Overcoming Fears of Starting & Having Your Own Business

Fear is a part of life. Whether that’s the scary new roller coaster you want to ride or narrowly missing an accident, fear is an emotion that most of us feel. When it comes to work, fear is no stranger either. Starting and running your own business can be the scariest part of it all! Understanding your fears and how to conquer them can help you grow tremendously.

Common fears when starting a business

It’s normal to have fear when it comes to starting and running your own business. There are many different types of fears you might face. Arguably the most common type of fear is the fear of failure. You may feel stopped by the thought of what if you lose it all or what you do isn’t enough. For some, they may be weary of success and if it changes them as a person. Some other types of fear include: rejection, being judged, financial insecurity, stress, and not having a good enough idea. Even with all these different types of fears, there are ways to overcome them and be the best business owner you can be!

Navigating fears to be successful in your business

For some, they may fear not being able to come up with an idea or one that’s good enough. If you can’t come up with an idea, start with thinking about yourself. What do you like/love, what do you do with your free time? Then consider what means a lot to you and what you are passionate about. After you’ve put together a list of all those things, you can look at those things and think what problems you can solve or at least help? Maybe you love knitting and working with kids.Then, a good idea might be opening your own clothing shop for kids. If you already have an idea (or you feel more confident in what you want to do), money may be the next worrisome part of starting and running a new business. Having a solid financial plan in place can help you feel less anxious about money. Ensure you are saving and budgeting for your business and be open to the idea of getting a loan, finding investors, and even using crowdfunding. Looking at the rewards vs. risk of having a business may make it less daunting to put your own money on the line. Although there are many fears one may have in business, there is always a way to work through them.

Now that you’ve recognized your fear(s) in starting and/or running a business, it’s time to figure out what you can do about it. For all fears, it may be extremely helpful to write them out. A process used by Tim Ferris from this TedTalk is extremely helpful here. Begin with “Define.” Define means writing down all the worst possible things you can imagine happening if you go forward with whatever is you’re afraid of. Next, we move to “Prevent.” For every worst case scenario, you are going to write down what you can do to prevent that thing from happening or decrease the chances of it happening. Then we move to “Repair.” Here you are laying out if the worst case scenarios were to happen, what could you do to fix the problem? After all the issues are laid out, you are going to write out what the benefits of success could be. Consider if it would help build skills or even confidence. Finally, think about the cost of inaction. This means thinking about how life would be if you didn’t do anything at all. This in-depth writing may seem like a lot but if fear is holding you back, this can help you see every step clearly along the way.

When it comes to the fear of failure, one way to navigate this fear is by redefining what failure means. Redefining failure works by framing goals to be more achievable and reduce anxiety. An example of this may be you are looking for your first job in a new industry. You set your goal to being hired, so in your terms, if you don’t get hired you failed. Redefining failure could look like changing your goal to being able to answer all questions with confidence. Often, there are circumstances out of our control and pressuring yourself with a goal to be hired just furthers your fears. In addition to redefining failure, it’s beneficial to learn to set approach goals instead of avoidance goals. An avoidant goal is you making a goal for something you don’t want to happen whereas an approach goal is setting a goal for something you would like to do. A simple example of this is that you want to be more social at an upcoming party. The approach goal would be “to be more friendly and outgoing at the party.” The avoidant goal would be “stop being so shy at the party.” Setting approach goals can encourage self-positivity and helps you break away from feeling like you failed with avoidant goals. Learning to reframe fear is also helpful for those who are afraid of the future. Instead of thinking if you’ll ever be able to handle 1000 customers, for example, think about how many customers you can handle now. Focusing on now and redirecting yourself can help keep you grounded.

Conquer your fears and be powerful!

Overall, there are many different ways to approach your fears and learn how to deal with them best. Remember that life is full of trial and error. You can not fully learn anything without making mistakes and that is okay. Stay kind to yourself because having fear is completely normal; and as they say, if you never step outside of your comfort zone, you’ll never grow!

