Fears of Entrepreneurship: The Unknown
Today, we’re wrapping up our series on the fears of entrepreneurship with the fear of the unknown. This fear can rear its ugly head any time you undertake a new experience and don’t know exactly what to expect. Do you know enough? Do you have the right experience? What if a client asks something you just don’t know the answer to? Are you good enough, smart enough, resourceful enough, determined enough?
While this fear can slow your progress and make it challenging for you to just go for it, it can also be exciting and action-provoking if you have the right perspective. Here are a few ways to turn around the fear of the unknown into a process that can help push you toward success.
Details, Details
One of the most effective ways to turn the fear of the unknown into a positive is by using it to make sure you are taking care of the details. As you go about preparing your business and start thinking about finding new clients, consider the likely possibilities — what questions will be asked, what challenges will be faced, what would you want to see, to know if you were the client? While you can’t anticipate everything (hence the reason for it being “unknown”), this kind of preparation can help you build your confidence so you can face these on-the-spot challenges head on.
Contingency Planning
Your level and type of success is unknown, so what are you plans if you don’t make it; if your business takes a different path than what you anticipate; if something changes in your life that affects your business? What’s your Plan B? Instead of letting the fear of the unknown chip away at your resolve, use it as a starting point in your contingency planning.
Spark Creativity
Fear can make us do some unusual things. As you consider the possibilities of the unknown and prepare as much as you can, you may start to think about certain aspects of your business in a new way. Is there a better way to do something? What kind of changes to your current services/marketing activities/business setup are possible? Is there anything new and different on the horizon? Fear and creativity and go hand-in-hand, if you’re willing to embrace it.
So, what did I miss in this series? What has been your biggest fear and how have you overcome it?
Image credit: svilen001
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