Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I think fear is pretty self-explanatory. We all know when we`re afraid of something, right? But what about when we don`t know that we`re feeling fear, and instead believe we`re just being realistic? Is realism another form of fear?

I remember coming to my father with an idea for some sort, to make money. When I was really young, they were just fun ideas. But as I got to my teen years, I started thinking more about it. One of the most annoying things he`d do would be to start talking about taxes.

He`d tell me that, sure I could do this and such, but I`d have to pay a lot more in taxes. It wasn`t until I was out on my own that I found out that if you`re paying more in taxes, you`re pretty much ALSO making a boatload more in money!

If you`re paying 20% on an annual income of $20,000 that`s one thing. On the other hand, if you`re paying 25% on an annual income of $100,000 are you going broke? Sure taxes are problematic, but do you focus on the increase in your tax burden, or the increase in your final bank account?

This poor logic followed me for many more years than I really knew about. What if your idea works? What about all the added burdens of costs, payments, commissions, fees, taxes, accounting payroll, and all that awful "debt" you`d have to take on, just to handle the thousands of new dollars you`d be earning? Is that so horrible?

It actually comes down to a fear of success. How many of us grew up in a family where the parents could be adult, successful, and responsible, but it would be ludicrous for one of "the kids" to match or top them in the adult world?

Worse; how many grew up in a family where because the parents were stuck in a dead-end job, nothing the kids could come up with would ever be an innovative idea that would work?

Go back and look at some of your ideas to modify your startup. It might be a way to change a business plan, or some idea you`re tweaking as you start thinking about the possibility of starting a business. Where`s your focus?

Do you focus on all the things that could go wrong? Do you worry about how you`ll pay for employees you don`t yet have? Do you worry about how you`ll pay a lease or equipment fee as you expand? What about your focus on how much money you`ll have with the orders and sales?

Why is it so easy to pre-guess all the problems associated with having more and more sales? Wouldn`t you think it would be easier to think about how you`d keep the IRS from finding those massive dollar amounts? :-) We seem to all love to contemplate potential catastrophes. How come we don`t easily contemplate potential fantastic success?

I think we get so trained to believe we can`t possibly be an adult success that we attack our own ideas. We`ve heard the term "fear of success," but I wonder: How many people can see that fear working in their own mind on a daily basis? Are you afraid something will succeed, or are you just being `realistic?`

Start with contemplating what "success" means to you. Then watch how you handle everyday questions about what you intend to do in the next weeks. For each idea you have, pay attention to which side of the coin you`re seeing. Is it, "Hey…that would work!" Or rather is it, "Yeah, but…if that really worked, do you know how hard it would be to keep working?"

Are you spending more time arguing why something can`t happen, won`t work, or would be too difficult? Or are you simply plunging ahead, contemplating all those gold coins that would start cascading into your lap?

Thanks for asking these questions. I, too, often heard about moving to the next tax bracket. I think that`s just another manifestation of the employee mindset.

I have so many ideas for new products related to our core business. I can`t wait to see more of them in the marketplace. From time to time I get e-mails from customers asking when more products will be available.

I`m definitely plunging ahead. Speaking of gold coins... a few of these would be nice.


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My fear is paying the nanny right now. I need her to get work done ... but I need to have a steady stream of work to pay her. I was in such desperate need of child care for so long ... I dug myself into a huge hole that I am only now finding the light of. (What were you saying about never being done?)

That being said ... when you are playing catch-up, you don`t have new money coming in from new projects. And then you start scraping by ... and worrying about paying that nanny ... and then consuming yourself in the worry that you are hindering the work.

It`s hard ... I feel like this is a dip for me right now, and if I can just make it over this hump, I will be OK! But until then, it is 3 am and I just decided to stop working for the night. Not because the work is done, but because I have a baby that will wake me up in 4 hours and I need some sleep.

What would have been better was to anticipate the hole before I got here. But I`m a new mom, how was I to know how hard hiring help would be? (There were also some technical glitches, but that is a whole other story.)

I just keep my eyes on the prize and hammer on through ... my prize isn`t about gold coins though. (Money is something I have a hard time imagining ... why worry about taxes when I don`t think I`ll ever make that much?) It`s just vague stuff like paying off the bills and moving out of this state so my kid can go to better schools.

Craig ... I miss the Craigisms. Welcome back.

And that`s ANOTHER thing!!!  :-D (Raising fist in solidarity with entrepreneurs, standing firmly on flimsy soapbox!)

Is your condition "Temporary," or is it "Permanent?"

I don`t know how often I`ve run into people who say whatever they say, but they look at hurdles, obstacles, upsets, truamas, and difficulties as a "permanent" condition in their life.

The True Entrepreneur understands that Trouble is just a Temporary condition!

:-D

Well, that`s the thing with dips ... some people just hang out at the bottom.

And some people just put their running shoes on and push harder to get up the hill.

I see it exactly this way. (I haven`t read his new book, but I hear it`s good.)

Here, I have some nails ... I`ll help you shore up that soapbox.

Isn`t that why we start a business? Because we believe our situation is temporary and we believe we can improve our circumstances by taking action.

The Dip sounds like an interesting read. 

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Y`know, I wonder...how many people DO start a business because their back`s against the wall, they have nothing left to lose, and they figure they can do SOMEthing to change!? It`s a great motivator, that`s for sure... :-)

People seem to wonder about what`s the entrepreneur`s mindset. I think this concept of seeing problems and "dips" as temporary is a major part of it. I`m with Steve...it`s a belief that we can indeed change the world, maybe only our local world, maybe more. But we can make changes with our own efforts.

You pretty well described where we`re at right now. And yet we`re not afraid because we believe in ourselves, our product, our market niche and our future.

I personally believe there is no such thing as a national, state or local economy. There are just a bunch of individual economies that when combined add up to the larger unit. The "Michigan economy" may stink right now. There`s not much I personally can do about that. But "Steve`s economy" is a different story. That I can do something about.

It`s kinda like the story of the boy walking along the beach at low tide throwing stranded starfish back into the water. When it was pointed out to him that there were millions of starfish on the beach and he couldn`t possibly throw enough back to make a difference, he picked up one more, threw him into the water and said, "it made a difference to him."

Recent life plan changes have made it even more critical that we succeed. It`s not just for us any more.


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Steve, I think one reason so many people tell students, entrepreneurs, and others to stay focused on the "now," and take things one step at a time, is exactly what you`re talking about---getting lost in the overview  or big picture.

I believe that we might classify this sort of "big picture thinking" in many instances, as a disguised fear of success. It`s easy to rationalize, using wonderfully adult terms like "thinking realistically." :-) Instead, it`s just avoidance.

The antidote, of course, would be to take small steps and "git `er done!" :-)