Business Growth

Overcoming Fears in Business

Reading Time: 4 minutes

7th October 2020

How your business can Benefit from your fears

Why am I thinking about overcoming fears in business? Well, as we enter the month of October, one of my least favourite days of the year beckons into view – Halloween! A simple festival that has become far too commercial and Americanised (if that is a real word?). But it started me thinking about our fears and how they affect us and our business potential.

Owning a business inevitably comes with its own worries, that’s entirely natural. Overcoming fears in business and using them to benefit you and your business is part of what makes a successful entrepreneur.

When I started, I had all the usual fears, and to a large extent still do:

Not attracting sufficient clients
Not earning enough
Letting my family down
Not being good enough

And those are just for starters.

I believe one of the keys to business success is not letting your fears stop you. And that is not me preaching from the higher ground, fear stopped me from starting my own business for several years, so I understand how difficult it can be.

The mindset change needed was learning how to use those fears to drive me on to build the business I want. I am the first to admit there are times when that is difficult, those are the times to stop, take stock and go again!

Every business owner has their own fears, no matter how big or small their business is. Nobody is alone in this.

So, why is fear a good thing and how can you use it to benefit your business?

Provide the drive to succeed

Fear is a natural reaction to something we don’t know or understand. There are a lot of unknowns in business, so fear is perfectly normal.

But we can use that fear to give us the drive to succeed. Rather than look at what we can’t, or perhaps don’t want to do, look at it as a challenge. I had no idea how to do some of things in my business when I started and never thought I would be able to do them. But that inner person tells me ‘if you want to succeed you have to do this’. What better way to get motivated?

Use the fear to drive you on.

Preparation

We all know what we want to achieve in business – success!. Though what each person counts as success is different, and will in many cases not even be financial, we are all in business to succeed.

We can use fear to avoid complacency, the enemy of the business owner. Fear of bad outcomes can help us to make plans to avoid them. Planning is crucial, we must know where we want to go and how we are going to get there.

Crisis Management

Obviously, we all want to avoid a crisis, that’s part of reason for planning, but sometimes it just happens. Fear encourages us to do something, the fight or flight mentally. The ability to react, make instant decisions when a crisis hits arises out of fear.

So, don’t see fear as a bad thing. We all need it. It keeps us safe, raises our awareness and helps us make decisions. The important point is not to let it paralyse us.

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

Albert Einstein

Need some help?

Nevertheless, there will always be things we are better at than others. Being an accountant. I have the understanding of my numbers, but lack knowledge in other areas. For many business owners it works the other way round. In the areas I’m not good at I get help.

I’ve seen many business owners shy away from their numbers because they fear them. Numbers make sense to me. They can and should be used to help business owners develop their plans and make the right decisions at the right time.

That’s why I take time to talk to my clients, to explain what their numbers mean. My clients should never fear their numbers and should never be afraid to ask questions.

I’ve worked with micro and small business owners for over 25 years, helping them understand how their business is performing and guiding them though their numbers.

If you need help with your numbers and want someone who speaks your language, please book a free discovery call with me

Stop the confusion!