As a business owner have you ever felt fear? Being an entrepreneur and business owner is a lot of responsibility, especially if you have employees. You have staff and their families that depend on you and your decisions to keep food on the table and the cash flowing in.
This fear is part of what can help to make you successful, influencing your decisions and actions. By learning how to use fear to make important decisions, you will learn to steer your business through the ups and downs of a business cycle.
Fear is a natural instinct within all of us that helps to guide you in the correct path as you make decisions that lead to the success of your business. It is important to recognize those moments when you experience fear, what is causing it, and why you are afraid. Fear is the body’s sensory item that tells you something simply isn’t right, or that danger could result from an action you are about to take.
Experiencing fear does not mean that you turn your head and run when you are faced with it. In fact, it means quite the opposite. It is time to buckle down and use that fear to help you make educated decisions moving forward.
The first step to dealing with fear is determining its cause. Often times fear occurs when you are faced with an overwhelming task, or something that you have never dealt with before, or it may be the decisions of whether it is time to grow the company. These are all times it is healthy and normal to feel fear, so don’t be alarmed. As an entrepreneur, you have faced some of your fears – whether to open a business, how will your support your family, what happens if I’m not successful, etc. You recognized your fear and took the time to analyze your decision before moving forward and opening your business.
Step two, working through the fear helps to reduce the stress. Once you have determined what is causing your fear it next becomes time to work through it. This is where you have to support the decisions you are making. The fear becomes easier to work with when you have a plan. One example of a plan that I often use is a business plan. It sets forth a path that you will follow as you start the venture of opening up a business. The plan answers many of the ‘what if’ questions and helps to give direction to your fear. If your fear stems from hiring a new employee or any other large decision, it’s your body’s way of saying to stop and think it through, make sure it’s the right decision for you and your company, and if so go for it.
Step three in dealing with fear is knowing when to push through. After you have done your homework and make a decision on a path of direction, it’s time to turn that fear into perseverance. When moving forward you will find that the fear helps to slow you down at times when you may need to rethink things. After you prove to yourself that decision is the right path, you will find that the fear turns into confidence. You have proven to yourself once again that you have the ability to move forward and be a better business owner.
It is important to not ignore fear it as you become a more confident business owner. It is your body’s way of saying, hey… slow down a bit…let’s just make sure this is the right move. While you may have found that your past decisions have always resulted in positive results, that does not mean that it will be the case every time. Use your fear and learn how to harness its power to make you a better business owner.
About the author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long term basis. Core areas of service are business development, marketing, strategic planning and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business growth.