There are many aspiring entrepreneurs that are held back from attempting to start-up their business by a lack of confidence in their idea, their ability to deliver, their ability to make it a success etc. Starting a new business is always a leap of faith, faith in yourself, sometimes faith in others, faith in your idea, your research, even your mathematics. The same questions always come up, what if this happens, what is ‘X’ doesn’t happen, what is nobody likes my idea etc. Don’t be fooled, every new entrepreneur has these doubts and they are normal. In fact, they can be helpful because they motivate you to research more, to be more dedicated to making the business a success, to motivate others and more. Doubts do however, cause people to hold back from taking the first step and some major steps down the line, the point of no return. Here we will discuss some techniques on how to get over your fears, to make sure your fears are not highlighting some gaping holes in your plans and to give you the confidence to move forward and be that business owner you are aspiring to be. 

Confidence in a business is obtained through research

Only a fool would attempt to open a business without researching. At the research stage, you have to ask and answer the most questions about your business plan:

1. Is there a market for your product or service?

2. Will the market saturate after a short time?

3. Can you finance the initial start-up and how?

4. How much can you charge for the product or service?

5. Assuming a reasonable year of sales, will the profits be enough to pay your expenses and pay you and/or your employees a salary? 

6. What kind of employees do you need and can you find them locally; skilled/unskilled, onsite/remote?

7. Is there competition in the area for your product or service?

8. How do you expect to compete with competitors?

9. Can you formulate a competitive marketing plan?

10. Can you expand if demand increases?

This is just a short sample of the types of questions you need to answer during your research stage. Answering these questions is more than just what you think, it's what you can show in numbers, what you can determine from surveys, what you can hear from potential customers. 

If you can answer these questions and positively show your business holds up to your own scrutiny, you can be confident that going forward is the right choice. This should be enough to alleviate the doubt in your mind as to the potential for your business. 

Self-scrutiny

Once your research has identified what skills are needed to run the business, take a look at yourself and your abilities. What skills are you lacking? Are you confident in marketing but not in quality control, are you a good leader but not a good partner? For the most accurate assessment of your skills, you also need to obtain other people’s opinion. To do so, ideally you should ask strangers for their opinion. You could survey people and use their insight to identify shortcomings you may need to address. Forewarning, asking people to criticize you honestly to your face is not nice but from an entrepreneur’s perspective, this is simply evaluating your market value.

Once you have completed this self-assessment, consider how to address any shortcomings highlighted. Can you do a course on ‘X’ skill, can you subcontract that aspect to an expert, can you hire a consultant to guide you through the process? 

The importance of this point cannot be stressed enough. We rarely know our own shortcomings, and these can manifest as a major roadblock in the success of a business. 

Stay-motivated

Sometimes the process of starting a business can wear you down. Try to remain motivated by looking at your research and visualizing the outcome. If you are having trouble staying motivated, create a chart of the steps to opening your business. Check off each step as you make progress and this can motivate you to get to the end. Do you have a business partner? If so, meet regularly with your business partner and track your progress. Together, you can identify what and where progress isn’t being made. This helps you both be accountable to each other for making progress. 

A neutral opinion

In a somewhat similar way to self-scrutiny, it is always advantageous to have a neutral party evaluate your research and business plans. The more experienced the person is, the better they will be able to evaluate the research. If the person has or had experience in the same market, they may be able to identify some possible problems you may come across but not predict. If someone like this is not available, you can hire a business coach or consultant to evaluate your business research. Getting the go ahead from a professional can be the difference between delay and taking that leap of faith. 

In Summary

If your doubts ever arise during the process of setting up your business, go back to your research and look at it again. Review the opinion of your neutral party. Beconfident in their opinion if it reflects yours. This will give you the confidence to continue on your path. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments to your research as you go, your research makes the foundation for your business. 

If you need any help researching your business prospects, contact business coach David D’Silva for a confidence boosting experienced opinion.