Why Am I So Afraid To Start My Own Business

Why am I afraid to take the risk of investing in my startup business?

Hello! As a founder of my own startup, I perfectly understand why you feel afraid and I can tell you that it's perfectly normal. Starting your own business is no easy thing and it will come with a bunch of challenges that you will need to solve, even if at times it might seem impossible to do so. However I can tell you that there is nothing more rewarding than seeing all your hard work paying off and seeing that other people also believe in your idea by wanting to join or invest in you.So why are you afraid? Well there could be a couple of reasons for this. Here are some that I think you might be experiencing:You are afraid of leaving a stable or comfortable job and take on something that has no clear future laid out in front of you. This could also mean that perhaps you have other people (children, partner, parents, siblings, friends or other family) depending on your income and thus you are scared of losing that stable pay check.Not sure if you have the knowledge or the expertise to run a brand new business from scratch. However I have an amazing secret to tell you... are you ready for it? No one really knows how to run a business from scratch. It's not something you are taught in school, it's something that takes experience and knowledge that is only gained when you do it.Panicking about the future and what if the company goes into massive amounts of debts and fails. Most startups founded are limited liability companies (LLC), meaning that no matter how big your company’s debts become, you will not be personally responsible to pay for them with your house or car or any other assets.You are afraid that maybe your idea won’t be good enough or that a major company will just copy your idea and make it more successful than you. For this first part, well there is no real way to find out unless you try. You never know how people react, so go for it!For the second part, you have to remember that major companies are massive, have huge amount of employees and take time to communicate. It’s not like they see your idea and then tomorrow boom they have their own. It will take months for them to decide. It's more likely that a major company gets interested in what you are doing and then offers to acquire you and your team to integrate with them.I hope this has helped you! If your startup ever needs any legal advice, feel free to contact me or visit our website.

Why are you afraid to start your own business?

For a lot of people, it isn't fear that stops them from creating their own business enterprise. Many like the comfort and security that can come from working for a larger business. Often, their work hours are fixed, the paycheck is steady, and the fringe benefits like paid vacations, 401k, and health insurance are seen as very important for their peace of mind. People who fall into this category have no desire to strike out on their own and work 70 hours or more per week for an uncertain payout.Reasons that people with an entrepreneurial mindset SHOULD be afraid, but sometimes aren't:Lack of adequate capital - Owners often underestimate the amount of cash it takes to establish a business and see it through its first year of operation. No matter how good the business idea is, it won't survive running out of cash.Not enough practical experience - In every line of business there are tricks of the trade that veterans know and that help their success. A new entrant that doesn’t have this knowledge, is starting off at a huge disadvantage.Failing to understand the economics of the business - Before launching a new business, the owner can't just take it on faith that there is a profit margin to be had. Especially in commodities industries, profit margins are razor-thin and only the most efficient operations can actually turn a profit. New start-ups are rarely efficient, so the profits might never materialize for them.Underestimating the competition - Competitors that are already well-established in the area are not going to give up their business without a fight. A new entrant should be ready for tactics, both fair and unfair, that the competitors might use to run the new player out of business. Not all of your competitors are going to be scrupulous in their business practices, and some will even get away with illegal activities against you.I hope this helps.

Why are so many people scared of starting a business?

This article is for people who are trying to start something on their own without joining their father's business and who do not belong to the non-human and coveted class of IIT/IIM:We would like to tell you some important reasons to not think of starting-up-1. Designation:So you will never have those cool designations (Sr Account Planner , Manager(strategy and branding) which you and your parents can flaunt in front of your relatives and neighbours whose corporate knowledge comprises of Infy , TCS and HCL.What, you are a CEO, even your Nukkad Paanwala is a CEO.2.Money:You will have to borrow from your high salary earning flatmates who will start taunting you for not contributing to house "booze" quota.All your money will go into printing visiting cards or drinking coffee at CCD (thats where most of your meetings will happen) and forget about all those EMI schemes because there is no cheque coming at the end of the month.3. Friends:You have lost touch with your most of your schoolmates , your engineering mates are of no use (not one knows how to make a website) and all your B-school mates are seen as potential clients. You will attend numerous random meet-ups in order to find the Special One .So who are your friends, your Laptop , Dongle and Gmail.4. Marriage:Right from the time you are born starts the long battle of "settling down" because that's the ulterior motive of life .The day you decide to start-up your marriage is postponed by 5 years because your girlfriend can't wait for that long , your Matrimonial profile will have nothing in Annual Salary column and you cannot afford a housewife.5. Parties:They will become an alien entity to you unless you are gatecrashing one . But you will not feel left out , your FB wall will be full of pics of Sales target parties, team trips , client parties, travel pics( of newly formed travel bugs). This might make you want to cut your wrists or want to kill (ala Dexter) but "self-control" is an Entrepreneur's weapon.Therefore never DARE to THINK beyond the comfortable and secure life which a job can provide because the Secret of life lies in the oblivion.Do not think of creating Google, Facebook or Redbus because if you happen to create one then who will work for it?That's a Scary thought.....be Scared ...be very Scared

I'm starting a business and I'm so scared that it won't work. How do you cope with the fear?

