Easily the most common excuse I hear when debating about taking the leap into starting their own business is fear. More so than money or even time. I call it an excuse because that is what it is. Yes it has validity. Yes there is much to lose. Yes, yes, yes. I get all the reasons for the fear.
I also understand that you can never become anything beyond common without taking chances and confronting those fears. Now lets be honest, most people are quite happy being common. There is nothing wrong with common. Wake up to that alarm buzzing at 6AM, hit the snooze. Drag yourself up at 6:15, shower, brush the pearls, and get dressed. Head down the stairs for a cup of coffee to get you going and then out of the garage and off to work. Looking forward to Fridays, paydays, and holidays. Nothing at all wrong with having that for the majority of people.
If you are reading this however I imagine you are not the majority of people.
Fear is caused by the unknown a lot of the time. That means getting to know what you are doing.
If you want to be an entrepreneur you HAVE to be able to take chances and that means fear. When you take a chance you can lose. The key, in my opinion, is to work the odds into your favor. This means several things that most people either are unwilling, unable, or just do not know to do.
1- Do your homework. Know your business. Know your competition BEFORE you start. You need to know why someone would do business with you instead of the others.
2- Know if you can make money at it. It’s all about making money. Let’s be honest here, doing what you love is great but if you can not pay the bills you will be doing it for a very short time.
3- Living lean. When you start a business money is your life blood. That means its time to cut back. There are many things you can do to cut back. Eating out, parties, bars, cable, and the list goes on. Look at only what you NEED.
4- Keep your job if you can. If not pick up a job you can work and still get your business going. I worked for 2 years full time before I could quit and even then I worked part time for awhile to make ends meet.
5- DON’T GET IT IF YOU DON’T NEED IT. Starting a business is not an excuse to buy more stuff. Do you need an office? Can you do it from home? Do you need a new computer?
These are just some ideas of how to minimize risk and make you feel more comfortable taking the leap. Hopefully you get something from it and if not go punch a time-clock.
Mark