As many people say, “PASSION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS”. But why are so many entrepreneurs are still worrying about their business, if passion is one of the main reasons why they initiated it?

Starting with some facts:
According to the global entrepreneurship monitor, the fear of failure rate in the global economies has an average rate of 40%. Having a look at the statistics shows that within the first years of the journey roughly 80% of new businesses fail.
So, no wonder, that people with an entrepreneurial spirit are afraid to start their own business! The prospects do not seem good.

As an entrepreneur, you create a business for which you believe no one else addresses those needs of your customer. You want to build something unique which changes the world. Whether it’s something which actually solves worldwide problems or if it’s offering services in order to help other people. Entrepreneurs are defined as supportive humans which try to help the folks but always keep in mind the financial motive. They are combining their dreams and career once and do what they love. It can be said, that building up their own business is connected to following their passion.

That sounds all very attractive, but I was asking myself: what does passion actually mean?
According to Ms.Jemi Sudhakar “passion” can be described as followed:

“Generally it refers to someone who has intense feelings on some topic, (…) Your passion can be anything that simultaneously challenges you, intrigues you and motivates you. Contrary to the idea that doing what you love makes work effortless, a passion puts you to work. It’s what you’re willing to sacrifice lesser leisure and pleasures for life.”

Well, it does sound to me, that being entrepreneur is only doing what you want?
Let me tell you, the passion for the business, may strive for an entrepreneur in their everyday tasks – but entrepreneurship is not only about the good things. Entrepreneurship does not only mean being your own boss and working flexible hours. It is also not only about working from everywhere you want: today in Berlin, tomorrow in New York and maybe at the coffee place around the corner or in your pajama right from the bed? This all may sound very attractive for today’s workforce and does not really sound like actual “work”. But between us: you as an entrepreneur, you are afraid! I know this job comes with scary parts like continuous improvement, responsibility for success, being competitive, and supervising all activities. Also, leisure time and time for yourself can be limited.

It is the time now to face those fears and actually accept and embrace them to keep succeeding.

Besides the already mentioned ones, what are the fears entrepreneurs experiencing when having or starting their own business?

👉 Fear of not being accepted

Why do people always strive for the acceptance of others? Why does it mean so much what other people think about You and what YOU are doing? Shouldn’t be your focus on yourself? Develop and grow acceptance and confidence in your abilities and skills. Therefore, investing in yourself is the most important thing. As more confident you feel about your skills, as more courage you have to grow your business.  And by the end, you don’t have to fear other’s acceptance because you know what you can.

👉 Fear of financial issues

Building up your own business comes automatically with financial fear. Without those it would be a bad sing – it would mean you are way too confident about what you’re doing. Life can change rapidly and thus it is necessary to be prepared for difficulties which may appear. Financial security should be a reason which makes you work hard every day. In order to make your business successful, there will be always something you have to put money in. A piece of general knowledge about the financial situation is therefore vital.

👉 Fear of losing creativity

Creative ideas are what entrepreneurs need to lead a successful business. Therefore, it is understandable that the imagination of not being able to come up with unique ideas in the future is scary. Always feeling the pressure to come up with something more creative and better than last time or your competitors. Thus, it is of importance to foster your creativity.

👉 Fear of failure

The fear of failure is probably the most entrepreneur’s experience. It is the word “failure” which is associate with something negative, as someone has not been successful. But is it really bad to fail? What about the things you learned after you failed? Maybe failing can still be successful. Perhaps not about the business you created, but it can be seen as feedback which should be used in order to improve your business. Always think about what the worst possible scenario you could experience when failing – and you will see it’s probably not as bad as imagined.

One of the most well-known entrepreneurs said once:

“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”

Bill Gates

While reading you might think, this is not what you are afraid of. Why shouldn’t I be able to come up with creative ideas in the next 2, 5, or 10 years? But maybe you have only been pushing away those doubts? Because you know, in the end, people will only tell you: I knew you won’t make it.

I tell you: All entrepreneurs experience different fears throughout their careers. The more important question is: who is taking the risks and fighting for their success? Moving forward even though you are scared means that you are always a step ahead to the people who avoid the fears and take the safer path. Facing your fears will allow you to move on, and experience new challenges and grow bigger, while your competitors will be stuck with the old habits.

Despite all those possibilities of uncertainties, being passionate about what you are doing can be a differentiating factor between the success and failure of an entrepreneur. Not only passion is necessary for an entrepreneur. There are some characteristics which are crucial in addition in order to gain a victory.

Vital characteristics for an entrepreneur:

✔️ Imagination

Being creative is the base of a business. Entrepreneurship is about thinking outside the box and offer better-advanced solutions compared to your competitors.

✔️ Self-motivation

Since entrepreneurs are their own boss, there won’t be anyone to push you. It’s your job to bring a high amount of self-motivation in order to stick to your overall aim.

✔️ Versatility/Flexibility

As an entrepreneur, you will often be in unfamiliar situations where you don’t know what to do. Changing trends are part of your business. Your business is only working if you are able to adapt to different tasks: Social Media Manager, Accountancy, or Website Developer?

✔️ Self-confidence

Of course, you will not always be confident in what you doing. Despite that, without confidence in what your business is offering and in what your abilities are, your business can not succeed.  Be committed to your work.

✔️ Optimism

You need the right amount of optimism, to reach your goal. You have to believe in what you are doing. But don’t be naïve!

✔️ Visionary

Without a vision of the business – what are you working for? A goal is essential – it is what brings you to work in the morning and let you stay up all night long. Without a vision, there won’t be a success.

As you perhaps figured out while reading this article, entrepreneurship isn’t something for everyone – and that’s ok. But for those who decided to start their business or already in the middle of leading their own company you have to face challenges in order to be successful. As we learned passion might be a helpful characteristic trait, but not the only one which is important for entrepreneurship. At least we know that passion is what you should bring with when you start your business, in order to get the daily motivation and strive for something big and better.

And don’t forget:

“One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you.”

Jeff Bezos: founder, CEO, and president of Amazon

As an entrepreneur don’t let the weaknesses cover your strengths. Focus on what you are good at. It’ your job to sell your customer what you are a master in, and in the background get the help for what you are struggling with. It’s your choice how you want your customer to notice you: a business with their own issues or as one which masters in and about everything.

Here at Whatz’hat we know what challenges you face at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. We have been there, and we have helped many other businesses at the beginning phase or at a later stage when rebranding popped up as an issue.

Working with Whatz’hat takes away the tasks you are struggling with, so you can concentrate on the passion thriven parts of your business. We will make you feel confident in what you are doing and create something unique WITH you for your future.

Do not hesitate to get in touch with us for a gratis audit of your business – we are here to help you out!