I mention this particular analogy
because most never actually take that dive. What if I miss? Will I be
successful? Due to that fear, you stay where you’re safe and lie to yourself
that you didn’t really want to make the dive in the first place.
Fear is the destroyer of dreams,
and if you let it control you, then you’ll never reach your full potential. If
you intend to become an entrepreneur and take control of your personal and
professional destiny, it is essential that you find a way to overcome the fear
that strikes every first-time entrepreneur. Of course, that’s easier said than
done. In this post, we’re going to look at four key tips for facing that fear
and moving ahead.
Tip #1: Break Your Process Down into Manageable Steps
The first thing you need to know
is that the diving analogy is fundamentally flawed. The reasons vary, but the
biggest one is that you don’t veer uncontrollably from the first step to the
final destination (whether it’s success or failure). Rather, you move
horizontally.
You have a long way to go and a
huge amount of work to do, but you can backtrack. You do not need to do it all
in one fell swoop. Take your time, going from one step to another only when
you’re ready.
By learning as much as you can
about the entrepreneurial process and figuring out the intricacies of each
unique challenge you’ll face along your journey, you can massively boost your
confidence to take the dive.
There are countless resources
that provide all the insight you need, packaged in various ways for ease of
consumption. Here are three big categories:
Blog posts: The web is packed
with exceptional blogs providing great insight into the entrepreneurial
process. Take HubSpot, for example: its blog has an unmatched reputation for
offering finely-honed guides on topics pertaining to business,
entrepreneurship, financial management, training, and a myriad of other topics
relevant to running a business. Simply search for the niche topic that
interests you and you’re sure to find an article to point you in the right
direction.
Video guides: If you’d rather
watch videos than read articles, this is a great option. YouTube is flush with
entrepreneurial guides from people who’ve been there and done that, and it can
be extremely reassuring to hear them talk. Two areas that are particularly
useful are motivation (overcoming your fears, setting goals, etc.) and sales
(choosing products, targeting an audience, etc.).
Podcasts: Not a fan of reading
articles or watching videos? Podcasts are great because you can listen to them
and absorb valuable information while doing other things. One idea is to find
podcasts from people who’ve been in your position before. How did they achieve
their goals? What mistakes were made along the way? The more you hear about
paths already traveled, the easier you’ll find it to navigate your own.
Tip #2: Set A Budget That You Can Afford To Lose
Feeling like you’re putting
everything on the line is pretty daunting when you’re trying to start a
business because it magnifies the pressure on you. You simply can’t afford for
things not to work out. You have one shot ー miss it, and you’ll have no choice
but to return to a life of conventional employment, minimal creativity, and
never being your own boss. How is anyone supposed to perform well in those
conditions? Even a seasoned professional would struggle.
Instead of going all-in, you
should pointedly set a budget that you can afford to lose in its entirety. If
your startup crashes immediately and you can’t recover any of the money you put
in, you shouldn’t face any financial trouble. Ideally, you should still have
some savings to support your next business venture.
Keep in mind that this isn’t just about regular operational costs: it’s also about your initial costs to some extent. What equipment do you need for your new business? What will make you maximally efficient? A new desk? A coffee machine? A couple of external displays for your laptop, and maybe even a hard drive docking station to neaten things up?
Your loaction is a key considerations that go into the decision-making process: decide if you'll be working from home, frequently traveling, or in a co-working space and how that will affect the kind of equipment you need and the amount you'll have to spend.
Before you invest in something,
then, think about whether you really need it for your business, and whether you
can afford to leave it for a later date. In all likelihood, you can give it
time.
Tip #3: Outsource Everything Except For Your Core Tasks
Part of the intimidation factor
of entrepreneurship is simply the amount of work required for a startup. You
need a brand, complete with a full set of thought-out brand guidelines. You
have to build a high-quality website. You need rigorous financial management.
You have to come up with a compelling value proposition to make you
competitive. Your content marketing strategy needs to garner traffic and earn the
trust of your target audience.
That’s a lot of work for one person, which is why the solopreneur life is exhausting. Don’t take that approach. However, don’t hire full-time staff yet either because that will only heap more pressure on you. Being responsible for the well-being of others will lead to major feelings of guilt if you can’t deliver success. So what should you do?
*SPOILER ALERT* If you read the subheading, you already know the
answer. You should outsource everything except for your core tasks.
Outsource your brand design.
Outsource your financial management. Outsource your content marketing.
Outsource your mail management. This will add to your expenses, yes, but it’s a
worthwhile investment because it will give you more time to focus on the things
you’re best positioned to handle.
Tip #4: Know That You Can Adapt As You Go
When you settle on your first
business plan, there’s early value in viewing it as a fixed sequence of events.
This can give you focus and clarity, helping you stay on track instead of being
lured into working on things that don’t really matter and seeing your progress
suffer as a result. But even the best plans need contingencies and alternatives
— and your first business plan is highly unlikely to be anything special in the
grand scheme of things.
It isn’t that you’re incompetent
or lacking in talent: it’s simply that you don’t have the experience to know
what will work in practice, not just in theory. Due to this, you have to
remember that you don’t need to get things right the first time, and
small-scale failure won’t require you to abandon your business entirely.
Instead, you can adapt to the circumstances you encounter.
You might benefit from pivoting a
central element to adopt a different approach, for instance. The more time you
put into research, the more you’ll learn about what your target audience really
wants, and you can reap the benefits through making updates. In short, the
business you end up with won’t necessarily be the one you planned or
anticipated, and that’s alright. Don’t worry about your ideal plan. Just get
started and stay on your toes.
Let’s Recap
In this post, we’ve covered the
following tips that will help you succeed:
- Work in manageable chunks. Something that initially seems intimidating (or even impossible) seems so much simpler when you break it up into smaller pieces.
- Keep money in reserve. If you protect your savings and only invest a small amount, you can take risks knowing that you can bounce back from failure.
- Focus on what you’re good at. Don’t drive yourself to frustration by trying to do everything yourself. Play to your strengths. This will increase your comfort.
- Remember that you’ll learn. You don’t need to know everything now. You don’t even need to know much. Just be ready to learn as you go.
There’s nothing bad or shameful
about being afraid. It’s how you respond to that fear that will define your
entrepreneurial career. Denying it or shying away from it will only make it
worse. It’s only through accepting it and facing it that you can eventually
overcome it.
No comments:
Post a Comment