Overcoming Fear of Failure in Business

When it comes to business, are you afraid of taking risks?

Are you worried about what could go wrong?

Do you freeze up under pressure?

Are you finding it difficult to have the courage to do something new?

What are ways to overcoming the fear of starting a business?

All entrepreneurs are afraid of failure, but the successful ones act anyway.

Successful entrepreneurs know that fear of failure can be paralyzing, especially in the early stages of a business.

But overcoming fear of failure in business is crucial to success because it can prevent you from taking necessary risks and seizing opportunities.

What Exactly is Holding You Back in Business?

6 years ago I hit my low point in life.

I had just stepped out of full-time youth ministry, the work I did for 17 years…

Had practically nothing in savings, nothing in retirement.

And the clock was ticking to find a new way to provide for my family.

I felt called to the marketplace

Called to put my talents to use in the world of business.

And I felt that it would be the perfect way to buy back my time.

To be free to serve wherever, and whenever I could…

Without having to accept money from the church in return.

But the problem was…

I was scared!

Everytime I went to start something new…

I’d get overwhelmed with questions like…

What will people think about me?

Do I really have what it takes?

What happens if I get it all wrong?

And especially with my family to think about…

My biggest fear was wondering what would happen if my failures put them in a bind.

Now, I’m far from the only person who deals with this.

Actually I’m pretty sure it happens to all of us when we start something new!

We drown in “what if” questions.

And they hold us back from ever making any progress.

So if you can relate to that…

Here’s what I challenge you to do…

3 Tips to Overcoming The Fear of Starting A Business

Tip # 1: Ask yourself: What if instead… Everything went right?

What if everything worked out exactly the way you wanted it to?

Trust me, I know all too well that can be hard to imagine…

But the truth is we have NO idea what’s really on the other side!

I’ll be the first to admit I had no clue what I was doing when I first got started.

I moved from one thing to the next.

It felt like an endless cycle of one step forward, two steps backwards.

And I have to admit, overcoming the fear of starting a business is what I needed to get through this.

So by definition, you could say I “failed” several times.

But here’s the thing.

Once I simply got moving…

I no longer felt like I was “failing”.

And I realized that every step we take, even ones that don’t necessarily work out…

All lead us towards figuring out what does work.

And with that mindset…

You realize you got nothing to lose 🙂

Everything’s an opportunity to learn and move one small step forward.

And while there’s no glamor in making “small” steps…

They always seem to add up faster than we would’ve thought.

And before you know it…

You can stop for a second, turn around, and see how far you’ve come.

Tip #2: Get past all that “head trash” as best you can

Have you ever wondered why 2 people with the same background, same resources and same skills…

One might be struggling to get by…

While the other succeeds — and is ‘living the life of their dreams’?

These are the kinda thoughts I had all the time when I was still in full-time ministry.

Because I spent many years on the ‘struggling’ side.

Now, I LOVED what I did.

I wouldn’t trade those years for anything in the world.

But sometimes, it hurt.

Even though I knew I was doing God’s work…

It can be tough watching others “get ahead” in life by putting their dreams for God on hold, in favor of taking on a big-paying corporate job.

Or launching a business that has nothing to do with their faith.

Meanwhile myself and so many others in full-time ministry struggle to pay bills or save for retirement.

But the thing is, even once I stepped out of ministry and tried to start my own businesses…

I still struggled to get by or see any real results!

Why?

Well, because.. even though I felt like I was called to do MORE as a Kingdom Builder…

I never felt like I was worthy of the resources I needed to do that!

I was scared of earning anything more than my ministry salary.

Because I feared it would make me less aligned with God.

Before I discovered Digital Storefronts, I tried a whole bunch of different things.

MLMs, Affiliate Marketing… you name it, I tried it!

And while I definitely wouldn’t recommend anyone try their luck with those methods…

(Because that’s just it — your success is entirely based on luck!)

