. As long as you know more about the topic of the industry that you are selling a product or service in, then the person that's buying it from you, you're ready to start your business.
Fear 3: The fear of failure
This one might be the scariest of all of the fears that come along with starting a business. I know for me, as an Enneagram three, my greatest fear in life is the fear of failure. I was very nervous when I started BrandWell, that it would flop because there was a lot more at stake in the game. I did quit my job. I did plan to take this business as my full-time income. I definitely had way more fear of failure starting BrandWell than I did with any of the other side hustles that I started in the past.
For this fear, I suggest playing out worst-case scenarios. This is definitely what I did when I was getting ready to quit my full-time job. You might be thinking about what if this doesn't work out? I think it's good to run through all of those scenarios because it diminishes that anxiety a little bit. Sometimes even when you run through the worst-case scenario, you find that it's not that bad. Even if you do fail, even if you're embarrassed in front of your friends or family, this is likely bringing you one step closer to what you're actually meant to be doing. So just know that with every business that you start, whether it's a major success or it's kind of a flop, you're going to learn from it and it's probably not going to be the last chapter of your story.
Fear 4: The fear of success
Often this fear is not talked about because I think our minds naturally gravitate towards negative things but you'll notice it more and more. As your business grows, so does your responsibility. As your team grows, so does your responsibility. I'm responsible now for making sure my team of designers has work, making sure that their questions are answered in a timely manner, making sure that I review all of their projects and design work, and provide constructive criticism and feedback.
As BrandWell grows, it's actually taking so much more of my attention and so much more of my time. The responsibility feels a little bit weightier now. I'm not just looking out for me, I'm looking out for all these people that are working for me that are depending on a paycheck. Also, the number of clients that I'm servicing has grown and there are a lot of people I need to keep happy and make sure that their answers are given in a timely manner as well and that their emails are responded to.
This is when you need to keep going back to your why? I have to remind myself all the time, why did I start BrandWell? Why do I want it to be successful? Why might I want to slow down the growth a little bit? So I have to remember that even if the success is scaring me a little bit, even if the responsibility is growing, I want to be a good steward of what God has blessed me with. I'm going to remember why I started it in the first place.
(As an entrepreneur, you have the ability to control the growth of your business, if you’re not quite ready to handle it. So make sure to listen to the episode to hear 3 examples to control your growth.)
Fear 5: Starting a business in 2021
As a business owner, I certainly did face things that were impacted by the pandemic where clients were too afraid to move forward anymore. I lost sales that way, or I had plenty of customers who weren't able to pay and our invoicing started to get backed up. I definitely understand how everyone is being affected by this pandemic, whether you are a new business owner or whether you're working full-time and you lost your job. I sympathize with all of that and I totally understand the fear. The very real fear of, how can I start a business when we don't even know what our future is going to look like.
I think we're all very hopeful that 2021 is going to look very different from 2020 but nobody can know for sure and that's just what I want to encourage you guys with. Think about all people that started businesses at the beginning of 2020, not knowing what was about to happen. If you talk to them, I would bet most of them would say that this has made them stronger because of it, or they learned to pivot and get more creative with their offerings so that they can meet the need during the specific time and during what was going on in the world.
I had a guest, Alayna, on the podcast talking about starting a business young, and she actually launched her wedding planning business in January of 2020. If there could be any other industry to work in 2020, that was going to feel the impact of a global pandemic, it would be events and weddings. Elena talked a lot about how this actually made her so much stronger. Looking back, had she known what was going to take place, she probably wouldn't have started her business. Now she's so thankful because she's seen a lot of good come from it and she's learned a lot herself. She's actually really filling up for the 2021 year. Her business has survived and has been made stronger because of what she went through!
We have come out of a really difficult year, and we don't necessarily know exactly what to expect in this New Year. We're never going to know what to expect! There's always going to be curveballs thrown at us in life and in our business. I don't want to let that stop you from going after this dream that you've had for a while and actually starting your business. If anything, I hope this podcast has encouraged you that even amongst all of these fears that come along with starting a business, you can still do it. You can use the fear to motivate you to work harder, to come up with better action plans. Don't let fear hold you back, because I am so thankful that I took the leap of faith and I'm living my dream with BrandWell right now and I really want that for you, too. So that being said, happy New Year! I hope 2021 is an awesome year for you!
KEEP BRANDING WELL,
Victoria
