November – December, 2022 Volume 19 — Issue 111

Small Business Fears and Concerns

Most entrepreneurs, no matter the size, industry or operational model of their company, have their own fears and concerns. Small business owners are no different. If anything, most have more than their share of things to keep them up at night. We face what sometimes seem like unlimited challenges, often alone or with minimal employees to help carry the burdens of the business. Call them what you like, they have more than enough small business fears and concerns to keep them on their toes at all times.

If you are having a good day, everything is going well. The company is clicking along with all pistons firing as they should. Projects are under control. Customers are happy, or at least satisfied with the relationship you have. They know you, like you and trust you to meet their specific needs. What’s to worry about? Nothing to be worried about – for now.

Life is good, something changes and the Fear sets in

Then, something happens. Maybe it’s a full moon or all the stars and planets affecting your horoscope aren’t in line anymore. Things begin to happen, and they aren’t really good things. Challenges pop up. Customer projects or orders aren’t moving smoothly. Finishes and materials you need for a project have been back-ordered for a month. Your top sales person fell and broke their leg and will be off for several weeks. Your computer system crashed and you haven’t been backing up data regularly. Or, horror of horrors, your computer or website is hacked. There are all kinds of things that can cause your small business fears and concerns to kick in.

**Most ‘popular’ fears and concerns haunting entrepreneurs**

Failure is the greatest fear for small business owners. Leaving a steady paying job to start a business of your own can be terrifying. Sometimes it’s enough fear to keep potential entrepreneurs from taking on their passion and goals to make a good living. Take control. Those who think through the process of launching and growing a small business make plans to do things right have the best chance of succeeding.

How to deal with business related fears and challenges

The ups and downs of being in business alone.

You’ve quit a nice, comfortable job working for someone else. The paycheck was steady and you had back up staff to help you with your job. And, don’t forget the paid benefits you relied on. Now it’s up to you to assure a stable income stream to pay yourself and your staff. Recruiting and retaining good customers is now your job. Marketing and selling to them is your responsibility too. And, don’t forget that you have to pay all the bills and make payroll.

As soon as you possibly can, find ways to eliminate all that isolation. Set up processes and automation that save you time – and money. Look into interns or virtual assistants to help take some of the administrative tasks off your shoulders. As revenues increase, think about what big tasks you are going to need help with. Marketing alone can take a lot of time away from your being able to do what you are passionate about. Hiring for that position can free up hours that you can spend in better ways.

Fear of the unknown.

Where will you find the ideal customers you need to keep the business going? How can you bring in increasing numbers of sales? What changes in your industry can sneak up on you and make life more difficult? Changes in external environments like the economy, ecological changes, technology, laws and regulations can all through big time monkey wrenches into your happy little business.

It is important to set up a process by which you can stay alert and aware of changes that could affect your business in a negative way. That way, you can prepare for them sooner and reduce their effects on your small business.

Unexpected challenges coming at you at a daily, weekly or monthly rate.

It can become difficult to keep up with changes and challenges when you don’t know far enough in advance to prepare for them. “Oh, I didn’t know this would happen.” or “Oh, no, a new competitor moved in just down the street.” Small business owners aren’t going to know how handle all the unknowns. Adaptation and changes need to be introduced right away to reduce any damage that may come your way.

Finding a mentor or coach, or joining a small business mastermind group can help you do this. Become a trend watcher within your industry or just follow others who follow trends to find out what changes may be coming your way. Eliminate as many ‘Big Surprises’ as you can. If you know far enough in advance, you can adapt your growth plans to incorporate or avoid those surprise changes.

Cash flow. It’s all up to you now, to provide funds to cover income and outgoing money on a regular basis. Vendors want to be paid – on time. Employees expect that regular paycheck you used to get before becoming an entrepreneur. This melts into how you handle marketing and sales to keep a constant stream of customers or projects to provide positive income stream. It also means you have to be sure customers pay your invoices on time.

Take control: set up your financial books and learn to read and understand reports. Knowing how your firm is doing in terms of being on budget is important. Knowing how much money you have outstanding from late-paying customers is important, and how much money you owe to your vendors is as well.

Find a good CPA, accountant or bookkeeper, ideally with some knowledge of your industry. Develop great relationships with your financial advisers; don’t just call them when tax time rolls around.

Fear of selling/Lack of sales.

A business – large or small – is established to make money. We’re not just talking about making enough money to replace your former salary and benefits package. But, a small business owner takes on the responsibility to pay all necessary expenses related to owning your own company. When you consider that one of the of top fears of human beings is public speaking, selling falls very closely to public speaking. We don’t like everyone to be focused on us, listening intently. It makes us nervous and uncomfortable. And, it brings the thought to our mind that without sales, the necessary steady stream of customers we need for cash flow might go away.

The good news is, fear is a learned experience. With that in mind, understand that just as you somehow learned to be afraid to speak in front of people or take on the Sales role for your small business, you can also unlearn it. Don’t you just hate to have someone having their eyes glued to your face while you are talking – or selling? For a long time, I did.

You don’t have to be alone or afraid. Work with someone who can help develop a sales process/system for your company. It can be used by you personally, or by others in the firm. Creating sales scripts, email, telephone and other sales scripts will take you a long way to becoming more comfortable with sales and selling. And, stop thinking about selling as some type of inconvenient interruption in a customer’s day. Remember: you have an emotional impact on a customer if you are selling something that will improve their life!

Fear of not making enough money.

Although somewhat related to a couple of the fears noted above, the Paychex.com survey discovered that 67.7% of survey participants worried that they won’t make enough money. Worse still, another 53.4% of them feared that they would fail and go bankrupt. This definitely covers a very common fear of small business owners when it comes to hiring help. Are you just making it on your own or making less than you were paid on your last job? Taking on responsibility for someone else’s income can scare the bejeebers out of us. It can also make us fear hiring help so our small business can grow, increase revenue and attract more customers.

Avoid Small Business Fears and Concerns that Slow You Down.

It is difficult to expand a small business when continuing to hold on to the practice of doing everything alone. If you can successfully make $xx,000 or more on your own, how much more revenue could be generated if there were two, or three – or more – others bringing in income? With good planning and focused implementation, small businesses can follow a path to growth and success. There is no rule of law that says a small business like yours can only sell one product or one specific service. Think about having more people bringing in money or selling several products/services. You can only increase your pricing so much before you reach the ceiling of what customers in your market will pay for what you offer them. Multiple revenue streams can help. People like to have choices, especially at different price points.

Time to take control of fears and challenges

Take control, don’t let personal fears and challenges affect your business and it’s opportunities for growth and success. When operating with a calm, clear mind, the sky can be the limit for an entrepreneur. Fear and concern can be you enemies for those trying to build a growing business.

Many successful, new businesses were created, even during challenging economic conditions. You don’t have to do everything yourself. If that is the business model you choose, odds of frustration and perhaps complete failure could be looming on your business horizon.

On the other hand, a better option would be to think of your small business as a growing, more profitable enterprise. Do the necessary planning and setting goals to move you in your Success direction. If it seems insurmountable or beyond your capabilities, let’s talk about creating a solid structure on which you can build your larger, more profitable small business.