The antidote to fear is action. There are key things you can do now to overcome your fear of starting a business. Fear is a natural human emotion. All our emotions are here to serve us. Fear becomes problematic when it paralyzes us and prevents us from taking the necessary actions to achieve our goals.

Here are 5 things you can do now to overcome your fear of starting a business –

1. Know your WHY for starting a business.
2. Have a coach or accountability partner.
3. Understand and become aware of your triggers.
4. Master your craft & learn the strategy around business.
5. Create daily habits that embody a successful business owner.

Know your Why

It is important to know your why so that you can remain grounded and focused when life sends you curveballs. It is easier to quit or not follow through on something when you are not fully connected to the reason for doing the activity. When you have a business you will experience ups and downs. Therefore you need to connect deeply to your why so that you can have the intrinsic motivation and willpower to push through even when it is difficult.

Here is a quick exercise to help you discover your why.

In your journal write your main reason for deciding to start your business.

Example if your reason for starting a business is to help women live a happier life, ask yourself, “Why do I want to help women live a happier life?” then write the answer. After you have written the answer, ask yourself why again. Also write this answer. Do this 7 times. On the 7th ask, you will notice this is your truest reason for starting your business. This exercise can be done for anything in your life to learn more about yourself. Now you can use this to ground yourself as you navigate the learning curve of starting a business.

Be sure to put your why in places you can see like your wall, computer, phone etc so it will always be a constant reminder.

Have A Coach or Accountability Partner

The easiest way to overcome fear is to be in the company and have the support of someone else who makes you feel safe to do hard or scary things. The safer you feel, the more self trust you have. When you are starting a business having a coach, mentor or accountability partner is crucial. It is crucial because you have the security of someone guiding you, cheering for you and also helping you commit to your action plans. When you follow through with your action plans, it creates clarity and progress. That builds confidence. The more confident you become the easier it is to hold your vision and commit to the process.

Understand and Become Aware Of Your Triggers

When you start a business it will highlight all the parts of you that need healing. This is so because you are outside of your comfort zone. It means that you will notice new things about yourself that you may or may not have been aware of. Oftentimes you notice other fears, insecurities, limiting beliefs and habits that are not self serving.

As you become more self aware, it supports your emotional intelligence. This self awareness will help you navigate procrastination, perfectionism and self sabotage just to name a few. It helps you have a better relationship with yourself and others which does have a ripple effect in how you launch, grow and manage your business. The more self aware you are, the more control you have over yourself which also improves your quality of life. This enables you to communicate and connect with others with more compassion and understanding which is needed in the networking part of starting a new business.

Master your craft & learn the strategy around business.

Knowledge is power. This is important for the credibility and sustainability of your business. Master your craft so that you will always be in integrity with whatever you are selling. This is needed to build community and customer loyalty. Now, while you may be passionate about your craft you also need to learn how to build the business side to ensure your business is profitable and is generating income so you can continue to serve your clients and customers.

When you decide to become a business owner you have committed to being a student. Keep an open mind to learning new skills and ways of doing things so that you can launch and grow your business confidently.

The more knowledge you have the greater confidence.

Create daily habits that embody a successful business owner.

Daily habits compounded over a period of time determines the type of person you become. If you desire to start a business you are required to have habits that align with your vision of a successful business owner.

Do an audit on your life. Determine what habits you are engaging in that are adding value to your life vs the habits that are taking away from your life. Once you get clear on this, make a decision to start changing small habits. Over time these habits create different results.

This empowers you and enables you to carry yourself confidently and make bolder decisions.

The objective is to learn to manage your fears so that you can take the messy inspired action to get closer to achieving your goals.

Listen to this podcast episode How To Get Started on Your Goals. This will support you to overcome your fear of starting a business and help you create an aligned action plan.