This is an incredibly complicated and personal question. I happen to be a devout coward but, fortunately, sometime after committing I accept the fact that there's no turning back and just keep moving forward. In my youth I'd get upset while watching movies where characters, who were running from threats (killers, animals, etc.), kept looking back to see if their nemeses were catching up to them. To my way of thinking, if you're running, don't waste time looking back, just keep running. The same is true with starting and running a business. There's so much to do that worrying is not only a waste of time and energy, it's an extravagance. Make a list of all the things you have to do and the second a fearful thought crosses your mind, find something on the list to do. Additionally, learn to use your fear to increase your chances of success as opposed to allowing your fears to turn into self-fulfilling prophesies. There were many times when I was so over my head that I compared the situation to being at war. Left with what seemed like a choice between letting the pressure crush me or mustering all my will to fight for survival, I'd immediately go into combat mode. I'd avoid drugs, cut back on socializing, get the right amount of sleep every night, meditate, exercise (yoga) regularly, come up with a battle plan and stick to it. You might want to consider reading Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway®: Dynamic techniques for turning Fear, Indecision and Anger into Power, Action and Love Susan Jeffers Ph.D.And check out the different programs offered by Anthony Robbins. He offers helpful tips on interrupting and replacing negative with positive thought patterns.One last reminder. Keep giving yourself major credit for trying and never fear failure. I failed a few times (mostly because I didn't fully commit) and each failure was a valuable learning lesson. "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

How do I stop being afraid to start my own company?

A lot of people will tell you to essentially ignore your emotions, suck up your fear and just get started.While getting started is smart, ignoring your emotions is not.Fear is one of the driving forces on this planet. Look at what’s happening in politics. It is powerful, so you don’t want to ignore it.I don’t believe in ignoring human emotions.Whether it’s fear, love, or anything in between, emotions are there for a reason.What you need to do is balance out your fear like a seesaw, with something you love. If you find something that you LOVE doing so much that you just have to do it, no amount of fear will stop you.The first step is acknowledging and accepting that the fear is there.The second step is finding something that you love so much that the seesaw can’t be tilted to the fear side.If you can’t get past the fear, you haven’t found something you love enough yet. You will find it. Be positive and believe that it will happen.Once you have this formula worked out, the fear will not stop you from starting your own company. It’s as simple as that.I have mentored 100s of entrepreneurs, advised many big startups, and built very successful (Inc. 500) companies.

I have a dream of building my own business but am afraid of failure, any advice?

Just do it! Just be prepared to work hard, and don't give up easily. Most successful entrepreneurs have failed one or more times.Some might say that you have to go all in, risk it all. But that's a bad advice.When building a business, you might have to try many different approaches, and you might fail at some or even most of them. If you risk everything on the first approach, your business might fail. But if you don't, the small failures won't break your business. Remember, on every failed approach, you gain a valuable lesson you can use to figure out your next approach.And when one approach finally turns out successfully, you can build on top of that success.Or, as Warren Buffet have said on risk taking: "Never test the depth of river with both feet".

How can you overcome the fear of starting a business?

Fears vary. Fear of making enough money. Fear of rejection or no one wanting what you are offering. Fear of not knowing what’s next. Fear of not knowing what you don’t know. And my two personal favorites - fear of being stuck where I am, or fear of missing out.I agree with the statement that the fears never go away. However, growing a track record of doing the next right thing, having some success (even if it is learning what not to do) and then trying to do it again, keep us moving forward once we begin.What initially moved me forward was three-fold:The fear of staying where I was, was greater than the fear of the unknown. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, and so the devil I didn’t know what less scary than the familiar devil. So, I jumped. Then the net appeared.I realized that absolutely nothing is certain except change. Working for someone else is just as risky as doing your own thing. Just look at the reorganizations, the business failures, the restructuring, the buyouts. I risked my life every day getting in the car and driving to work, watching the highway fatality numbers go up by tens and hundreds every week. But I didn’t question the certainty of my life enough to stop. What I have learned is that my worst fears are rarely ever realized, and if they are, I not only survive them, I am stronger and smarter for having experienced them.The excitement of bringing my unique gifts to the world gave me enough passion to press through the fear. Just “starting a business” (which a lot of people do) is nothing like a passion for a specific business you feel called to build, nurture, be patient with, stay up all night for, adapt, grow into, talk about endlessly, find a posse to support you, and become a part of.Do not be intimidated by the stories of those who have been doing this for decades, thinking you need to be just like them overnight. You don’t.Read, watch, study, practice, do a side hustle, make a few mistakes, try again. But above all, there is one thing you absolutely must do: Begin.