What are the scariest things for a successful entrepreneurial woman? I find they all fall into three major categories: Fear of the unknown, fear of failing, and fear of lack of resources.
When you fear the unknown, what you really fear is your capability to react to new events. You don’t have confidence in yourself to handle things no matter what. This shows up in four main ways.
1. Fear of uncertainty: When you run a business, you want things nailed down. You don’t like it when you can’t control what could happen. You start to fear what you don’t know. What you don’t know becomes a strange, blank space. When you focus on it, it grows. It takes over, and suddenly, you feel like you don’t know anything at all. Since you don’t know, you don’t plan. With no plan, you don’t act. What action should you take? You don’t know.
You project all the horrible things that could happen into that blank space. Of course, you don’t want to move forward. Just look at all those potential catastrophes waiting there. Faced with the Blank Spot of Impending Catastrophe, you just shut down.
2. Fear of change: This is like fear of uncertainty, but it usually focuses on fear of a specific outcome of an action you might take or something new that enters your world. In this, you’ve identified the threat as change. Change creates another opening for new problems to enter your world. New problems create uncertainty — and we’re back to that Blank Spot of Impending Catastrophe again. Decision made! We now most certainly do not want to take that action we were considering.
3. Fear of risk: As an entrepreneur, you already carry the responsibility of running an entire business. You have no protective corporate network to shield you from your failures. Your decisions seem to carry a greater weight of risk because the whole business could be at stake. You want to think more before you make decisions. This can be a great strategy, but when you fear taking ANY risk and seek only the security of what you’ve always done, you’ll eventually cripple your success.
I even see this with clients on consult calls who really want to engage in coaching but just can’t pull the trigger. “What if this doesn’t work?” they worry. So they decide to “think about it.” When I ask what they are thinking about, they reply, “I don’t know.” They are really just delaying risk.
4. Fear of success: Success sounds good, but underneath its rewarding factors, it also brings change. Change means venturing into the unknown, where we can’t predict things — and here we are, staring at the Blank Spot of Impending Catastrophe again.
Fear of failure is another kind of confidence issue, but it revolves around judgment — or feelings. Bad feelings. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, of the individuals surveyed globally who believe there are good business opportunities in their local area, 19 to 60 percent (depending on the country) would still not start a business due to their fear of failure.[1] It’s not a baseless assumption that the same type of fear may also hamper current entrepreneurs who want to try new things. If you judge the environment as risky or your skills as “not good enough,” these judgments will lead you to fear failing.
5. Fear of not being good enough: This is self-judgment. When you look at yourself and constantly find yourself wanting new skills or knowledge, you’ll cripple your success.
6. Fear of being seen as not good enough: Fear of failure is linked in the minds of many women to self-worth and pride. Thinking about what other people will think about your possible failure creates a picture of humiliation.
7. Fear of letting others down: The unwritten rule that women need to be there for their families and to manage their homes still exists. Its validity is beside the point; the assumption causes many to question whether success is even possible for women. Do you have to sacrifice your responsibilities to your family to achieve it? Being seen as someone who neglects her family doesn’t sound appealing. And then there’s the fear of letting down people we have made commitments to — extended family, clients, friends, neighbors, volunteer organizations we signed up for, or even your team. When we don’t follow through, people will be disappointed. Will they judge us as unreliable? Then, we may try to juggle even more commitments to show others we care and want to help.
The last fear revolves around not having enough of something — mainly money and time, two of our biggest resources.
8. Fear of not enough money: Money gives you power to do things, especially in your business. What if you don’t have enough? What if you don’t make enough to support your family’s needs? What if you don’t have enough to cover emergencies? (It’s my hope that in the second edition of this book, I’ll add “Fear of making too much money” to this list.)
9. Fear of not enough time: Sometimes, the fear of not having enough time to get everything done can paralyze you. If you keep measuring the time you don’t have, you won’t be able to choose your priorities. Everything will seem huge. What if you’re doing the wrong thing with what little time you have?
[1] GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2022/2023 Global Report: Adapting to a “New Normal.” (London: GEM, 2023).
Andrea Liebross is a small business owner, certified business and life coach, popular keynote, and author behind the #1 Amazon bestseller, She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide To Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary, a primer for any woman in business who feels struck and frustrated and is looking to create a plan, a new mindset, and improved systems that support all their priorities. More information on Andrea can be found at www.AndreaLiebross.com.
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