As an entrepreneur there are a lot of challenges to confront before putting out a shingle, opening up shop, or getting that product developed. We have to write up business plans, develop marketing strategies, and analyze the competition. But there are other challenges that may be tripping you up that have nothing to do with the bottom line.

Being an entrepreneur requires a great amount of courage and for some of us, that is daunting enough to send us back to the drawing board, or maybe even the cubicle. As an entrepreneur you’re making a professional statement about what you offer, but many of us can also start to think we’re offering a personal statement about who we are. After all, if we’re spending so much personal time, energy, and money developing an idea, it is part of us and therefore we may feel like there’s a lot more on the line.

We’re a group of Unsure Entrepreneurs. But if you work through any personal fears and overcome these challenges and can focus on your business separate from yourself, you might just realize like we did that the hardest part about being an entrepreneur is spelling it.

In a previous post we asked you to make wishes. What do you wish you were doing, what do you wish you business was, what do you wish you could do better? Similar to that, let’s take a look at some of these fears you may have. When you think about your business or idea, do any fears come up? We’ve heard some people say they don’t feel qualified to follow through on a product they’ve thought of. Others have said they don’t think they’re the person for the job. And others just say they’re plain scared. Can you relate to any of these? What are some other fears you might have? Make a list of them…sometimes just writing them down can help you see clearly where your head is.

Now keep going…make the list as long as possible. Sometimes fears are hiding deep down and you need a minute to come up with them. Take as long as you need to come up with the list.

With the list in front of you, look at one of the fears and ask yourself why you’re afraid of that. What is causing that fear? We’re now ready to breakthrough those fears.