How I Conquered My Money Fears To Start A Business

Starting a business can be scary. All sorts of what-if’s. What if it isn’t successful and I run out of money? What if it takes a long time to succeed? What if I don’t have the skills? The what-if’s can kill you.

I started a business and 3 years later sold it for 100% profit and I set myself up for retirement. That sounds so great right? But wait!

I had just left my marriage, had two children 11 and 14, had just bought a house, and then lost my job. Most people thought I was crazy. But, I had an idea. I had time on my hands. I had about 4 months left of my severance, and I had a possible partner who would help me fund the effort. In my case, I needed some skills I didn’t possess, so I hired a few developers and off we went.

Fast forward three years, we sold to a major insurance company and all ended well. Yes, I skipped the hard parts, but those will all be uncovered below in the 7 lessons I learned to reduce risks, take a leap, and achieve entrepreneurial dreams.

1. Don’t Ever Let Fear Stop You

It is damn scary to start your own business as an adult. As a kid it feels like it would be easier. You have no savings, your expenses are low, and you have boundless energy. As an accomplished adult who has a mortgage, kids who seem to cause money to slip through your fingers, and plenty of commitments, it is more daunting. But here is the thing. There is never a right time. In order to bring your idea to fruition, you have to leap. If you don’t do it now, then when? What are the criteria for when it is the right time? If you can establish some future date and stick to it - great. But most people move the goalposts because their situation changes. So why not now? Will it really get easier later? Just like the answer is always no if you don’t ask. The result of your efforts is nothing if you don’t try.

In my case, I had the following quadfecta of challenges:

🏡 I just bought a house. And no, I didn’t buy a small little house. I bought a four bedroom house with an office and a pool. The amount of money it took to run this house was notable.

👩‍💻 I lost my job two weeks after buying the house. I worked hard to reduce my expenses as low as they could go. But see the bullet above.

👩‍👧‍👦 I had two kids. One was a pre-teen boy about to start eating ravenously and growing like a weed. The other was a girl involved in the expensive sport of gymnastics and 2.5 years from heading to college. Their needs were not minimalist.

⚮ I was in the middle of a messy divorce that would end up costing me at least 2 years worth of college tuition.

On the positive side, I had:

• Investments available should I need them

• 4 months of severance pay left

• An ability to do anything I put my mind to, which was to make sure I kept the house, fed the kids and met their needs, and built the business

The key to not letting fear stop you is to find ways to ease the pains and manage the risks. Keep on reading for tips on that.

2. Consider Other Ways To Earn Money

Are you still employed? If so, can you keep your job and build this business on the side? Can you do some independent consulting while you are building your business to feed the coffers? In my case, since I didn’t have a job, I employed a myriad of options to pay my mortgage:

• I did some independent consulting work 1 to 2 days per week in my prior field

• When my kids were at their dad’s, I Airbnb’d my house. That didn’t always turn out well, like the time a guest threw a rave with a DJ and all, and we required the police to kick them out. But my house was also featured on Bill Kurtis’s American Greed.

• When necessary, I withdrew money from my investment accounts, but this was always the last straw

• I paid more than the minimum on my credit card, but for the first time in my life, I let a balance ride for a few months until the cash would come in from one of my other sources

Other people may take a second mortgage on their house or get a loan from a bank or relative.

Another interesting idea is inspired by Airbnb when they were running low on money.

Airbnb started when the founders started charging $80 a night to rent out part of their San Francisco apartment. The interesting story is that in 2008, when they were low on cash, the Airbnb team sold novelty cereal called “Obama O’s” and “Cap’N McCains” during the 2008 presidential election and brought in $30,000 to continue to fuel their fledgling business.

3. Find a Partner / Investor

Partners provide a multitude of benefits including providing another perspective and potentially offering complimentary skills. I have written previously about how finding a partner with a different perspective or style than you can be outrageously beneficial so I won’t repeat that here. But the other benefit is the shared risk. With a partner, you both have skin in the game, both in energy and in finances. Splitting the cost between more people reduces the impact on each. And with that partner, you could also add investors - friends and family who believe in you and/or your idea to provide a bit of money to fund the effort. I know - you don’t want to ask them because you don’t want to be a reason they lost money. Another perspective is that you can be the reason they earned money.

