How to Handle Fear When Starting an Online Business

October 3, 2022 Ranita Redding

Have you ever thought about trying something new? Learning a new language, picking up a sport you’ve never tried - something like that? Chances are when you did it was a hobby and you were super excited to get started because - let’s face it - new things are usually exciting!

Now let me ask you something else… has your hobby ever turned into a passion? Something you really enjoyed doing and just couldn’t get enough of. Maybe you thought “Hey! This could be a business!”

So you started researching how to start a business, get permits, build a website, market correctly. It might have seemed like a lot, but hey - you were excited right? Everything was so new and fresh and fun!

And then, right on cue, your natural fears started popping up.

“What if I don’t make any money?”

“Do I really know enough about this to start a whole business??”

“What if my friends and family see me fail?”

What changed from when you were having fun with your hobby? That scary, scary word: BUSINESS.

It can lead people to talk themselves out of something that was a great idea, simply because of fear. Now, I admit, starting a business IS scary. But with the right support, strategies, and fear-conquering techniques I promise you CAN do it!

Let’s explore some of the reasons you might be nervous to start (or take the next step) in your business journey, and how to overcome them.

Fear of Failure

Yes, it’s absolutely natural to be afraid of failing. But failure isn’t automatically permanent. We make the choice to let it be permanent or temporary. We are in charge of getting up, dusting ourselves off, and trying again!

And can I let you in on a little secret?

Everyone fails at something the first time or two.

Think about it. How long did it take you to learn to ride a bicycle? I’m betting you didn’t master it the first time you hopped on - or even the 10th time! But you kept at it, and now it’s as easy as riding a bike!

This applies to every new thing you try. Is your first attempt going to be wildly successful? Maybe! And I really hope it is! But if it’s not, that’s ok too. Reframe your mindset to see it not as a failure, but as a learning opportunity. Make note of the specific things that didn’t work, adjust them, and try again!

If you’re a list gal like me, I’ve got a suggestion for you. One way to push through the fear of failure is to make a list of all the potential benefits of trying this new thing, and then make another list of what you would be missing out on by not taking action (a pros and cons list, if you will).

This is a classic method to weigh your options and help you see things clearly and with less emotion clouding your judgment. This also helps break down something that might seem huge (a big decision) into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Once you’ve contemplated all the potential risks and benefits you can begin to see if one column outweighs the other - taking away some of the fear surrounding your decision and hopefully giving you confidence!

If you can learn to expect failure, it won’t be scary anymore. Decide early on to learn from each attempt and keep pushing!

Fear of Competition

“Ok, but what if the market is oversaturated?”

“What if I have to price myself too low in order to be competitive?”

“Can I really hold a candle to all the ‘experts’ out there?”

If you’ve been letting any of these questions paralyze you into inaction, just stop. There are over 7 billion people in the world. I guarantee that not every single one of them has been reached regarding your niche.

When you’re just starting out it can be easy to compare yourself to your competition. This is natural, and in some cases can be helpful (we’ll get to that in a bit!) But what you DON’T want to do is let comparison steal your joy.

How many times have you been scrolling through Instagram or TikTok and seen these reels of people living dreamy lives? And then you thought “wow - my life is nothing like that…”

Well, that’s just it. They’re highlight reels! We all know that social media is filled with people sharing their best moments, when they’re feeling great and looking super successful. Very few people are posting their mistakes, bad hair days, or sweatpants and sweatshirt outfits.

When looking at your competition, remember you’re seeing their highlights. You don’t know how many hours they’re working behind the scenes to get everything accomplished. And you might not know how long it took them to get there.

Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.

Ok, remember when I said it can sometimes be helpful to compare yourself to your competition? Well when you’re doing all that comparing and beating yourself up for not being farther along in your business or achieving x result I want you to take a breath and refocus.

Instead of being so hard on yourself, study your competition! If they’re farther along in their journey, look at the steps they took to get there. They’ve already paved the way for you! Take notes and give silent thanks. (Or DM them with actual thanks and maybe shoot for a collab? Just saying - it’s worth a shot!)

Fear of Not Being “Good Enough”

To be honest, I struggled with this quite a bit when starting my business and landing my first few clients. Did I really know enough about Squarespace and designing websites to be a professional? What if someone found out I didn’t know absolutely 100% of everything? Eek!

