Tag: fear of starting a business

Categories
News

Top New Business Intimidations

If you are feeling intimidated by considering going into business, you are not alone.

Top New Business Intimidations

Here is why people are commonly intimidated about going into business.

Unfamiliar Territory

The largest intimidating factor you face in potentially starting a new business is not knowing how to get started. If you have never had a business before, this can be a huge hurdle to overcome. Now that you have access to the Internet, there is a good chance that finding someone online who has started a business like your business idea are amazingly good. So, find someone in a similar field who has started from scratch, reach out to them, first complimenting them for striking out on their own, and tell them that you are inspired by their success. Tell them that you would like to also make a go of your own business, but be honest, tell them you do not know what to do next. Often, they will be happy to give you a few tips or resources to get you started. If not, keep scouring the ‘net for more information on how to start your business, or seek out a business coach to help you get started.

Unworthiness

Unworthiness is a hugely popular stumbling block for potential business owners struggling to make the entrepreneurial leap. It is as if you have been programmed that you will never be anything but a wage earner your whole life, and would never amount to anything more than that. You may have accepted this work-your-whole-life-for-someone-else lot in life or life-sentence as “just the way it is.” But it is not that way. Many people in authority positions throughout your life have out you down to make themselves feel as though they were more powerful than you, and if they can keep you down, that makes them feel better about the mediocre lives that they live with every day. But you are endowed with a natural birthright to rise and shine, to fully express your special gifts and abilities and to be compensated for doing so.

Embarrassment

It amazes me, how many people feel unworthy of starting their own business, as if it is so far beyond their realm of possibility that they would suffer great humiliation in front of their family and friends for even thinking they could do such a thing. Even if they find the courage to throw the switch, their embarrassment overwhelmed them and prevents them from moving forward. Don’t let this be you. This is your business, not anyone else’s. You shouldn’t care about what other people think or say.

Lack of Expert Status

You have been convinced that you lack the qualifications or what is widely regarded as the minimum requirements for expertise in your area of business may not be found on your résumé. So many people without any business or academic credentials have started wildly successful businesses without an education, college training, or even a high school education. So, there is really no reason for your lack of expert status to intimidate you at all. If you are concerned about your credibility, check out How to Establish Your Credibility and see how quick and easy to can be to establish your expert status online. https://telecommutejobonline.com/news/how-to-establish-your-credibility/

And know this: No one knows everything about everything. True masters of their craft are always in a state of constant learning and expanding their knowledgebase. Let this be your identity, and if someone asks you a question, be good with, “I don’t have an authoritative answer for you, right now, but let me get back to you on that.” Then Google and research it and do get back to them with an answer that feels right to you. You are an expert.

Poverty Mindset

Granted, you may have come from modest means. Some people have grown up with a poverty mindset, where they feel like being lucky enough to have any kind of job is all they can expect out of life, and that any hope for success must come at the expense of someone else or from engaging in a life of crime and criminal activity.

Changing your poverty mindset to a mindset of abundance with unlimited possibilities is possible but it will not happen overnight unless you have an epiphany, which is possible. It will take some work to have your mind in the right place and time for an epiphany to take place. If you are able to do the work, you can have this mind- and life-changing experience. Many have broken through the barrier of the poverty mindset, and you doubtless have heard of many rags to riches stories, where someone went from nothing to having all the good things this life has to offer. You could be the next one to do so.

Fear of Success

You might be surprised to discover that fear of success is a thing. So many people are terrified by experiencing too much of a life-change from the potential of more success than they feel they are capable of handling. They fear the spotlight, the publicity, paparazzi, and feel like if they have too much more money than they need t survive, they may risk turning into a bad person, because “money is the root of all evil,” or some other negative consequence visited upon wealthier people.

Those who fear success feel like successful people are inherently opportunistic and make their money off the back of those less fortunate. They also fear losing family and friends who would be obviously less successful.

This I know, if you are a bad person, loads of success will make you a worse person. If you are a good person, success will make you a better person, enabling you to do better things in the world. So it’s up to you.

 

Categories
News

Intimidated by the Idea of Starting a New Business?

Are you intimidated by the idea of starting a new business? Well, you are in good company. Right now, more people are starting new businesses more every day than at any other time in history. Is this merely for the sake of survival, or seizing an opportunity that was put off for far too long?