Conducting the Best Business Meetings & Professionalism in Them

71% of senior managers say meetings are unproductive and inefficient according to Golden Steps ABA and almost 50% of employees consider meetings to be a waste of time according to a survey by Salary.com. With so many individuals feeling like meetings are not worth it, it’s important to conduct the best meetings you can and ensure you are professional both as a team leader and a team employee.

Steps to Having an Exceptional Business Meeting

First and foremost, your meetings need to have a clear agenda with set goals. Like anything, having a thorough plan is vital. Your goals should entail what you are hoping to achieve from the meeting/why you are having this meeting as well as determine any challenges that may present themselves and how many individuals really needed this meeting. Your agenda, which is like a timeline of the meeting, should cover your goals (as detailed above), who will lead each topic/the whole meeting, time spent on each topic, questions you would like answered, and time for attendee questions. Once you have your agenda outline detailed and ready, it’s time to decide who to invite. Inviting the right team members is vital to the success of the meeting. When thinking of who to invite, consider the following: those with knowledge, responsibility, and authority of said topic, those that are crucial to executing what you’ll need, and those who are the most affected by the problem. Keeping all these factors in mind can help your business meetings soar to new heights.

Once everything is in place to have the meeting, it’s important to keep direction throughout the meeting too. For starters, stay on time in both start and finish. Workers will be more enthusiastic to participate knowing that they can still have time for everything else they are busy with. Furthermore, staying on track will keep everyone from wasting additional time. Next, although not needed, consider changing up the time and/or place of your meetings. Meetings can become more mundane to some if they are at the same set time and/or place everyday. During the meeting, there may be a lot of problem-solving. As the leader, you want to make certain that you have good conflict resolution skills to guide the meeting smoothly. Some ways to handle this could include: having a zero tolerance policy for personal attacks, avoiding direct blame, and identifying common goals and then building on them. Lastly, be sure to keep records of the meetings and try to gain feedback on it. Like anything, feedback can show what is disliked by people and helps you to change whatever needs to be done to have a successful meeting!

Standing Out in Your Business Meetings & Proper Etiquette

Whether you are the one conducting a business meeting or are simply just a part of one, it’s paramount that you act accordingly. Although many of us know the basic meeting etiquette, it is still in good interest to review. First off, dress formally, arrive on time, and maintain good posture! These are the basic fundamentals of appropriate etiquette in any meeting. Moreover, keep away any personal items that could make you seem distracted. (The biggest example being your phone.) Finally, be sure to show that you are actively paying attention. This means maintaining eye contact with the speaker and nodding along to show your engagement.

With all that is mentioned above, there are still a few ways to help you stand out. To start, be sure to speak up. If you are being addressed, be confident and comfortable to speak up clearly and loudly (at a reasonable level of course). Speaking up also means expressing your ideas/thoughts as soon as it’s appropriate. By actively participating and sharing your thoughts, you are one, having more attention focused on you and two, by promptly sharing your thoughts, you are jumping on ideas before anyone else can say the same thing. Another way to, subtly, garner attention is by sitting near the boss. Those that are sat around the boss show the most amount of attentiveness. It displays to others that you are their right-hand person. Finally, arrive early to the meeting. This indicates you are eager and ready for the meeting. Additionally, arriving early can often give more insight to the meeting since the leads will usually be there first.

Have the Best Business Meetings You Can!

Since business meetings are mostly unavoidable, it’s important to maintain professionalism and learn how to conduct the best meetings you can!

Creating and Perfecting your Business’s Website

29% of businesses still do not have a website as of 2023. Furthermore, a shocking 82% of all websites are inactive! With our world being so entwined with the digital one, having a website is vital to your business.

