However, with such big rewards at stake, there are also big risks, and it’s fear of those potential failures that hold many people back from pursuing that dream.
It is critical that you find ways to move past this fear of failure to start your business and begin your path to success. Here are a few ways you can start overcoming your fear of failure to start your own business:
Don’t Think of It as Failure
Failure is a subjective term. What one person views as failure another views as a learning opportunity. After all, if you never experience a setback — and never make any mistakes — you will miss out on the chance to grow as a leader and to improve your business model.
If you start to view “failure” in these terms — as an opportunity for learning — it won’t seem like such a scary proposition.
Think of What You Have to Gain
With great risk comes the possibility of great reward. If you never take a risk and never go after your dreams, you may avoid “failure,” but you’ll also miss out on success. When you start thinking of what you have to lose, shift your focus: Don’t think of the things you could lose that you currently have — think of all the opportunities you will lose.
The cost of inaction could be far greater than the cost of what you fear you will lose.
Confront Your Worst-Case Scenario
Often, what will fear will happen is far worse than what is actually likely to happen. Instead of allowing yourself to become consumed with anxiety turning over every possible scenario, just skip straight ahead to the worst-case scenario. What does it include? The business going under? Depleting your savings?
In most cases, your worst-case scenario is one that you can bounce back from in a matter of a few weeks or a few months. Once you realize that you can likely recover from what you see as the worst possible outcome, you can let go of your fear.
Plan and Prepare
Fear of the unknown can fuel our fear of failure. We don’t know what to expect, so we don’t feel prepared to succeed. You can overcome this fear by creating extensive plans and preparations. Brainstorm all possible obstacles and problems, and plan for how you will overcome them. Set goals for your business and create strategies for achieving them.
The more prepared you feel, the more confident you will feel, and the less fear and anxiety you will feel.
Have a Backup Plan
Even the best laid plans can fail. Instead of allowing fear of failure hold you back from even trying, have a backup plan in place in case your original plans do fail. So your business idea is a bust — what will you do next? Try a secondary business idea? Head back to work? Live on your savings for a few months?
When you have a backup plan, failure isn’t as hard to face.
Don’t let fear of failure hold you back from realizing your dreams of starting your own business and attaining financial independence. Use these strategies to overcome that fear and take charge of your future.
Did you have a fear of failure when you started your business? Tell us how you overcame those fears in the comments!
Sarah Clare is a writer and oversees the site projectmanagementsoftware.com, where she has recently been researching simple project management. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys cooking and scrapbooking.
