10 Tips for Overcoming Your Fear of Business Failure

1. Make a contingency plan

By planning what to do in the event of incidents or unforeseen events (network breakdowns, disputes with clients or suppliers, data loss, cyber-attacks, staff shortages, etc.), you can minimize the impact on the business while reducing your stress. This way, you will be proactive instead of reactive.

2. Plan ahead by creating a business plan and a financial plan

Proper planning can help you avoid nasty surprises. This consists in establishing a detailed business plan and financial plan. You will then have an accurate idea of the expected number of clients, sales, amount of expenses, profitability threshold, working capital needs, risk assessment, and so on. This will help you identify your expectations, prepare you for anything and reduce your stress level.

3. Surround yourself with experts

Don’t hesitate to surround yourself with experts who can help you adopt, right from the start, the best strategies to mitigate your risks. Accountants, bankers and lawyers are valuable allies who will guide you through all the steps of running your business. And especially, don’t wait to seek help if your personal or business financial situation deteriorates or you come up against unexpected challenges. Our licensed insolvency trustees are there to guide you.

4. Ask for help from other entrepreneurs

Nothing compares to advice from entrepreneurs who have experienced and surmounted similar situations. Expand your network by taking part in events, conferences, talks and happy hours for entrepreneurs. In addition to benefitting from the experience of others, you will feel supported and encouraged and will regain your confidence. These meetings will also provide you with an outside perspective of your business and create opportunities that you had not considered. If you are a young entrepreneur, mentorship could also help you face your fear of failure thanks to personalized guidance.

5. Boost your confidence

Confidence is an essential component of leadership. It will provide you with the mental strength you need to face adversity. Furthermore, your confidence will become contagious, starting with your employees, suppliers and clients. Because as we all know, confident people inspire confidence. There are several tips for boosting your confidence. Here are just a few:

• Focus on your strong points
• Remind yourself of past successes and all the reasons why you excel in what you do
• Adopt a positive attitude and take action
• Continue training to hone your skills and remain abreast of new developments in your field
• Learn to assert yourself by defending your ideas and dare to say no when something doesn’t suit you
• Get out of your comfort zone by daring to achieve small things

Over time, these small wins will boost your confidence.

6. Resist impostor syndrome

Do you often doubt yourself and feel like you are not where you should be? Even after a success, do you have trouble taking credit? Are you suffering from impostor syndrome, like so many other business leaders? To decrease this horrible feeling, you need to learn how to recognize your achievements by working on your self-esteem (see above).

7. Set clear and realistic goals

To remain focused and on course even when obstacles arise, focus on what you need to do to move your project forward. Your actions will then be guided by your priorities. When you take stock, you’ll see that you’ve made progress and that will motivate you.

8. Don’t be too perfectionist

We live in a culture of perfectionism. But in being perfectionist, you are setting objectives that are very hard to attain. This prevents you from delegating certain relatively unimportant tasks. And above all, it will make you anxious because you have trouble accepting less than perfect results. You are ashamed of every mistake and stress about making others … It’s time to let go! Just try to do your best in the competitive world you work in.

9. Have a more positive outlook on failure

The word failure has a very negative connotation. However, failure is part of every entrepreneur’s journey. Like a child learning to walk, you have to fall and get up again several times before you can stand up, frolic and even trot. Furthermore, entrepreneurs take risks, which comes with small and great failures. Entrepreneurs and start-up coaches all agree that failure is the starting point for successful business. Everything is a matter of point of view. Failure can be a stepping stone for improvement once we’ve drawn lessons from it. By accepting that failure is inevitable, you can avoid overreacting and keep moving forward with new projects.

10. Learn to handle rejection

As an entrepreneur, you will at some point be rejected by a client, partner or investor. So, you need to learn how to handle rejection and not take it as a personal attack. Like failure, rejection can help you go further and allow you to improve on yourself.

If ever your business experiences financial difficulties, don’t hesitate to call on one of our financial recovery counsellors. They will guide you each step of the way.