7 Ways to Cure Your Entrepreneurship Fears

After years of working hard to get ahead, you’re growing restless. You wish that you had more independence and flexibility in your career, and you’re curious about whether or not entrepreneurship would be a good fit for you. But at the same time, you’re holding on to fears around the challenges faced by those who pursue entrepreneurship. 

You don’t need to discourage yourself from pursuing your business-related goals and dreams. In fact, with the right preparation, you’ll be ready to start down this new path. Here are a few tips to help you alleviate your fears around entrepreneurship.

Write Up a Business Plan

Maybe you’re unsure about becoming an entrepreneur because you haven’t fully fleshed out your business idea yet. Sitting down to create a business plan gives you a chance to work out all of the important details. Remember, you can always return to your business later to update it, so don’t worry about perfection. Just try to get a clear picture of the type of business you want to run. 

In addition to a description of the products and services you plan to offer, you can also include information like your preferred business structure (most local entrepreneurs opt for creating an LLC in Michigan and change their business structure down the road if it becomes necessary), how you might approach sales and marketing, your hiring needs, budget estimates, and sources of funding that you could tap into.

Educate Yourself

The best way to overcome your fears is to learn more about what frightens you. For instance, there’s no doubt that cybersecurity is pivotal to a business, and hackers can shut down your entrepreneurial dreams before they even get off the ground. However, you can learn about cyber threats which, in addition to giving you the knowledge you need to protect yourself, will also greatly reduce your fear of the unknown.

Advertising is another area where knowledge is key. Maybe you do feel passionate about your business idea, but you’re not sure that you have the marketing chops to advertise your products and services effectively. Thankfully, you don’t need to have a formal education in marketing to learn the ins and outs of basic advertising and promotion concepts.

First, it’s important to familiarize yourself with key digital marketing principles and techniques. You’ll want to identify your company’s brand, determine how you want to convey your brand with your materials, and establish a presence on various virtual platforms. You’ll need to create a website for your company and set up profiles on social media.

In addition, you’ll need to start learning about search engine optimization. Don’t worry, you don’t need to become an SEO specialist - but knowing a thing or two about SEO can help you draw more customers to your business! Identifying a few keywords that appeal to your customers and including them in your website content is a good start. You can also work with a marketing agency to further your SEO efforts.

Smart Financial Planning

Chances are, you’re worried about being able to make a sustainable living as an entrepreneur. Knowing that your income could fluctuate wildly from month to month might be anxiety-inducing, especially if you’ve been earning a stable, biweekly paycheck for several years now. But through careful financial planning, you can establish a steady cash flow and mitigate some of the financial risks involved with running a business.

Investing in cloud accounting software is the easiest way to track every dollar that goes in or out of your business. You don’t need to wait until you have your first clients to purchase accounting software - you can set it up before you officially open your company! Accounting software will help you keep your receipts, invoices, and other financial documents organized so that you stay compliant and never miss a deduction. Plus, you’ll be able to quickly analyze your cash flow and identify areas for improvement within your business. 

You can also do a big favor for your customers (thus improving customer retention) by integrating balance API to protect against overdraft and NSF fees, as well as allowing customers to verify balances in real time.

Set Realistic Goals

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you’re putting pressure on yourself to achieve business goals that are far out of your reach. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dream big! But when you’re just starting out, you need to be realistic about what you can achieve within a short frame. If you set goals that are very likely to be out of your grasp, you might feel disappointed in yourself when you don’t accomplish them, even if you were making real progress along the way. 

What are some goals you can set that will help you stay motivated as a new business owner? The Economic Development Collaborative recommends establishing objectives for website traffic, reducing your operating expenses, boosting customer satisfaction, and increasing your personal productivity.

Look For a Mentor

You might fear that entrepreneurship means working alone, making decisions by yourself, and relying on your own expertise to run your business. But lots of successful business owners turn to mentors for advice and guidance. Having a mentor is simply invaluable - when you’re stuck in a tough situation, they can help you overcome the obstacle. You can learn from their examples. 

How do you go about finding a mentor? Creative Live recommends enrolling in a mentor program, reaching out to people in your industry who might be interested in helping you out or getting in touch with professionals in your alumni association. If you’re still in college, talk to one of your professors!

Change Your Mindset

It’s natural to feel nervous about failure when you’re embarking on your entrepreneurial journey. But if you shift your point of view and start seeing failure as a learning opportunity, you can eliminate this fear. Think about mistakes you’ve made in the past, and what these experiences have taught you - you might be surprised at how much failure has benefited you in the long run.

Find Positive Influences

Perhaps the people in your life have been unsupportive in regards to your dreams of launching a creative business. If this is the case, it doesn’t hurt to start fostering friendships with people who have more positive attitudes towards your decision. Being around positive people can give you the confidence boost you need to let go of your entrepreneurship fears!

It’s natural to be apprehensive about striking out and running your own business. In reality, though, this could be just the opportunity you’ve been looking for – not to mention the key to true financial freedom. When you start out as an entrepreneur, it’s normal to face some ups and downs. But with time, you’ll gain confidence in your abilities as a business owner.