It is thought that one in ten people have thought about operating their own business at
some point in their life, with a huge increase in recent years having INC claim that a
massive 63% of people in their 20’s have considered entrepreneurship as a career path.
However, this thought is usually thrown on the back burner pretty quickly once we start
to think about factors like financial security, rejection and the worst one of all – failure. It’s
really common to experience fear when you’re faced with the prospect of a great
opportunity, especially when it has the potential to change your life for better or worse.
A notion to be said for every aspect in life is that you can’t let fear hold you back. Fear is
healthy, it allows you step back and look at the bigger picture, take everything into
account and make informed decisions; but it shouldn’t control them. Let’s take a look at
some of the common fears when it comes to starting a business and how they can easily
be overcome – especially with the helping hand of an expert.
What if I have no idea where to start?
If you’ve got an idea you’ve already started. The beauty of this digital world is that
everything is just a Google search away. Need a supplier? Got it. Need a manufacturer?
Got that, too! There’s even access to online business coaches and financial planners, who
can help you determine how much you’ll need to get started, how viable it would be to
quit your day job and perhaps which educational paths would be beneficial. Here at
Pathways to Business we have a really helpful business assist service where we can chat
with you about your idea and tell you how to put it into action. This can be complimented
with our feasibility analysis service, which can help you determine the viability of your
business idea before you even take the first step, and then business mentoring as you
continue from there to make sure you’re hitting all of the right milestones.
What if I fail?
What about failure is it that makes us so scared of it? Is it embarrassment? Okay, let’s be
real – when it comes to starting a business, the scariest part of failure is losing all of our
money, having no more money coming in, having to move from our house to a cardboard
box and begging for change outside of Hungry Jacks. Woah, back up. Starting a business
doesn’t have to be an instant thing. You can work at it on weekends or nights, and by the
time you get so busy that you can’t work a full time job anymore, the money coming in
should account for time spent.
Another great way to stress less about failure is to look into the different systems of
business. Perhaps a partnership or an investor would be a good avenue for you to take.
You could also look at Government grants or income supplement allowances for sole
traders – the benefits of living in the lucky country! Pathways to Business also have some
great working relationships and can put you in touch with the creditors most suited to
you.
Maybe it’s just a matter of redefining failure. Maybe starting a business that doesn’t take
off isn’t failure because maybe never following your dreams is not success. There are so
many free resources available for start-ups, like www.ato.gov.au/business/ or
www.business.gov.au, and there are local and internet based networking groups where
you can connect with like-minded, successful people to learn from and share advice.
All of our services at Pathways to Business are geared towards setting you up for success
and providing top of the line support throughout the entirety of your business journey.
Calculated on an average 57% of people who think of starting a business, on two thirds
follow through with it. How is it that we have time to work for others, but never for
ourselves? It’s time to realise your dreams are possible, and you are not alone on your
journey to reaching them.
