So you are afraid to start your new business?

Launching a small business is an exciting prospect, one that many people would love to embark on.

Some have gone a step further to draft business plans for their idea.

You probably know someone who always talk about starting a business. It might even be you.

However, many of these individuals end up not taking the practical steps required to bring their small business dreams to reality.

And this, often times, has to do with deep-seated fears.

The thing is, launching a business is like embarking on an unknown journey. It is high risk and full of uncertainties.

People react to uncertain situations differently – few face it head-long with confidence; majority of people panic, freeze due to fear, and never get around to starting the business.

In reality though, these fears are unfounded – or most of them at best.

Afraid to start your new Business? – here are five of the common fears that may be stopping you

Here are some of the most common fears a potential entrepreneur would face when starting a small business:

Fear of Failure

The fear of failure has stopped many would-be business magnates in theirtracks, and most of them have carried those dreams to the grave.

This fear can be so palpable that you can feel your palms break out in cold sweat when you think of starting a small business.

There are several ways or methods you can adopt to overcome the fear of failure. But you can start by focusing on success or positive factors and not failure or negativity.

When you come to the edge of a cliff, the wise thing to do is to stay back from the very edge so that you don’t plunge to the valley below. But what if you jump anyway and instead of falling, you start flying?

For every negative thought that pops up in your subconscious mind, counter it with a positive one. “What if no one buys my product?” should be countered by “What if everybody loves and buys the product within an hour?”

Fear of What Other People May Say or Think

This is another profound one that has also made many people not to consider starting a business. It is usually common in places where nearly everyone in the family or neighborhood is an employee or holds a job or two.

A lot of prospective small business owners who were unlucky enough to be surrounded by such people had their business dreams snuffed out of them. The people who are comfortable with doing jobs often project their fears into these potential business owners.

So, they tell you what they think, their concerns, their fears, etc. and all these could demoralize you significantly. This is why it is very wrong to seek validation about your small business from friends, family or even colleagues.

They mean well, no doubt, but then, there is no way you can pick out those who are offering sound advice out of their love and concern for you from those who are merely jealous of your business acumen.

This is not in any indicating that you shouldn’t take the advice or opinion from others, but do not follow everything you hear.

If you are sure that your business idea holds water, go ahead and develop your business plan and start strategizing how to take calculated risks.

Fear of Lack of Training or Education

In most cases, people who think up business ideas don’t have prior experience running similar businesses or any business for that matter.

Self-motivation is a crucial factor that most entrepreneurs don’t joke with, but in some cases, they recoil from forging ahead. They end up blaming that fear on lack of having enough training or education to cope with the rigors of running a small business.

If you feel you don’t have what it takes to get your small business idea off the ground, you can enroll in a business school or learn some business skills that will help you to overcome this fear.

You can also take project management training or courses as well to sharpen your intuition.

Fear of Running Out of Resources

Most small business entrepreneurs launched their businesses with their savings because they couldn’t secure a loan, at times.

Borrowing money has its risks as it may take a long time to start and build a business to the level where it starts turning a profit. So, fear also rears its ugly hydra head here as well.

Overcoming this fear requires creating a solid business plan that highlights every aspect of the business along with the calculated risks involved.

Bottom Line

Starting and managing a small business is a challenging – yet exciting – prospect. Therefore, be prepared for fears – many of which will be baseless – but more importantly, be prepared to overcome each of them.

Related: 4 Harsh But Valuable Lessons I Learned Starting My Own Business