Basic Building Blocks to Creating a Website

Whether you’re tech savvy or not, creating a website can seem like a daunting task. Starting simple, determine the purpose of your website. Contemplate what an individual will be looking for about your business. The website should make this purpose simple and straightforward. After you have an idea of what you want your website to achieve, it’s time to decide your domain name. This name is very important as this is what the website will show to everyone. This will usually cost you, but it’s imperative as it protects your domain name from being taken and ensures that the name you’ve chosen is not already taken. (More on picking a domain name here, from MailChimp.) The last major part of creating a website is, of course, choosing your website host! A website host is exactly as it sounds – another site that will host your website. You can find both free and paid website hosting services. Free may be the easiest when you’re getting started (and there’s nothing wrong with that!), but it usually comes with other stipulations that may be displeasing to you or future customers/clients. This could be as simple as the host website trademarking on your website or something more galring like using ads around your website. Whatever host you decide to use, be certain that you understand what their services are offering and how much space you get so you can choose the best place to begin growing your website!

After all of the fundamentals are out of the way, it’s time to start building your website! Earlier, you determined the purpose of your website and what host site you would like to use. Many host sites provide templates for starting your website. This can be an invaluable tool for beginners. Whether you use a template or not, some common pages to start with include: slogan & mission statement, description of services, name and about us. Also, it is vital to include a contact information page or ensure it is somewhere on your website. This contact section should include all possible contact information for your business which usually entails: your business phone number, email address, and location (if applicable.) Your website should also include your business logo. If you do not currently have one, many host sites provide a service where you can create your own. A logo is paramount as it makes your brand easier to identify for clients/customers, allows you to create business cards, and keeps everything indistinguishable between your social media and website.

Once you have the website set up the way you like, be sure to test it. Many host sites allow you to view what it looks like from a customer point of view. Testing it also means ensuring it works across all (major) browsers. Also, don’t forget about mobile! You want to make sure that your website is displaying correctly to those on phones (or tablets) and that it still looks clean and professional to those customers/clients as well.

Improving your Website

If you already have a website or are looking to elevate the one you just made, there are many tips to perfecting your website. One of the simplest ways to help your website out is marketing it through your social media. Having your website available through social media makes everything flow cohesively and can bring more attention to your website. Posting on your social media showing yourself (and others) in your business can show the more human side of you, thus making people more attracted to your business. (For more ways to improve your social media, check out our previous monthly blog: Social Media Presence). Another way to show trust in your business is by keeping reviews/testimonials on your page and/or badges, awards, or certifications showing what you’ve accomplished in your business. As mentioned in a previous blog of ours, reviews can make or break immediate trust in your business. Showcasing good reviews on your website can improve the chances of clients/customers coming to you for their desired services.

Creating additional content for your website is another way to engage with customers or clients. This could look like blogs, video tutorials, frequently asked questions (about your business or the industry you work in), and more! This allows your audience to learn more about your business without dedicating time to it immediately. It should go without saying, but all content should be original and not copied from anywhere else. It’s okay to use examples and quotes from other people or sites, but plagiarizing content can both get in you a lot of trouble as well as cause search engines, especially Google, to prevent your content from even being shown in search results. By doing this regularly, it allows others to see your website is currently maintained and up-to-date as well as gives it fresh, new content for others to see or look forward to.

Finally, within our website, there are quite a few other small ways to make your website pop! Templates can be extremely helpful to those starting out or those with less time to spare, but creating a theme for your website and setting it up in an unique way can really draw more attention to your website. Be sure to still keep it simple and classy as too much, or too little, can push people away from your website. A whopping 75% of customers/clients judge a business’s credibility based on their website’s design, according to a study done by Kinesis Inc, so it’s vital you spend time ensuring your website is clean, easy to navigate, and direct but still simple. Moreover, make your home/landing page an attention grabber. Like the rest of your website pages, you want to ensure this page is just as clean, easy, etc, but also that there are stunning/aesthetic visuals, any easy way to get where needed immediately, a direct statement to hook clients/customers in, and your CTA. A CTA, known as call-to-action, is a text that prompts customers/clients to inquire for a response from your business or get an instant sale.

Having a Website is Crucial to Business

Websites can seem like a challenging task but by breaking it apart, it can get done easier. Moreover, the website for your business attracts more clients/customers and allows others to understand your company at first glance, easily and efficiently.