So you’re ready to take the leap and start your own online business but there’s one thing stopping you, fear. I’ve definitely been there, starting your own online business or any business for that matter is an extremely daunting experience but why is this?
No one likes to be associated with failure, no one likes to be unsuccessful and of course no one wants to pour hours of effort into something that could potentially fail completely, its natural.
Unfortunately this fear can extremely hamper your progress or it might even stop you from progressing altogether but don’t worry there are ways to overcome this fear.
Put your mind at ease to keep striving for success with this list of 7 ways to overcome the fear of failure in business which will help get ball rolling and keep the fear manageable.
Do your research – Plan Plan Plan
Doing extensive research should be at the forefront of every new business.
Research should provide you with confidence that there is space in the market for your business and this will also help you get some insight from other businesses in your field that you can build on to create a business superior to there’s.
The research process should help put your mind at rest and fear should start to dissipate as you outline exactly what you are trying to achieve and how you are going to get there.
Every successful business starts with a plan. We can go by the slightly cliche phrase failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
To be honest this couldn’t be closer to the truth. If you are not willing to spend some time planning and researching then you really can’t be expecting to start a successful business.
I would highly recommend you write some sort of business plan before you start to set up your new business. This will give you a guide to follow and help remind you of exactly what you aim to achieve through the process.
Having an in depth plan will help to eliminate fear as you should be confident in the steps you have written in your business plan after your extensive research.
If you are unsure how you can write a business plan then have a look at wikihows guide on how to write a business plan for online business to get you started.
Thankfully the internet is full of valuable information today so to help put your mind at ease and eliminate fear of failure I’d advise to do some research into:
- Expert tips for starting an online business
- Common mistakes made by other individuals starting a new business
- Commonly overlooked challenges that you will face
- Things business owners wish they had knowledge on before they started
Research on these topics will help ease your fear as you can be sure you won’t make the small silly mistakes that others have in the past. By learning from other peoples failure you can avoid making these mistakes yourself.
Although research is imperative its very easy to get lost and find yourself in a situation with complete information overload which can heighten your worry, how do you avoid this?
Don’t focus too much on data and gather information only in relevant fields. It’s impossible to know absolutely everything so be diligent and thorough when gathering information but keep it relevant and remember you don’t need to know absolutely everything to start a successful business.
Remember this is a journey and not a race.
Keep in mind that research and planning don’t finish after your initial research and business and to help overcome your fear of failure you should be planning for the days weeks months and even years ahead.
Find a Mentor
Securing a mentor can be an extremely effective way to minimise fear and uncertainty. Securing a mentor who already has experience in online business can help to support you and provide more relevant guidance to help you push through to success.
Having an experienced individual to brainstorm ideas with will help to clarify if your ideas are solid or if they still need some extra work before making huge leaps into the unknown. These discussions can help solidify your plans and assure you that you are on the right track and stop your brain from wandering into procrastination.
Starting a business alone is daunting and you can find yourself constantly doubting your ideas so receiving support from an experienced mentor will allow you to push forward and at least lessen your fear of failure.
Feeling that you are not alone also goes a long way in reducing nerves.
Visualisation
Visualisation can also be an extremely effecting way of pushing the fear out of your mind. Visualisation is the act of creating positive images in your mind that envision what will happen if you were to take action and succeed.
You should visualise what your life will be like with a successful business and the changes you can make in your day to day life.
Visiting other successful business and visualising yourself in their position can make you aware that the pros greatly out weight your fear of failing.
Visualisation can have the following impacts on your mind;
Kick start your creative subconscious to start generating creative ideas to overcome fear and achieve your goals.
Helps program your brain to recognise resources you will need to achieve your dreams.
Build internal motivation by visualising yourself in the position you want to be.
Develop your mindset – Think like an entrepreneur
Your mindset and the way you perceive this fear is will have a major impact on where you will end up.
Letting your mind run away with negative thoughts is sure to bring you down and stop you from succeeding where you should be. How you think is what you get.
To start thinking like an entrepreneur its good to know what thinking like an entrepreneur actually is.
Be passionate – Entrepreneurs tend be extremely passionate with the work they are completing and this can be a small piece in overcoming your fear of failure.
Creating a business around a passion will let you enjoy what you are doing every day and help eradicate fears because if you are enjoying what you do and have the chance to make money in the process you are definitely on the right track – embrace it.
Take Risks – One thing that sets entrepreneurs ahead of the average person is there drive to take on more risks. Not putting yourself out there is setting yourself up for failure. By taking risks you may encounter more failures but to really become successful risks are going to need to be taken along the way. Don’t shy away from them.
Keep dreaming – Dreaming big will help you push through the fear barriers and keep you driven and motivated to achieve your dreams. Of course it is good to think practically and set yourself realistic goals but you must have an end dream that you will keep pushing towards through the days months and years ahead.
Recognise you need to fail to improve – Embrace it
To succeed in business and learn it is inevitable that you are going to fail at some point. Whether it be small failures or large failures if you have the mindset and drive to obtain your goals of starting a successful business you need to take these failures in your stride.
We cannot learn without these failures. Use this your advantage and give in to the fear and accept to succeed you MUST fail at some point along the way.
Accepting the fear and knowing you must fail to succeed in some sense you can continue to push forward knowing that when and if you run into small or large failures you gain valuable knowledge so the next time to attempt to do this task it will be far better and failure can be avoided.
The key to moving forward when these failures prevail is to keep moving forward. Many people will run at the first sign of failure but if you want to start a truly successful business this cannot happen. Take failures as positives and make a list of the reasons why you have failed and how you plan on moving forward.
Keep moving forward.
Set goals
In order to move forward with you business and not get bogged down by this overwhelming fear it is very beneficial to set goals. These goals should be set for the days months and even years ahead.
If you fail to set goals you will fail to see where you want to be and where you WILL get to if you move past this fear and take action.
It’s important that you set yourself realistic goals and in the beginning you should start by setting yourself easy to obtain goals to give yourself the feeling of accomplishment.
By gradually increasing the challenge of these goals you will increase your confidence levels and really start to believe in yourself as the level of achievement will build up rather fast.
Setting goals is all well and good but you need to push through and obtain these goals. Setting goals can also have a negative impact if you are not careful. By setting unrealistic goals you can find yourself extremely disheartened when you find yourself not meeting your goals.
Start small and progress.
Final words
Fear of failure is extremely natural and something nearly every new business owner will need to overcome in some way or another. By following these points you can really propel yourself through the fear barriers and start building a successful business with little worry. One of the main points to take away from this is to accept that failure in some way is inevitable but it is how you perceive this failure that will keep you moving.
If you shy away from this fear and don’t take action then your visualised dream will never be a reality. Push forward and never give up and take every small failure in your stride.
If you now feel more confident in starting your own online business then take a look at these methods for starting an online business.
I hope you have found these 7 ways to overcome the fear of failure in business useful and you are now ready to take the leap into starting your own business.