In my case, I had a partner who I had worked with before and our skills were very complimentary. He also put up a chunk of change as did I. I also donated my time which was a significant investment and is what triggered me to find alternative funding for my lifestyle. We tapped into some colleagues who believed in us and knew we would be good stewards of their money. Their investment put them on the board and we had regular meetings to review our progress and plans. We also put good financial controls in place ensuring no one could abscond with any money surreptitiously (very important).

4. Find Mutually Beneficial Affiliations

There may be other companies in your space that will benefit from your company - think about the moray eel and the cleaner shrimp as pictured below.

According to twofishdivers.com, Moray eels will actively seek out cleaner shrimps on the reef during the day. The moray eel will give a free a meal to any shrimp which cleans it of its parasitic load. Cleaner shrimp are usually especially keen on cleaning around the moray eel’s eyes, gills, teeth – even bravely entering the eel’s mouth to ensure thorough teeth cleaning session and a decent meal!

Might there be a company in your space who also serves your customers but with a different solution? Maybe you sell collectibles and they sell cases for your collectibles. In that situation, they might be willing to package your products and pay you for the referral? Now is the time to be creative? How can you increase your earnings without a herculean effort?

In my software company, we had just that - a complimentary offering who was willing to pay us for the warm referral. In my coaching business, I tapped into a therapist who regularly encounters entrepreneurs who may want to start or are struggling in their businesses. With each client, she shares in the revenue. The options are limitless as long as you open up your mind.

5. Follow The Opportunities

I know. Most people say follow your passions. But I find that following the opportunities has worked better for me. Partly because my passions and perspective have changed over time. I never thought I would run my own business when I was younger. That wasn't my passion. But, when would this opportunity arise again? Would my partner still be interested in 5 years when my situation was more settled? Would a kid in college and one more following suit impact my choices? Instead of asking “Why” - ask yourself “Why Not?” This was my chance. There was a risk of failure, but there was also an opportunity for success.

OK, I will admit. I am an optimist and see the glass half full in these situations. So if you are more vigilant and see the glass half empty, how can you change your perspective? Ask yourself “What would have to be true for this to be a good idea?” and evaluate if now is the right time or if this idea is the right idea.

6. Remember, You Can’t Save Yourself to Prosperity

My uncle Norm, a CFO, was once preaching to me during a family gathering about the national debt and how having debt is a tool to achieving wealth using the phrase “You can’t save yourself to prosperity. In my case, I borrowed from my credit card companies and for a short time, took out a balloon loan until I could pull my investment money out of the markets.

The results for me were great - I didn’t end up Steve Jobs rich, but I did set myself up for retirement and didn’t have to worry about earning money again. That provided me with an opportunity to pivot to coaching where I can worry more about helping people and not let the stress of money get in the way.

7. Reframe Your Fear of Failure

I say that and what I mean is that there are no failures. Yes, you may have a business that didn’t succeed, but you probably learned a lot along the way that can help you next time. Mark Cuban experienced numerous business failures before becoming a billionaire. Thomas Edison failed in 1,000 experiments before perfecting the light bulb. Stephen King's first novel "Carrie" was rejected by around 30 publishers. The list of failures followed by successes is long and inspiring. So if you find yourself worried about failing for whatever reason, try a reframe such as:

• I am going to learn a lot along the way, even with any missteps

• I am brave for trying

Or find your own reframe and remind yourself regularly of this new thought.

The Takeaway

The real takeaway is this,...

It’s never the right time to start a business, but if you continue to wait until it is the right time and don’t take the leap, you will always regret it. And on that note, I will leave you with a quote from Sara Blakely from Spanx:

Start now

Start where you are

Start with fear

Start with pain

Start with doubt

Start with hands shaking

Start with voice trembling

Just Fucking Start”

If you are struggling with the fear of starting,coaching may be for you. Schedule a free coaching discovery call to explore how coaching can help you overcome and get started.