Fear and Entreprenuership - Necessary Partners?

Actually, the word that was brought up in our most recent NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) meeting, was "TERROR". We had a panel of successful business owners talk about how they got through some of the major turning points in their businesses, and it was a great show - but the one thing that impacted me the most was a question from the audience at the end.

One of the new business owners stood up and shared the experience of waking up at 3:00am in absolute terror, and was wondering if this was simply a signal that she was at a major turning point. What she got back was universal acknowledgement on the panel - they all experienced the same thing. They referred to the “night terrors” with a little too much familiarity for me. What I heard loud and clear is "they never go away".

Each time your business gets to the next level you think you can breathe a sign of relief. Except now you have more responsibility, bigger issues, and the stakes are even higher. It seems there's no sigh of relief in business - at least not one that lasts more than a day or two. The panel advised exercise and taking good care of yourself - standard stress management techniques.

I’ve got to tell you - I'm not into being terrified all the time in order to have a successful business. I was terrified sometimes in what I called "phase one" of my business. And I actually wrote an article on the "Four Stages of Decisive Change" that speaks to four distinct stages of growing a new business. In phase one you have the "panic elation panic" cycle, a true emotional roller coaster where you are often wondering if you were nuts to think you could start a business. But there are also moments of pure excitement at all the possibility you've created for yourself. However, in my model, once you get to phase two you are also in a different emotional state: lots of hard work, not so much terror.

Does it have to be this way? I know that currently, I don’t have night terrors in my business. I have worries sometimes, and days where there are more balls in the air than I can catch, but for the most part things run smoothly. On the other hand, I’m not running a 20 million dollar business. What if the stakes are higher? What if the success of a sales presentation you make tomorrow determines whether or not you can make payroll next month? What if a critical marketing misstep means people lose their jobs? What if your big investment doesn’t pay off and you are in more debt than your organization can manage?

I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of weeks, and I’ve talked to other business owners as well. Thankfully what I’ve heard mostly is: “It doesn’t have to be that way”. What makes the difference between a business that gives you night terrors, and one that doesn’t? I don’t have the complete answer yet, but are the top three items on my “list”:

1. If you are doing something new, exciting, and scary – then it will feel new, exciting and scary. Understanding that this is simply phase one of a new adventure in your life does a lot to calm things down. And, yes, as you reach one milestone, you will create new ones, but they usually aren’t as charged as your first year as a business owner.

2. If your decisions have a large impact on other people, and that impact has the potential to be negative, it can definitely keep you awake at night. What makes a difference in this case is being honest and up front with people about what they are getting into when they sign on with you, and staying honest with them throughout your relationship. When you cross the line and take more responsibility for them than you can control, the resulting anxiety can be huge!

3. If you’ve got your ego caught up in what happens with the business, you are going to feel pretty scared at the possibility of the business failing. I’ve heard that most successful entrepreneurs fail at two or more businesses, and find themselves “on the edge” of failing many more times than that. It makes sense if you take a look at most successful people. In sports, the best players in the world experience “the agony of defeat” many times over. The best artists and musicians create a few “flops” along with their masterpieces. And they say if you don’t get fired from at least one job, you aren’t working at your full potential. If failing makes you wrong or bad, then the path to success will be downright terrifying.

Do you want to enjoy growing your business without the terror? Then understand the process (

start by reading my article on the stages of change), be truthful with your employees and partners, and get comfortable with failure. And then, get a good night’s sleep!!

Copyright @ 2006 Nahid Casazza and Aspyrre. www.aspyrre.com