“The biggest mistake you can make is to be afraid of failure. Failure is key to your success, and jumping into your fear is incredibly positive for your future business. How you pick up after failure and learn from your mistakes is the key to great success.” ~ Audrey Darrow, President, Righteously Raw
Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain or harm. The trigger for fear is the threat of harm – real or imagined. There are many types of fear, but for an entrepreneur the most common is the fear of failure.
It is interesting that we list this fear as one of the 21 mistakes an entrepreneur must avoid in business, mainly because the fear of failure is sometimes inevitable in the pursuit of big dreams, in charting unknown and unfamiliar territories, or in solving daunting problems – which is supposed to be the forte of entrepreneurs.
For an entrepreneur, especially in this fast-paced ever-changing world, there are so many things that one may not necessarily be familiar with, and so many changes which are likely to occur and affect their businesses and ideas.
An entrepreneur’s ability to anticipate these changes and make bold moves to counter the adverse effects of these changes can be the sole determining factor in the survival and success of their business.
Hence, the reason why the fear of failure is a mistake that entrepreneurs must endeavour to avoid at all costs is its potential ability to stop them in their tracks, delay the making of critical decisions, stall the introduction of innovations, stagnate the deployment of relevant resources, employ or engage needed expertise, enhance their human capital, avoid the injection of capital or accessing loans, avoid the release of equity and so on.
Being afraid to fail mostly makes entrepreneurs avoid risk at all cost, keep their operations minimal, expand at a snail’s pace, save rather than invest, and delay in keeping up with changes in their industry or sector. Fear of failure makes entrepreneurs risk-averse, conservative, overly-critical, perfectionist and restless.
The very thought of ramifications from a wrong move – mostly collapse of the business, tainting of their reputation; the loss of capital, investments, revenue or employees; and the need to start all over again – will frighten most entrepreneurs, who will resolve to stay small rather than expanding to meet their potential.
The fear of failure can cause an entrepreneur to self-sabotage their business and even themselves, causing stunted growth for their businesses and lives. Not recognising that they are being affected by this fear will most likely cause entrepreneurs to keep trying different things, strategies, ideas and personnel rather than focusing and advancing.
Fear of Failure can be so subtle sometimes, almost unrecognizable; building habits that impede growth and affect the performance of an entrepreneur’s business.
Not paying attention to fear and its adverse effects can be the single determining factor of the survival and success of their enterprise. So, now that we have established that fear of failure is inevitable and seing the challenges it will pose if unchecked and unrecognized, let’s look at 10 ways to manage it.
- Be truthful to yourself
Lying to yourself or being all macho about your fear of failure can be detrimental and must be avoided at all costs. The one person you should never lie to regardless any factor/condition is yourself. Fundamentally, you are your first business; and recognising your fear helps you to put things in perspective and make strategic moves that will help you manage your fear and avoid its consequences.
- Establish what the worst-case scenario would be
What is the worst that can happen? This is a question entrepreneurs should ask themselves all the time, especially when they want to take giant leaps with associated risks that they may be holding themselves back from because of the fear of failure.
Fear makes one avoid anything that may cause harm, pain or danger – but by evaluating what the worst-case scenario is likely to be, entrepreneurs are able to formulate strategies which will help them circumvent such a scenario.
- Take simple but consistent steps
It is mostly the giant leaps that make the biggest and deepest marks, and for entrepreneurs tremendous success in business lies beyond those giant leaps if they are able to take them. Unfortunately, the fear of failure prevents most of them from taking those types of bold audacious steps… so they remain small and safe.
You know what is said about little drops of water making a mighty ocean, right? Well, it is the same as taking simple but consistent steps. As long as you keep moving, regardless of your fear, there is a guarantee of success.
- Have a Set of Fear-Buster Tricks up your sleeve
We all get afraid. Some can quickly overcome fears, while others cannot. Some manage them quite well, others simply suck. Having a set of fear-buster tricks up your sleeve will help you overcome the challenges you face with managing or overcoming your fear of failure. A few suggested tricks are:
- Pray and read your Bible or Holy Book
- Listen to motivational and empowering talks
- Try something you usually dare not do (e.g. sales or
cold calling)
- Learn to Meditate
- Have a circle of motivators/Support Group
Entrepreneurship is one of the loneliest endeavours anyone can dare to undertake. Having a vision and mission, and being passionate about something that sometimes no one even understands, makes the entrepreneurship journey a long, winding road indeed.
Fear of failure sometimes sets in when you have no idea of who to talk to, where to go when things go south; when you run out of money, when the business fails or when you have a big decision to make. Consciously building and nurturing a network of motivators or being part of an active support group will go a long way to help avert the fear of failure.
- Have accountability partners you revere
Entrepreneurship gives one the freedom of time, and ability to do as they please with it. However, being successful as an entrepreneur with enterprises that can function without your active involvement or last after you bow out requires accountability.
One way to effectively manage your fear of failure is to set the destination and tell people what you respect and admire about it. That way, you will be ‘forced’ to go the long haul regardless of your fear, because you wouldn’t want to disappoint your accountability partners.
- Keep a healthy work-life balance
There is a tendency for an entrepreneur to work all the time; finding new ways to do things, implementing strategies and solutions, managing stakeholders and projects. With that comes the accumulation of stress, anxieties and tension; the very things which compound the fear of failure.
You must recognise that entrepreneurship is part of life and not life itself. As a result, a fine balance between setting-up and building a business and pursuing the other things that equally matter – such as family, relationships, community, recreational and rejuvenation time – will help a great deal in managing your fear.
- Exercise more and keep your energy levels high
The importance and need for exercise cannot be overemphasised. Making a conscious effort to exercise and keep your energy levels up in your bid to build a business and pursue opportunities will help you manage your anxieties and fears, by enabling you to focus on the positives through enhancement of your confidence and self-esteem.
- Read, listen and watch documentaries of successful entrepreneurs
Knowing who else has been able to overcome challenges in the pursuit of building their business, and succeeded regardless of their fears and anxieties, goes a long way to motivate entrepreneurs and spur them on to keep grinding.
- Have a contingency plan
In business, for every plan A there should be a plan B – and sometimes even a plan C, because the terrain can be rough and unpredictable. A contingency plan helps you to salvage a bad situation and keeps the business afloat. One cannot afford to assume that everything will go as planned, because success in business has never been by sudden flight or on a straight and smooth road. Sometimes, the fear of failure is tangible; therefore, thinking through and putting in place a contingency plan will avert any major potential setback.
>>>Nelson Semanu Boandoh-Korkor is an organisation strategy consultant with expertise in business leadership and organisational re-engineering. Nelson also functions as a pastor, author-publisher, entrepreneur and a firebrand Financial Evangelist. Nelson can be reached on +233 549 762 233.
Elizabeth Boandoh-Korkor is a Chartered Accountant (ICAG) by profession and an entrepreneur by design. She also functions as a Financial Management Consultant, fashion consultant and conference speaker. Elizabeth can be reached on +233 242 344 550
Ekow Mensah is founder of the African Network of Entrepreneurs (TANOE). He is a highly respected entrepreneur, business consultant, life coach and mentor to several young people. Ekow can be reached on +233 555 224 225
