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12/19/14 | Uncategorized

3 Paralyzing Fears You Need to Overcome to Achieve Startup Success

Afraid of failing? Scared of how little you know? Here’s how to beat those fears.

By Josh Anderson (Founder, Always Active Athletics)

So you quit your corporate job to follow your startup dream, but things have moved slower than you anticipated… You don’t know exactly what to do. You don’t know how to make the vital changes to revitalize your startup and get the enthusiasm back. You feel very vulnerable to the fact that the money isn’t coming in as fast as you were hoping… but those bills still sure are rolling in.

That burden, that fear, that sinking self-esteem can really wear you down and it goes from being a negative business mindset to a personal one.

We as startup owners wear every hat there is: manager, marketer, accountant, editor… etc., so we take it as a personal affront when we can’t get over the hump and turn our business into a money making machine. “Is it me?” “What can I do to make it better?” Trust me… I’ve been there!

Fear cripples, paralyzes and eventually kills a business. It leads to defeat and you back to the corporate 9-5… The three fears that always try to block your path to success are the more common, persistent ones.

They are what I call the FIF fears: Failure, Ignorance and Finance.

All three are jerks in their own right and will ruin your business. Let’s breakdown how we can overcome these fears:

Fear of Failure

“There is no way I can even try this, what will everyone think if I fail? I’ve tried many times before and failed. Why would it work now?”

This grabs hold of you and latches on before you take the leap of faith to start your dream company. This is exactly what causes 90 percent of people to never even begin their dream! This is the part of the FIF complex that doesn’t crush dreams – it just never lets them begin!

Failures aren’t to be feared. The beauty of every failure is that it teaches you exactly how not to make those same mistakes again! Every failure shows you the way NOT TO DO IT. Keep failing until you find the WAY TO DO IT!

Failure isn’t bad. It’s an educational tool. So get started right now on your dream, fail numerous times, keep learning “how not to do it” until you finally learn “how to do it” and achieve your goals

Fear of Ignorance

“I need a website but can’t afford a developer. I have no idea how to start? What does “uncomment” even mean? There is no way I can learn to code?”

This isn’t the fear of being ignorant but the fear that there is no way you can overcome an obstacle that you have no experience of (and you can’t afford to hire someone to do it). It can be incredibly paralyzing to come across a HTML problem when you have NO idea where to even begin.

This fear makes you ignorant because it causes you to automatically think you are too ignorant to overcome the situation.

When it comes to coding, one of the best tools you can use is to simply Google your problem. Someone out there has had the same problem before and that answer is on Google (I use this one daily). Another tool to help overcome your tech/coding problems is w3Schools. You can literally learn all you need to know about coding there… this will help you shed this fear.

Fear of Finances

“How am I going to cover my overheads this month? Do I need to find a partner? Where do I find the capital to expand?”

The last “F” of the FIF complex is fear of finances and this is easily the most common among startups everywhere. This one holds you back from expanding your start-up or buying the equipment you need (don’t even get me started on affording ads or clicks).

The first thing you need to do is live within your means. Start slowly and work your way up. Jumping in all at once can cost you a ton of cash.

If you need capital to expand, small business loans are a great way to go or you can bring on a partner. There are numerous resources out there that will help people find the partners they need to grow; Google it!

Fears grip us all from time-to-time but when the FIF fears hit during the early days of your business put your head down and keep moving forward! There is no need to be afraid of failure, ignorance or finances when they can actually teach you to achieve business success. Don’t fear the FIF complex; learn from it and grow!

Which sites do you use to help you overcome your business fears?

Photo credit: Volodymyr Goinyk via Shutterstock.

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