It all starts with one idea. An idea that you’ve mulled over for days, weeks, months, or maybe even years. If you’re anything like me, you don’t share it with anyone because they may not be as excited about it as you are. Nobody likes a “Debbie-Downer” raining on their parade. What am I talking about? If you have entrepreneurship blood running through your veins, then you know exactly how hard it is to resist the pull of acting on a business idea.
Launching a business is not for the faint of heart; it’s hard.
You have to overcome all types of fear when starting a business from the ground up. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, and, surprisingly enough, fear of success. That’s because more success equals more responsibility and higher expectations. So, you take the leap. After a few years, there is visible progress. You’ve shed a few hats, attracted and retained top talent, and made peace with paying payroll taxes. There are systems and processes in place and your business is running like a well-oiled machine. You’ve hit that five-year mark, and your business has not failed, but is thriving. You’ve done well at keeping your imposter syndrome at bay and one day, out of the blue, you’re confronted with another wave of fear: how can I successfully scale up my business?!
My two biggest fears were:
1. The fear of not being able to finance growth
2. The fear of letting others down
Although there was a healthy amount in the checking account, I constantly worried that my lack of marketing experience would negatively impact profitability. There were countless sleepless nights thinking of strategies that would help secure funding, maintain cash flow, and reduce risk all while keeping the operation running smoothly.
The operation had to keep running. With all the progress we made, I was all in and there was no plan B. I was an entrepreneur with a team that I could not bear to disappoint. They fueled me to be a better version of myself. They helped me turn away from distracting false beliefs and kept me focused to collectively move the business to the next level.
Fear has a way of slipping through the back door and looming over our heads like a dark cloud in a thunderstorm. This is when we must remind ourselves that we’ve done the hard part of getting our business off the ground. We know what it feels to be excited, yet uncertain. Like clockwork, our mind starts racing with everything that can go wrong - and suddenly we’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed. This is the typical experience that every entrepreneur faces when confronted with the prospect of scaling up their businesses. Don’t be dismayed and do not give fear the upper hand. Heed the right advice and stick with your team. Trust me, you can (and will) overcome your fears and scale your business successfully.
Get ready to soar!
- Kat McGowan