We hear so much about the fear of failure as a prime motivator for many successful entrepreneurs. But today, consider the fear of success as one of the biggest obstacles for entrepreneurs to overcome. Failure and success are opposite sides of the same coin. Both can bring hardships. Let’s examine both with the understanding that whichever side of your coin is facing up, change becomes imminent!
The first thing to realize is that there is a common bond between entrepreneurs: once everyone realizes you are serious, you will be surprised and overwhelmed how much others are willing to help. However, failure can take hold when one lacks the resiliency to keep learning from experience, or stops taking solid advice from mentors: other entrepreneurs who have gone before and genuinely want to see them succeed. Failure can indicate that your plans (to date) are less effective than originally thought, thus changes are necessary. Marketplaces constantly change, so must your strategy to address them. There have been many entrepreneurs/business leaders so dedicated to their original plans, they find it difficult to let go and find themselves declaring bankruptcy. Consider the stories of Kodak or Sears.
Let’s say the success side of our coin is up. Now what? Everything is great! Therein lies the trap. Many leaders and entrepreneurs are done in, through their own hubris. They’ve seemingly been through the rough times, clear sailing is ahead and they start to do goofy things like undermining their success and naysaying the mentors who helped them get on the right path. During the launch phase when resources are tight, they operate as effective as possible with the funds at hand. Now cash is flowing and they are more lenient, maybe blowing it on expensive cars, boats and extravagant vacations. And sometimes, much worse: gambling, sex, and drugs. I’ve seen it too often: people completely forgot the discipline it took to get them where they are now and how to maintain a company on track consistently.
The fear of success appears most often at this point: where the new entrepreneur realizes he/she must change their lifestyle habits. They may have to leave long-time friendships behind “Show me your friends and and I will show you your future” ; leave the job they have been complaining about for years, and the thought of long hours without overtime pay is unpleasant. Their toxic boss, all of a sudden is a nice guy: he is just misunderstood. Funds now need to be diverted to the business launch, instead of spending too much time and money on unnecessary things. Entrepreneurial success can bring many changes, and some just have difficulty bringing themselves to grasp the difficulties surrounding it, so they begin to free fall. It can get worse; they begin to bring down anyone close to them such as mentors, partners and investors!
Now, most successful entrepreneurs are generous and jump at the chance to help others succeed. Goodness knows, it’s been my good fortune to be able to ask for help and then pay it forward. Sometimes, everyone must muster the courage to ask for help, rather than shooting themselves in the foot.
There are three categories available along the entrepreneurial journey: Dreamers, wannabe- entrepreneurs and then the real deal. Dreamers love lounging around, relaxing and talking about all the things they would like to accomplish. But, they’re all talk, no action, even when someone offers to throw money their way. It’s just too much responsibility. This is the one most likely to begin sabotaging themselves early on, as fellow entrepreneurs/mentors began to demonstrate how to make a dream a reality. Beware of them because there’s heartache in their wake!
Next: wannabes (or posers). Today everyone seems to want to be an entrepreneur, it’s chic and cool and feels like you’re part of the “in crowd.” Good news – everyone can be an entrepreneur, especially during the product launch phase! Things like crowd-sourcing, (Kickstarter, for example), allow everyone to take part with just a few dollars, a tip if you will, a minimal, no-risk investment in a product launch. Once the product takes off and the company goes public, you have bragging rights. Our team of investors has utilized Kickstarter as a product launch on several occasions, as both a good funding source and an effort to stay current with today’s funding opportunities. However, in the long term, it’s much harder than it sounds. Rules are constantly changing and it takes a campaign similar to any other endeavor.
Finally, the Real Deal: the person who has a vision of how the future can be, and a burning desire to see it through, come hell or high water. When it came time to say goodbye to my ten years of a well-paying manufacturing career, many of my friends and family had trouble seeing my vision and said “Well, you can always go back to your old job.” If this is your mind set, you may as well just keep your old job.
However, I realized my need to embrace change, both professionally and in my lifestyle. The first big change was to prioritize my health and fitness because the only thing that would stop my journey was a loss of health or my death. It was time to shape up, build energy and stop spending money on needless things, a complete lifestyle change! I evaluated my circle, eliminated time wasters and expanded to like- minded people, people who were interested in learning and growth. Don’t get wrapped up in your success, be aware of the failure that success can bring. Acknowledge it, and when you approach that bend in the road, go the other way.
James Cendoma has decades of experience as a customer, supplier, guest speaker, and entrepreneur. He has worked in manufacturing industries and sales throughout the United States. Author of the book Pep- Profit and Extreme Performance, he focuses on helping clients achieve their best practice success through