The real reason I never made more than around $100 bucks with any of them…

Is because I was holding myself back!

Every time an opportunity to succeed would come along…

I’d find a reason why I couldn’t go through with it.

Sometimes that “reason” was something as simple as…

“I’m feeling pretty wiped out today. I’ll get to it tomorrow.”

The point is…

We self-sabotage ourselves ALL THE TIME!

And the truth is it happens to my students inside Digital Storefronts too!

I see some students make 2 steps forward…

Only to find a way to take themselves another 2 steps backwards.

But the thing is…

You CAN do this!

There is nothing that separates you from anyone else in our community.

You’re smart, talented, and determined just like everyone else 🙂

It’s just a matter of getting past all that “head trash” as best you can…

And continuing to take little steps every single day.

You’re just as worthy of greater stewardship as anyone else.

In fact, given you’re a member of one of our communities…

I can only imagine you have amazing ideas of what you’d do with those extra resources!

And if that’s the case, there’s no reason to fear things like money, or “success”.

At the end of the day, it’s all just a tool to help us grow His kingdom.

As long as we remember that, there’s no reason why you can’t succeed, grow a strong biz, and live a life of freedom!

Tip #3: Take a break especially when you’re feeling stuck.

Overcoming fear of failure in business doesn’t happen overnight.

That fear will come and go. That’s normal!

Likewise, feeling stuck when trying to accomplish something is a common feeling.

It’s unavoidable as far as I’m concerned! 

There are many ways to get unstuck and it can often require a change in perspective or putting in more time and effort.

This is the time to stop and take a break, reflect on what we truly want and need, and then take steps in the right direction.

Above all, don’t beat yourself up on the days you’re feeling a bit down. Remember, these feelings won’t last forever.

And today I want to share 3 little tricks I’ve picked up over the years that help me bounce back and get going again

Learn Something New

Even if it’s just for 15 minutes…

I find that putting my brain into action by trying to learn something snaps me back to normal almost every single time.

Maybe that’s 15 minutes of diving into one of the lessons inside Digital Storefronts.

Or maybe it’s something completely unrelated!

The “what” doesn’t really matter.

Learning helps the brain get going again.

And I find that it’s the easiest way to get me feeling fresh and motivated…

Because all I want to do next is put those new lessons into action!

Create Something

This one’s a little harder to explain, so stick with me here.

When we have those feelings that we’re in a rut.

And when motivation’s low and we just feel exhausted.

Our instinct is to spend time consuming.

That might be watching TV, reading a book, or listening to music.

Don’t get me wrong, those aren’t necessarily bad things!

But one of the easiest ways I’ve found to pull myself out of a rut…

Is to do the opposite, and create something!

It doesn’t have to be anything complicated either.

Even simple things like taking a photo, or cooking some tasty new recipe you’ve had saved on your phone will work!

Again, the “what” doesn’t really matter much here.

It’s all about the action of taking resources we have…

And combining them with our talents to create something else!

Spend time with your family

Ok, this one might sound a little obvious.

But in today’s world when we’re all so busy, basically all the time…

It can be easy to lose sight of why we’re doing all this in the first place.

Spending time with my family helps me re-center.

It reminds me of the things that matter most in life.

And after a few good laughs, or time spent simply catching each other up on what’s going on in our lives…

I always feel recharged, refocused, and ready to go.

To sum it up, fear of failure in business is normal and happens to all of us.

The first step is to acknowledge that fear of failure is not necessarily a bad thing.

It signals that we are challenging ourselves and stretching ourselves, which can lead to new learning opportunities and growth.

Secondly, think about the best way to overcome your fears.

What strategies have you used in the past?

Why were those strategies successful or not?

What would you do differently this time?

Give my tips a try and see if it will work differently for you. It sure does for me!

Join our community of Christian Entrepreneurs who help each other in overcoming fear of failure in business While doing MORE as a Kingdom Builder