Dabbl

              The idea of starting your own business or your own side hustle can be a daunting idea for many. Although the excitement and passion is what pushes you towards this way of life, there’s no denying that starting out can be uncomfortable and awkward at times. Putting your name on something and showing people that this is yours can be a strange feeling at first. For some, this may be the first time you own all of the accountability for something. This may be the first thing you show the world something with your name on it and belongs to you. As exciting as these times can be, there are some points where fear creeps into your mind.

              Entrepreneurial fears is what keeps “wannapreneurs” from entrepreneurs. They hold back anyone with the spirit to start their own project. These fears come in a variety of fashions. The most common is the fear before even taking the first step. In almost all cases, the fear before doing something is worse than the actual act itself. The fear of letting yourself down. The fear of letting others down. The fear of losing money. The fear of not being cut out for the entrepreneur lifestyle. These are all valid fears that every entrepreneur gets at some point. And I’m going to show you a way to mitigate these fears and get you going in the right direction.

              The scariest idea for most people starting their own project is the fear of failure. They are scared that what they are doing won’t work and anyone close to them will start looking at them as a failure. I went through this. And I no longer have this fear, or at least to the extent that it was. Here’s how…

              My biggest fear was putting my name on a new project and that project failing. So how do I mitigate this fear? Simple. I left my name off the project. In the beginning phases, I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing or planned on doing. I simply just started. I had the idea in my head to commit just 1-2 hours a day to building my brand without an actual business. I left my name off everything I did in the beginning. I create social media accounts and started to add content. I made sure to have it completely separate from my personal accounts. I found my core demographic online and started tailoring my content just for them. After about a month or so of consistent daily content, I was starting to build the brand and the awareness of the brand. Now, I had no real business at this point. All I had was a social media page. No product, no customers, no suppliers, no location, no anything. Just a social media page.

              What I learned during 2-3 months of posting everyday was astonishing. I was happily surprised with how many people resonated with my brand. After getting messages about my company and my products, I noticed I was getting a clearer plan in my head of where the business should go. It’s as if the more interest the business got, the more I felt comfortable going on. Instead of doing the business for myself, I started to look at the following I created and realize I am doing it for them. This is a very motivating feeling to have people counting on you. Once you have a following, they will tell you what to do and when to do it. It’s as if you are an employee for them. You have to listen. They’ll tell you everything you need to do, but you just have to listen. They may not tell you directly, but they will tell you in their own way.

              I’ve recently started to get more and more people asking me about my products. This is a sign that I should start to work on getting my product ready. So, I started my supplier search and hope to have a product for them in a month or two. I’ve also been asked a lot about my website. This is a sign that I need to work on my website. You see? You don’t really have to come up with what to do. Your customers will tell you what you need to work on. Realizing this was so relieving to me. It didn’t feel like I was in charge. It felt more as if I was just doing work for my boss that was giving me work to do. It felt normal.

              I set aside my fears by creating a following. I told my following what and who we are as a company and purposefully left my name off it in the beginning. Once I started seeing a real following on social media, it gave me the confidence to keep going. It made me see that there was real demand for what I wanted to sell. I already had people reaching out to me to buy from me. Seeing this made a lot of my fears go away. I was building something that people wanted and there was no downside. If it didn’t work out, then I would personally be able to separate from it without anyone knowing what I was up to. This method is a win-win.

              To sum up, pick something you like. If money was no issue, what would you like to do? Now start a following on social media by connecting with people of your demo. Then post content consistently every day. When you start to see people reach out to you with questions or are looking to buy from you, then it’s time to get the rest of your business up to speed. Then make your product and sell it. It’s as easy as that.