How To Beat The Anxiety Of Starting A Business

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Did you know that according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, about 100 million businesses are started worldwide every year? This translates to about 8.3 million new businesses every month and makes for a very high growth rate of entrepreneurship. However, huge as the growth in entrepreneurship may appear to be, starting a business is among one of the most difficult things to do in life.

Aside from being a huge responsibility, it is a huge financial risk, and this can make almost anyone get cold feet. The anxiety that comes with thinking of, planning for, and executing a business idea is definitely no easy feat to conquer.

But is all this anxiety necessary? Why do entrepreneurs end up feeling so anxious when starting an entrepreneurial venture and is there a way to deal with, or avoid this anxiety? Let’s find out!

One of the most certain ways to beat the anxiety of getting your business up and running, is to give yourself time to plan for it…

Why Do Entrepreneurs Get Nervous When Starting A Business? 😰

According to the 2020 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, about 51 percent to 62 percent of entrepreneurs experience stress and worry on a daily basis. Reportedly, this is so because many entrepreneurs become near-robots when it comes to starting out a business.

Often, budding entrepreneurs push themselves too hard to try and avoid failure. They neglect their health by sleeping less, eating inconsistently, and socialising less frequently. These habits can trigger mood vulnerabilities, and ultimately heighten anxiety.

What To Do To Reduce The Anxiety Of Starting A Business 🤔

With this in mind, one of the most certain ways to beat the anxiety of getting your business up and running, is to give yourself time to plan for it before you start. Planning has a way of helping you conceptualise, visualise and analyse your business idea beforehand.

It reduces the worry that you may have missed something and gives you a guide on how to best handle a majority of situations once the business takes off. That said, here are some useful planning considerations to make before you start your business.

Identify What You Need For Your Business To Take Off 🎯

This may appear as a really obvious step, but you would be amazed at just how easily you can leave out a key element of your business. Unfortunately, doing so could be detrimental to your business, not to mention, it will cause you so much stress and anxiety trying to bring it on board at a later stage. For this reason, we suggest that you take a pen and paper or any other form of writing material, and begin listing down the things you need for your business. A basic list would include:

• A business idea
• A business name
• The product or service
• The target market
• The capital required
• How to make back the money spent

Drafting A Business Plan

Having identified the basic things that you need to start off your business, the next step will be creating a business plan. This is a more descriptive document that details how you intend to expound on the items identified in the list above. A business plan will typically include:

• Understanding who you will be in competition with
• A unique selling point that will differentiate you from your competitors.
• A deeper analysis and segmentation of the target market.
• The source of capital, the estimated expenditure and the returns that the business will bring

Following these steps ensures you break down the process of setting up your business. It keeps you from being overwhelmed by the multiple tasks that you are expected to carry out and hence fights off anxiety.

Visualise your business

Once you have finished with all the abstract concepts of the business, it is time for you to develop its visual elements. Visualising the business is helpful because it enables you to see potential issues that may arise when the business is up and running. It also helps you improve on the overall look and feel, factors which may be very important to the growth and success of your business venture. Often, the process of visualising your business idea will include:

• Developing a business model
• Identifying the business’s graphical elements,
• Selecting an appropriate location
• Building a website for the business
• Creating a social media presence

The fact that you are now able to see what you will be doing as well as the potential issues that could arise helps relieve the pressure and anxiety of starting out a business.

Manage The Anxiety Of Starting A Business With Edventures 😎

We know how challenging it can be to start out a business, and that is why we are offering you personalised entrepreneurship learning and guidance. Using our AI chat feature “Anna”, you can now ask all the questions related to your business and get personalised responses suited to your needs. Anna will guide you while developing your business idea, and before you know it, you will be saying goodbye to business-related anxiety. 👋

Take a chance to explore and grow your business idea or project by connecting with us in our social channels, and do not forget to let us know some of the other tips you may have to help reduce the anxiety that comes with starting a business.

Also, don’t forget to sign up to our waitlist! 📝