“The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.” Debbi Fields, Founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies
I believe everyone with a business dream is capable of achieving the dream. However, most people get stuck on dreaming because they haven’t found a way of overcoming the fear of starting a business.
Main Business Startup Fears
There are a number of fears that a budding entrepreneur needs to work on:
- Fear of failure;
- Fear of success, which can also masquerade as fear of failure;
- Fear of public speaking and publicity (apparently people fear speaking in public more than death);
- Fear of making mistakes or having all your past mistakes come to haunt you (I am well acquainted with this one);
- Fear of change or moving out of your comfort zone or having to make changes in your life when you succeed;
- Fear of being ridiculed by family, colleagues and friends (not to be confused with fear of failure);
- Fear of rejection from potential customers;
- Fear of … (add any more fears you have here).
Fear has caused more misery than failure and has led to missed dreams and opportunities.
And this holds true in all areas of our lives: relationships, finances, career, job advancement, business, parenting, spirituality…you name it. In most cases when you find yourself unwilling to take chances or make changes in your life, there’s one or more fears to blame.
My Startup Story
If you want to succeed in business, you have to make fear your ally. You have to accept your fears and move beyond them so that you can explore whatever you find on the other side. This is what happened to me when I overcame the fear of starting my coaching business New Dawn Solutions.
The moment I made up my mind to start this business, I became paralysed with fear. I had failed publicly in another business and was still smarting. At the same time I knew that I wanted this new business badly because it called to my heart.
I was lucky because I found a coach who was already at the level I wanted to be within 5 years and so I asked her to coach me.
The coach immediately identified my fears and she worked on them one by one. She also helped me identify my skills and talents and (not to my surprise) writing and speaking appeared at the top of the list, ranking even higher than coaching.
Since I was very shy and publicity averse, she pushed me to create my first website, write an article and post it on the website, and then send emails and SMS to my contacts, family and friends, asking them to check out the website.
It took 2 weeks to complete the assignment and I only did it because I’d already paid for my coaching in full. So if I backed out, I was going to lose quite a bit of money.
I still remember how scared I was when I pressed the button to “Publish” my website and the huge sigh of relief I let out after pressing it.
That article ended up becoming a series of 3 blog posts that turned into a coaching program and later into a book.
It was also the beginning of my writing career, which has in turn given me credibility as a coach.
That was in September 2011 and my coach used this exercise to help me create my first coaching program Create Your Dream Business.
In November 2011, I created my first e-newsletter using those initial articles and today, I’ve written over 200 articles, a number of eBooks, and one book…all from those 3 blog posts…
In 2012 I sent out a series of business startup articles to my e-newsletter readers. At the end of the series, I put together the articles into an eBook entitled How to Choose the Perfect Business for You. I later added this eBook to the Create Your Dream Business coaching program as a core module.
One day, one of my clients recommended that I put the modules for the CYDB program into a manual and send this manual to clients instead of sending them weekly modules. Following her advice not only freed up my time, but it also gave me something to add as a benefit for signing up to the program because I could now offer clients a manual that they could use to start any business in the future.
I continued testing and updating the manual as I worked with new clients. By this time, I had a fully fledged self-coaching business startup manual that needed testing beyond my clients so I created a Facebook group, sent members the manual in weekly bits, collected their reviews, and used this information to update the book and coaching program.
By the end of 2013, the manual had reached a point of redundancy and there was nothing new to add onto it (or so I thought). At that time, I was working with another business coach who challenged me to set a goal to have the book selling by December 2014. I set that goal, edited the manual and gave it the title 12 Weeks to Startup: How to Turn Your Skills, Talents, Experiences and Knowledge Into a Business.
New Horizons
In October 2014, my friend Eva used the book to coach a group of women in Mombasa and this opened up a new market for me. This also helped me move to Mombasa in December 2014, one year ahead of my plans.
As I settled in this new environment, I started getting enquiries from women who were struggling to grow their already established businesses. It was time to move to the next level and create a program for business growth.
My results so far:
- 12 Weeks to Startup book has been selling online as an eBook since May 2015.
- The Create Your Dream Business program has grown into a 9-month virtual business startup program.
- I work from home and have minimal overheads.
- I’m working on my 2nd book Beyond Startup which helps new entrepreneurs overcome the challenges that kill businesses within the first three years.
- I have become an active networker (online and offline), gotten involved in social activities in Mombasa, and publicity no longer bothers me. I now love sharing my business tips and resources have become an avid blogger.
- My business has grown and I’m planning to hire associate coaches to run the Create Your Dream Business program while I move to working with established businesses.
All these things have happened simply because I took a leap of faith and addressed my fears.
Looking back, I’m amazed at how well things have fallen in place. And it all started with overcoming my fear of failure and working with coaches whose guidance helped motivate me and pushed me way beyond my comfort zone.
That’s my startup story. Simply facing the fear of publicity and starting to write despite not knowing whether my writing would be acceptable or not has led me to financial freedom in a roundabout way.
I cannot imagine what my life would be today had I allowed fear to take control.
You never know what will happen once you face your fears, but it will be something that will benefit all areas of your life.
How About You?
What is holding you back from starting your dream business?
And if you don’t have a business in mind, what is holding you back from earning extra money doing something you love?
Have you overcome any fears in a way that turned your life around?
I’d love to hear from you so please share your experience in the Comments.
This post is adapted from the first chapter of my book 12 Weeks to Startup. You can download this chapter for free from this link. At the end of this chapter, there is an exercise that will help you identify and overcome the fear of starting a business.
Image credit: pakorn at www.freedigitalphotos.net
