http://blog.digit-ally.com/index.php/blog/10-fears-you-must-overcome-when-embarking-on-a-new-business

Whilst many people dream of starting their own business many don't make it past the first draft of their business plan. The main difference between those who succeed and those that fail is fear.

It really does not matter how many times an entrepreneur tells themselves they will succeed, fear is still there, challenging them at every step of the journey.  Check out this list of the top 10 things small business owners fear and learn how to overcome them, give you and your young business a greater fighting chance.

1. Not knowing where to start

The majority of want to be entrepreneurs don't know where they should start when first setting their ideas in motion. You need to start with finding someone who has achieved the goals that you have set for yourself.

Research that person, the structure of their business, maybe even consider asking them to mentor you, or simply see if you can set some time aside to give you advice or information. Even if the person is unable to help you, you can at least feel more confident in the fact that is is possible to succeed.

2. Worrying about not being an expert

You should know enough about your product or services to be able to answer the majority of questions and you should have the ability to solve most of the issues that may arise in your day to day work. So stop worrying about being a complete expert in the field.

So for the things you are still unsure of and don't yet know, you should be able to find the answers. You know there is no shame in continuing to learn and develop, you can't know the answer to everything. In fact it is essential to continously learn and develop, life is a life long learning experience.

3. Don't worry you're only a little bit crazy

Some people may think you are crazy to start a new business and to be honest they are probably correct. In life the safe and most rational thing to do would be to never take a risk and work for someone else.

To be honest you need to be slightly crazy to step out on your own, the key is to believe in your own talents and convince others to believe in you too.

4. Getting the funding together

You know being a business owner would be easy if every person that ever had an idea could just walk into a bank and walk back out with a whole bunch of money to fund your idea. Since we don't live in this fantasy world, entrepreneurs with a lack of funding or investors must kick start their business anyway they can.

Even if you don't have access to the necessary capital in the beginning, you will soon learn that a slow and steady approach to building your business can be in your best interest in the long run.

5. No one believes in me

Maybe your doubting yourself, maybe you have doubts that other people believe in you, you need to kick this negativity as it won't help you in the slightest. What you must do is believe in yourself and always put 100% in and deliver an outstanding product or service.

6. Can I attract customers

It can be terrifying to take that big leap, to take the risk of offering your skills to the big wide world. Unless you start a business with a ready made and established audience that want to throw their money at you then you will need to work at getting those all-important customers.

If you approach your business with joy and consistently deliver what you promise, you will see your customer base grow, you may get a lot of no's in the first place but don't worry, perceiver and offer outstanding service you'll soon be onto a winner. In the meantime work on your marketing strategy, utilise social media and position yourself as the go to expert.

7. Unable to handle success

Believe it or not success can be scary as well, what if you turned up to find that you have a que for your services or product that went round the block or opened up your email inbox to find more orders than you could possibly imagine?

Well don't worry you are not alone, many believe it will alienate them from their peers and many just don't like the limelight, but just remember it may sometimes feel lonely at the top but at the end of the day someone has to do it, someone needs to be their leading the company and it needs to be you.

8. I'm going to fail my family

It's normal to be scared that your new business will not provide for your family, or that it might be an embarrassment. Contrary to what you think, it can often bring families closer together, I'm not saying it's easy, believe me it can be really tough but as long as you ensure that you talk about what you are doing and what you are going through your family can become a rock for you.

Talk with your family about the risks, be realistic, make the decision together having a partner that supports you in your new venture is critical.

9. Will I ever recover the investment I've had to make

At the end of the day you are taking a risk, it doesn't always pan out, being an entrepreneur is knowing when to continue and when to stop, failure isn't bad, it's a lesson and as long as you don't make the same mistake again you have inadvertently grown a little more.

10. Everything goes wrong at some point

At the end of the day we all make mistakes, we are only human after all, but don't worry, if you make a mistake there is no point sitting down and crying about it, get back up and dust yourself off, if you want to be a winner you have to learn to take the good with the bad, learn from your experiences and mistakes and move on to the next issue.