Why NOT to let “What if” keep you from exploring entrepreneurship

This article is a dose of tough love and real answers for any woman in my network who is wondering if she should think about starting her own business. 

The short answer is: Yes, you should think about it. The longer answer is: Yes, you should think about it, and when you do, don’t get sidetracked by fear and let it trick you into making excuses. 

There are plenty of reasons why you should or should not open your own business, but trust me: You can make an excuse for either decision. But by making excuses, you’re robbing yourself of the opportunity to truly, deeply consider if you should work for yourself.

So, here are the excuses I hear the most (and I faced myself, too!), and some truths to go alongside them, to help your decision-making process. 

Most of the excuses have this structure:

I’m ready to start my own business, but what if….

Yes, what if?

What if I don’t make money right away?

That can definitely happen, yes, but that doesn’t happen to everyone (much less most people). Next.

What if it requires a lot of work from me?

Oh girl, trust me. It’s going to be even more work than you are dreading it will be. But the real question is: will it be worth it? How much work are you doing right now, including emotional work? Is it more or less? Which will make you feel more free?

What if I’m not good at it? 

How many things were you good at on the first try? From walking to speaking to working, you have already proven you can become better, even become an expert. Make a list right now of all the things you now know but didn’t know how to do when you started. See? You got this!

What if I fail?

I think that’s the real fear for many women. Failure. But what does failure look like for you? Let’s break down each of these on their own. 

I’ll fail if I can’t find clients.

I’m going to do another article just on finding clients, don’t worry! But for right now, before you drop your day job to start your own business, start small. Test the idea with friends and family first. Do they like your product or service? Would they recommend you to their friends? If you have five friends and they love your product/service and they recommend it to one person, that’s 10 clients. If they continue to recommend to only ONE person, that becomes a new client and now you are at 20 clients. Start small and keep moving!

I’ll fail if I can’t make enough money to cover my costs.

When you first start your business, yes, it needs to cover your bills. That means you have to have your pricing in a good place, and that requires knowing your clients as well as putting aside resources (time or money or both) to get new clients. 

For pricing - what is the price that your clients would love to pay? What is the true value of what you are offering? And are those numbers close? How much does it cover your costs? 

Remember too that getting clients and keeping clients is a huge part of your regular responsibilities. Even if you’re happy with 2-5 clients per month, you have to put in time to find new clients because clients come and go. That’s not necessarily a reflection on you (although you should always check in with your clients on why they move on) but it could be the nature of business in general. It’s wise to put aside some savings at all times to cover 6-12 months. It takes time to build this up but it’s necessary. Every little bit counts.

I’ll fail because I hate sales. The thought of it makes me ill.

Is it the fear of rejection? Putting yourself out there and being laughed at or just being told no? To be clear: Running a business requires comfort with rejection, because rejection is a part of life. It hurts, yes. But it’s not something you haven’t faced before. It could be someone you were dating, a friend, a teacher, or even a job you applied for. You have already faced rejection before. You dusted yourself off and went back out there again. It’s because of ‘rejection’ or hearing no that you are where you are today.  

I’ll fail because I can’t find my ‘ideal’ client. 

Yes, if you’re not selling to the right people this can affect the stability and growth of your business. It takes some time to figure this out. It is a bit of a guessing game at first (sorry!)It is part of the journey, which means it is nothing that should stop you. 

Who is this elusive ideal client? In the beginning you’ll think you know who your clients are but then some time will pass and you’ll continue to (re)define who are the right people how (1) could really use your product/service, (2) will want more of what you offer (we need those repeat customers), and (3) genuinely connect to what you are trying to offer to the world. These are the great people that just can’t imagine working with anyone but you!

I’ll fail because I feel like I don’t know what the f*ck I’m doing or where to begin so I’m giving up right now. 

Don’t give up yet. If you  want this, then don’t let this conversation in your mind take over. There are many resources online for impostor syndrome, but I would suggest talking to people you already know. The internet is full of advice and information but firsthand accounts from actual people helps to get over this fear.. And if you don’t know anyone you can ask, you can ask me! 

The nature of entrepreneurship is the roller coaster of feast and famine! But: famine doesn’t have to mean you are destitute. It can just mean not as many clients as you would like for a short period of time. That famine period is also a time to figure out what you want to change. It’s a learning period and an opportunity. It is not a failure.

If I can leave you with one final piece of advice: Take your fear and use it as fuel for your new business venture. Don’t let your fears stand in your way of being all that you want to be and experience. You got this.

Smash Your Fears and Be a Successful Boss

Did you forget that you run the show here? This is your business. It's your ideas. You are the visionary that is going to make it work. You just need a little reminder.

1. That feeling that you’re going to fail. Cut it out. Failure is a good thing. You want to fail. It means you tried. It means you took a chance. Whether you fail big or small, pat yourself on the back because you are willing to take chances. Write down the many times you have felt you failed or made a mistake. Next to each one, write down what you learned. Now go forth and learn/fail some more. You got this.

2. That feeling that you're not good enough. Do this for me. I need you to write down all the things people have ever told you that you're good at. Think of past teachers. Past managers. Parents. Aunts. Uncles. Friends. Lovers. Write it all down. Can't think of anything. Call a friend and ask them what they think you are good at. Write it down. Call another friend. Call mom. Call dad. Call anyone that has a positive attitude about you. Take that list and sit with it for a while and accept that you are good enough. Because you are.

3. That feeling that people will judge you. Good. Let them. That judgment is more about them than it is about you. Their opinions have nothing to do with you. Usually, the harshest judges are the ones who are afraid to try themselves. It's easy for them to sit on the side and criticize someone else. You can ignore them or just accept that you have some haters in your camp. Successful people always have a hater or two.

4. That feeling that it needs to be perfect. What happens if it isn't perfect? Then what? Seriously, write down what will happen if it's not perfect. And next to that write down how you will benefit from the imperfections. Perfection kills progress. You can't get very far, very fast if it has to be 100%. Let that shit go.

There are many more feelings I did not cover. For any feeling that you have that I didn't cover ask yourself, what is the alternative to NOT doing what you have to do?