There is no doubt that many Americans are concerned about their ability to survive the pandemic’s modified job market. Most office jobs have morphed into hybrid work from home, remote work, or online jobs, and many jobs have been all but eliminated. Many of the jobs lost will be gone forever, as the employers have had to close their doors, never to return.

It is an extremely stressful situation, one that could have you facing the concept of being without a reliable income source any time soon, and you must find a way to survive. If that is you, you may have thought that you can still find a way to survive by starting a business and offer your services to others, where you call the shots and are able to telecommute or work from home on a freelance basis.

Or you may have been considering starting your own business for a long time, but your job and life was going well enough that taking the risk to go out on your own seemed well outside of your comfort zone. Now that times are unstable and you are not as comfortable as you might have been, the idea of starting a business of your own appears to be more appealing as these unprecedented times continue to linger.

Then there are those that see this as the best time of all to launch an independent business that targets the needs of those dealing with mitigating the difficulties associated with the prolonged pandemic lockdown. For these types of new businesses, now is the time to strike while the iron is hot.

There is little doubt that now is the time for you to consider joining the increasing percentage of American workers who are taking advantage of this time to become business owners and potentially increasing their sustainable cash flow well beyond their means as an employee working for someone else.

Yet, if you are like the majority of Americans who feel the entrepreneurial nudge to start a business, you may find yourself intimidated by the idea of starting a new business, because of ideas that get in the way, preventing you from making the leap to business ownership.

The Top New Business Intimidators include unfamiliar territory, unworthiness, embarrassment, lack of expert status, poverty mindset, and fear of success. Don’t let these things get in the way of your potential for success in this life.

My biggest concern for you is that you do not take this opportunity to seize this opportunity and let it pass you by. Don’t be one of those people who live their whole lives in regret for not stepping out in faith to try something that may have had a huge impact on their life. This is your chance to live a better life, your best life, and make the world a better place.

 

 

Categories
News

Want to Start a Business but Fear the Taxman?

What keeps holding you back from starting your own business? If you are like many wage-earners, you may want to start a business but fear the taxman. Many people have a fear of business taxes and the IRS. And who would blame you? You have probably heard horror stories of businesspeople getting destroyed by the taxman and the IRS.

These stories are extreme examples of people who are using their businesses as a method of defrauding the government. Most business people do not use their businesses to engage in tax fraud. As long as that is not your intention, I wouldn’t worry about it.

In fact, you will pay far less to the government – legally – by having your own business, in comparison to what you pay as an average wage-earner. As an American wage-earner, you are paying an average of 28% of your income in taxes.

Trump Doesn’t Pay Taxes

I remember when Donald Trump was running for office, and he was asked how much he paid in taxes? His answer was something like, “I don’t pay taxes. I take advantage of all the benefits of conducting legal business in the United States and maximize tax credits for doing so.” (Editorial note: Even though this statement is in quotes, it is the author’s paraphrase.) During his campaign, many people were appalled that someone running for the highest office in the USA would admit (or even brag) about not paying taxes. Others, on the other hand, applauded him for his business savvy.

Pay Less in Taxes

Paying less in taxes is a real thing for business owners, which you may be one day soon.

If you are an average wage-earner, you are having taxes taken out of your check from the get-go, which means you are restricted from using this portion of your earnings for anything but your taxes. As a business owner, you can use these dollars to increase your tax savings throughout the year, because you are now entitled to various tax write-offs that you would not be entitled to as a simple wage-earner.

Business Tax Deductions

Even if your business is not effectively making a profit, you could be saving enough in taxes to plausibly pay zero in taxes by taking advantage of business tax deductions, which is a huge benefit to your fiscal outlook.

Transportation

Some examples of expenses you can write off against taxes include a percentage of your transportation costs, like gas and petroleum products, a portion of your housing costs can be written off, especially if you are working from home, which can account for about 20% of your living expenses, like rent, mortgage, and utility (electricity, gas, communications, everything but television) costs.

Food and Entertainment

I love having business meetings at restaurants. Keep business notes and receipts and deduct the expense of dining. Even though the IRS only allows you to write off 50% for business-related meals and entertainment, you are still ahead of the game if you are already going out occasionally.