To that line of thinking I would counter with this: Do you know more than your client? Then you’re automatically an expert in their eyes! Are you willing to dig around and do some research if they ask you something you don’t know? Then you’re already well-positioned to serve them and meet their needs.

Being an “expert” is a bit relative. If someone speaks Spanish better than you do, they instantly seem like an expert, right? Most people aren’t going to comprehensively dig in to your background and skills.

Now, this is not to say that experience and skills aren’t important - they absolutely are! Definitely DO invest in yourself and developing your skills! But you don’t have to be the OG expert to be good enough to serve clients.

As long as you have a firm grasp of your skills and you have a solid client process I promise you’ll be fine. What do I mean by “client process”, you ask? I mean having a repeatable set of steps to follow when setting up discovery calls, booking a client, working through a project, and wrapping up.

If you haven’t thought through your process I encourage you to do so before booking a client. It will help you seem more professional and put-together when you talk to people, AND it will help you feel more confident that you can demonstrate you know what you’re doing.

Interested in my client process? Check out this post to get a behind the scenes look!

Fear of Embarrassment

Look, I get it. No one likes to feel embarrassed or have people laugh at you (when you didn’t tell a joke anyway!) I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve slipped and fallen on ice (I live in Alaska) and had people see it. Sooo embarrassing!!

One time my daughter and I were riding our electric scooters (so fancy, I know!) and I took a turn a bit too sharply. I was tossed off my scooter and into the road like a leaf being blown off a tree. My daughter - with lots of concern and care - ran over to ask if I was ok. But it was too late. I was EMBARRASSED!!!

And I’m not proud to say I reacted poorly lol. I got back up, insisted I was fine, and yelled at her to stop staring at me. To make matters worse, cars were stopping to check on my condition. Ugh!!!! More embarrassment!!

It took me about 5 mins to calm down and apologize for my bad behavior, and it took me another 30 mins to realize I had scraped my knee and was bleeding into my jeans. My embarrassment was causing all kinds of problems!

Fear of embarrassment when starting your business can be very real, but it’s also a very general fear. So to conquer it, let’s get specific!

You guessed it! It’s time to make another list! Write down everything you feel embarrassed about in your business that’s holding you back (unfinished website, undefined processes, self-designed logo, etc.) Now I want you to look at that list and realize this:

People will always judge.

Even if your website is perfect, your processes are refined, and your branding is chef’s kiss - someone, somewhere out there in the vast world of the internet is going to judge you negatively.

Now, I want you to ask yourself this:

What will make you feel more stupid: Putting yourself out there and being judged, or not going after your dreams at all?

Yes, you will have slip ups, mishaps, and mistakes. And yes, you might even feel embarrassed when they happen. But you can learn from it, laugh it off, and try again!

Also, surround yourself with like-minded people who are on the same journey. You can encourage each other, learn from each other, and grow stronger together. Join a Facebook group for people in your niche. Attend an in-person networking event. Options galore!

Fear of People Finding Out

Ok, this one might seem silly on the surface. You want people to find out about your business, right? But for most of us there’s an inherent fear of trying something new in front of people, especially people we know.

This is similar to the fear of embarrassment, because no one wants to look foolish or incompetent in front of people they know, right? Buuuuttt… it’s important to remember your friends and family are on your side! They WANT to see you succeed, and they’ll be excited to hear about this new venture you’re starting!

Sidenote: you can almost certainly get some free advertising just by sharing your new business with your friends and family. They’re more likely to hype you up than someone who happens to stumble across your page on the internet. Your tribe will be spreading the word and gaining you new leads - without you even having to do much!

This one can be tough to get through, so start slowly if you need to. Set up your business social media accounts and start posting there. Invite your friends to like or follow your page. Then when you see them in person it won’t be so awkward. You won’t have to bring up your business because they’ll probably mention it themselves! Hello natural segue!

For me, this was especially tough because I’m naturally an introverted person who doesn’t like to talk to many people. So the thought of having to share my business info over and over again (even to people I knew) was not something I looked forward to.

So I just started posting on social media and invited my friends to my pages. It was easier for me to do this behind a screen instead of to their faces! It felt awkward and braggy to me to have to talk about myself without someone directly asking. But guess what? They DID end up asking lol!

And at that point I felt less nervous to go ahead and talk about this new thing I was doing. I encouraged everyone to send people my way if they needed a website. And over time it got easier and easier.

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