How do you deal with performance anxiety?

Created on 22 August, 2022 • Business • 3 minutes read

Concrete tips and tools that you as a starting entrepreneur can use to launch your career and not give in to the fear of failing

How do you deal with the fear of failure?

As a founder, every entrepreneur makes mistakes on the road to success. However, the fear of failure prevents many people from choosing the path of entrepreneurship. And that is a shame because of that fear many great success stories are never written.

With this article, we want to give some concrete tips and tools that you as a starting entrepreneur can use to launch your career, and not give in to the fear of failure.

Do not focus on the details

When you are only just starting your entrepreneurship, it is important not to focus on details. Namely, one of the biggest mistakes we see starting or aspiring entrepreneurs make is that they want to wait until everything is in perfect order before taking action.

That's why it's important to know that the perfect plan doesn't exist. You can still think up a plan and turn it around a thousand times in your head, but once you implement it, you will soon find that you are not prepared for everything.

So don't keep procrastinating, just get started. If you have an idea, don't leave it rusting in a corner, but put on your naughty shoes and take the plunge.

Fail fast, fail forward

This saying is derived from the saying “fail fast, fail often”, which in recent years has almost become the motto of almost every start-up. Whether we agree with that, we will leave in the middle, but “fail fast, but fail forward”, is getting closer.

As an entrepreneur, you will sooner or later make mistakes. The first part, “fail fast”, means that you can make mistakes quite quickly because then you can come up with solutions faster and improve your business. So don't walk on eggshells for fear that the smallest mistake will kill your case, but go full throttle and make that mistake.

But there is an important side note to this, and that is the second part of our saying: “fail forward”. This means as much as learning from your mistakes. If something goes wrong, analyze what happened. Then ask yourself these questions:

1. What exactly went wrong?
2. What prompted this?
3. What can you do to fix the problem? (short term)
4. What can you do to stop the problem from recurring? (long term)

Do not do everything alone

When you start a new adventure on your own, it is of course always a bit scary. But you don't have to do it all on your own either. Perhaps it is a good idea to find a business partner who can help you get your idea off the ground?

When you do business alone, you often miss a different perspective on things. There are often several options for a choice you make, but it is difficult to see them all on your own. The more perspectives you have, the more you can weigh up risks, and the greater the chance that you will make the right choice.

Of course, you don't have to share your entire business with anyone right away. There are several options for obtaining multiple ideas or perspectives. For example, you can work with freelancers who take care of certain matters for you or you can look for a mentor or business coach to assist you in your choices. But you don't necessarily have to look that far, because you will undoubtedly also have friends or family who have more experience in doing business, and who are happy to help you.

If you do choose to engage a real business partner, handle this with care. Choose your partner wisely and make good agreements, because the last thing you want is for good friendships to be lost over discussions about money, for example.

Express your ambitions

Avoid stopping at the first small obstacle you encounter, it can help to express your ambitions (literally). Tell others what you want to do or what you want to achieve, and it becomes, as it were, an 'obligation' to take action too. At regular intervals, others will want to know about your idea, and of course, you do not want to keep saying that you have not progressed any further.

Also, it may well be that others can help you with something when they hear about your idea. Maybe they know someone who has done something similar in the past, or they know the sector in which you want to work. Expressing your ambitions can therefore not only provide a regular reminder to take action, but can also open doors to new relationships, advice, or other opportunities.