Vacation and Travel

Vacations cannot be expensed as a tax write off, that is, unless the trip is business-related. If you can schedule your trip around a conference or trade show, you can write off a great deal of the vacation (I think the average is about 75% if you plan it right).

Household Furnishings

It is generally accepted that 15% of your household furnishings, including major appliances, can be deducted at a rate of 15% of what you spend here.

Equipment

Equipment, like computers, can be deducted, though if you use the same equipment personally, then you will likely only be able to deduct about 15% of your expenses here.

You can see, that if you were frightened about tax exposure for running a business, you can see that there should be no problem and it is highly likely that documenting and expensing out much of what is already your standard overhead, you will come for ahead by staring your own business.

Do have a bookkeeper/accountant on-board and double-check what you can write off and how to go about it safely and securely. You do not need a full-time accountant, just check around your local area, and find one that you can simply pay as you go and write off this expense as well.

You can see how easy it could be to end up owing no taxes at all, just like Trump.

Categories
News

Face and Overcome the Fear of Starting Your Own Business

Now is the best time to start your own venture. You have had an idea, or you know you could do it better than the people you work for, but you are held back by fear of going out on your own. You can face and overcome the fear of starting your own business.

Lack of Finances

So, you think you don’t have enough resources to do your own thing?

There is this conception that starting your own business takes a lot of capital upfront. You think this because it is well publicized that buying into a successful franchise can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you have looked into it, you already know that franchises can be very expensive and can cover a wide range. For instance, $30,000 for a Dutch Bros to $200 to 350 thousand for a Quiznos franchise, or $1 to 2.5 Million for a McDonald’s to $12 to 20 Million for a Holiday Inn franchise.

It is no wonder that you think that you having a business is out of reach if you are unable to get that kind of cash. By the way, even if you were able to be the recipient of a financial windfall with enough cash to finance your franchise, be aware that you will also have to have sufficient credit history to qualify to be a potential franchisee.

In many ways, a franchise is the best way to get into a business, especially if you have not been in a business before because you can rely on the track record of the business and franchisees who have gone before. The franchisor will provide you with the help and support you need to have a successful venture.

Raising Money

If the business that you would like to build does require a substantial investment, there are ways to go about raising capital with one of the effective methods being crowdfunding sources, like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe, and Patreon, but be advised, launching a successful crowdfunding project is not as easy as it looks and there are many factors to take into consideration. If your plan includes a crowdfunding campaign, do your due diligence, spend some time researching the best ways to approach your campaign, or seek out a consultant who has expertise in crowdfunding campaigns.

That aside, you could do what so many people have done and that is to start your own enterprise from scratch with little or no investment. Now, of course, if you decide to build something from scratch on your own, you will have to be creative in the way that you start such a venture and have a plan in place to build the capacity and clue of your business regularly over time.

Doing it Yourself Online

There are online DIY (Do It Yourself) resources that you can take advantage of that will support your efforts to build a business one step at a time. You can use platforms already in place, such as eBay to get started, you can have your own website and e-commerce website using Shopify, or sell your wares through Amazon, the world’s largest retailer.

Fear of the Unknown

If you are feeling fear of the unknown regarding starting a business, you can overcome your fear or intimidation by educating yourself about what it takes to start a business. There have never been so many educational opportunities, and you would be surprised at how much you could learn just scouring over Google and YouTube for free. You could also join a Facebook or MeetUp group of people looking to start businesses, just like you.

The more you know, the less your overall risk. Just be aware that you do not want to fall into the trap of learning (because there’s always more to learn) and spending so much time in the learning process (which can be addictive) that you never launch your business. This is commonly referred to as the “paralysis of analysis.”

The best way to overcome your business-related fears is to face them head-on, but do not go into business blindly. This is the mistake most commonly made by inexperienced business startups, which leads to first-time failure.

Fear of Failure

Fear of failure is something that is easily overcome if you can think of your first venture as “training.” There is no better training than you can receive, not through any college or university. You learn things they would never teach by doing it yourself.

Experience is the best teacher, and you are its humble servant. So, don’t be afraid of making mistakes, look for the gold and wisdom to be gained in every experience. Do not think of these experiences as “bad.” Instead, think of them as advanced training, and you are blessed by the results.