The Fears Associated With Being An Entrepreneur - That's what my mentor taught me!

Many years ago, I was having lunch with one of my mentors, Khaled Al Damallawy, who's a prominent business owner and entrepreneur from Egypt. I was in Egypt's capital city, Cairo, on one of my frequent business trips around the middle east. The following conversation took place between me and Khaled:

Khaled: So, tell me Nuridin. What are your fears of becoming an entrepreneur?

Nuridin: I have four specific fears.

Khaled: Sure, go ahead.

Nuridin: I’ll state them all together now and I’ll see what you say about each one of them. May fears are:

1. The uncertainty of income

2. I don’t have enough capital to start my business

3. The long hours and hard work

4. The risk of failure

Khaled: Great. I have some good news and even greater news for you. The good news is that, those are natural fears. All successful entrepreneurs had the same fears before they started their businesses. The greater news is that there are answers that handle those fears and either minimize or totally remove them.

My First Fear: The Uncertainty of Income:

Khaled: Your first fear is the uncertainty of income. And this is a very valid fear, not only in the beginning of the business, but throughout its existence. The financial life paradigm of an entrepreneur is totally different from that of an employee who has a steady secure income month in and month out. But let me ask you a question. Is the employee monthly income totally secure and risk free?

Nuridin: Yes, that what I think.

Khaled: Haven’t you got laid off from your job in the Oil services company, Baker Hughes, in 2010?

Nuridin: Yes, that’s right. But before that I had a steady and stable income month in and month out.

Khaled: And having this steady income guaranteed to you that you were financially safe?

Nuridin: I used to think that way till I got laid off.

Khaled: That’s my point. There is no financial guarantee in life, whether you’re an employee who can be laid off any minute without enough preparation, or you’re an entrepreneur running your own business. If in both cases, you’re subject to the risk of financial setbacks, then why do you spend your life working on a limited ceiling salary as an employee instead of the potentially high profits of entrepreneurship?

Nuridin: Yes, I see your point.

Khaled: If you’re going to work hard anyways with the risk of falling down financially, then you better choose the options that gives you the highest return for your efforts.

Nuridin: I totally agree. Point well taken.

My second fear: Not Having Enough Capital

Khaled: Now, let’s look at your second fear: You said you might not have enough capital to start your own business.

Nuridin: That’s right. And that’s what has been keeping me from taking this step of becoming an entrepreneur.

Khaled: A big number of entrepreneurs start their own business with a very powerful paradigm. It’s called OPM or Other People’s Money. They come up with the business idea, they do the feasibility study, and they validate the importance and effectiveness of their business model then they solicit investors to invest in this idea. They tab into the power of leverage.

Nuridin: So, does this work well for them?

Khalid: Yes, it does. They raise the capital they need through either direct investment from individuals or organizations, or they use crowdfunding or join ventures. They get to run the business of their dreams and they get to generate profitable returns for the investors. There are various legal forms for this kind of partnership which I’ll talk about later. But for now, I want you to understand that as an entrepreneur, you have different options for raising the capital needed for your business.

Nuridin: I see…That’s exciting. It’s like a big burden is being taken off my shoulder.

My Third Fear: Putting Long Hours and Hard Work:

Khaled: Now, let’s move on to your third fear: The fear of putting long hours in your business and doing hard work.

Nuridin: Actually, for some reason this specific fear has been fading away as I’m listening to you Khaled.

Khaled: I expected that to happen. Can you share why has it been fading away?

Nuridin: I guess when you shared with me your thoughts on the last two fears, for some reason I came to know that I’m going to work hard and for long hours anyways. Whether I’m an entrepreneur or working for someone else. So, since it will happen anyways, why don’t I put this hard work and long hours in my own business rather than someone else’s.

Khaled: Exactly. Life is not easy and we have to work hard to succeed and grow and achieve our goals. So, yes, if you’re going to do that regardless of whether you’re an employee or entrepreneur, so why not go for the path with maximum returns on your efforts and time.

Nuridin: Yes, that makes sense.

My Fourth Fear: The Risk of Failure:

Khaled: Finally, we come to the last fear you expressed. That’s the fear of failure or the risk of failing.

Nuridin: Yes, that’s a big one.

Khaled: First, Let me tell you something you know very well: Our whole life is a serious of risky decisions. Everything you do in your professional or personal life is a choice that comes with a risk of failure. The person you get married to, the schools you choose to send your kids to, the way you deal with your friends and colleagues, the ventures you do, the job you choose, the business you start. Every one of those choices has a risk of failure. You study your options and move one with a decision and make your choice and evaluate and adjust. Why should starting your business be any different? Yes, there is a risk of failure when it comes to starting your own business, but what in life is totally safe and guaranteed with zero risk?

Nuridin: Nothing I guess.

Khaled: That’s why all entrepreneurs have this fear of failure. But they don’t let this fear stop or paralyze them. They use it as an energy to move forward and do their best to be successful. It’s important and rather essential to have this fear of failure. This will make you study your options well and be careful in taking your decisions. This fear of failure will make you use the right way of doing business and utilize the best tools.

Nuridin: Yes, I see… That’s true. If I don’t have any fears, then I might step into blind mistakes which I could have otherwise avoided them had I been more careful. That’s common sense.

Khaled: Yes. So, think of your goals and visualize attaining them and use your business as a vehicle to achieve those goals. Be courageous but be cautious. Be forthcoming but think analytically. Be decisive but study your options first. Let your strong foundation of knowledge and expertise and the collective experience of your mentors guide you and take action. That’s how you deal with such fears.

Khaled asks for the check and pays for lunch. He agrees to meet me the next day to start sharing with me his insights on how to spot entrepreneurial opportunities.

I'll be sharing that with you all on a separate post.

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Picture 1 Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/491666484300476771/

Picture 2 Source: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-dark-side-of-being-an-Entrepreneur

Picture 3 Source: http://www.boldlist.net/top-5-reasons-why-many-businesses-fail.php

Picture 4 Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/04/04/long.work.hours.heart.attack.risk/

Picture 5 Source: https://cambridgesda.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/dont-be-scared-risk-failure/

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