This guide outlines the most common fears in small business, and how to go about facing your fear and overcoming it.
Being an entrepreneur is not an easy feat, but when it comes to women, it seems like it’s even harder. According to The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, women’s companies are just three quarters of men’s entrepreneurial endeavors. This has various reasons but one of them is lack of confidence in themselves and their projects.
A LinkedIn study confirms that men’s confidence scores are 25% higher than women. So how can women start fencing off this fear?
Facing your fear: the most common ones
1. Failure
No one likes to fail, but failure is not only a big part of innovation and taking risks. It’s also a way to learn. And that is the attitude that will help you in facing your fear of failure and try again until you succeed. The important part is, of course, not making the same mistakes in order to grow as a professional and as a person.
2. Not being enough
It’s not easy to accept this but a lot of opportunities are wasted or passed by for fear of not cutting it out. Maybe you think you are not smart enough, experienced enough or brave enough. Well, if you are already thinking of setting up your own business or you already have one, you are smart.
Experience comes from ‘doing’ things and, if you don’t just get out there and do it, how else would you put on some miles under your shoes. And bravery is not the absence of fear, is facing something scary and do it anyway. Everything you think is not enough has it’s brighter side so what’s the hold up?
3. Lack of financing
This could be either not being able to access financing or accessing it but not knowing how to deal with it. For the first the answer for facing your fear is simple: due diligence.
There are places that have specialized financial products like business loans for women that can help you achieve what you want. Just research the different offers and choose the right one that suits your needs and circumstances.
Research specialized products like business loans for women and finance your project yourself. And the second one, is just a matter of keeping things in order: knowing how much you owe, how much you need to pay monthly and how are you going to pay it back. That will drive your goals.
Search for support from modern fintechs like Camino Financial which offers business loans for women.
4. Taking risks
Maybe less now, but girls were commonly told that risky things like riding bikes or contact sports were for boys and that became part of their adult selves. This is why some women fear risks. But a rule in stock markets, investments and life, bigger risks can give you bigger yields.
And of course that this is not a ‘close your eyes and jump’ advice, but if you want to make your own way in business you’ll need to take calculated and educated risks. Always outweigh your risk, try to think of every possible outcome and make a decision. If it’s not at least a little nerve racking, you are in your comfort zone and you won’t be able to leave it.
5. Not being there for family
It’s not all about the social status women have. It is assumed that a woman has to take care of the family and the household, but many women have proven that you can do both.
Talk to your partner and build a support group around you that can help you with daily personal and family things like cleaning, shopping or cooking. Set aside time for work and for family and really focus on that and respect the time for each. With a proper balance, you can do it all.
Or, focus only on your business, it’s not written on stone that women have to like doing home chores, some want to be successful entrepreneurs and leave the cooking and cleaning for someone else and that’s totally fine.
Conclusion
The most important thing to remember is that when your brain tells you to stop, you keep pursuing your goal. This way you’ll conquer your fears and come out on the other side victorious.
