Young Successful Entrepreneur

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I was not a great public speaker, until I forced myself to speak in public.
I was not a great leader, until I forced myself to lead a team.
I was not a great teacher, until I forced myself to teach.

Fear is a mental block that prevents you from doing what you want or need to do.  As an entrepreneur, it is your responsibility to overcome your fears, or you and your company will become consumed by it.
Fears that destroy the entrepreneur’s dream:

1. Fear of failure
2. Fear of rejection
3. Fear of confrontation
4. Fear of embarrassment

The four fears listed above are the fears that we will target and eliminate.  This first post will target the fear of failure.

1. Fear of Failure

“A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions–as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), The Gay Science, section 41

Failure is inevitable.   9 out of 10 businesses started in the United States fail.  I have already 1 business that has failed and my business partner Yu-kai Chou has started 2 businesses that have failed.

Understand that if you are starting a company, the chances are that you WILL fail.

Face that brutal fact head on.  Look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that most likely, this company will fail, but you are going to do everything in your power to make sure it succeeds.

An Example

You are a brander, making $50,000 working 50 weeks a year.  That means you’re making $1000 a week pre-tax.  With 50 hours a week, that means you’re making a GRAND total of only $20 per hour.

Ask yourself this question: “If I work my ass of today, how much money will I be making next year?”

The answer is probably AT BEST, a 15% increase in salary.  This means you’ll be making $57,500.  Not much, huh?  This increase in pay is also accompanied by an increase in your workweek.  Your weekly hours will increase to 60 hours a week, which means you will be making a whopping $19.67 after your pay raise!  Your $/hour has actually decreased because of your pay raise.

Now ask yourself this question: “If I left my job right now, how hard would it be to get right back to where I am?  If I took a 1 year vacation and did absolutely nothing, how hard would it be to get myself another branding job that pays $50K a year?”

It is not hard at all.  If you are qualified today, then you will be qualified 1 year from now.

Your ROI if you leave your job and start your own company

What if you left your job today, and for an entire year, focused on starting your own brand consulting company.  What could your potential return be?

When starting your own service or product, know that fewer clients at a higher profit margin are much better than many clients with a low profit margin.  For this reason, you will start your hourly rates at $100 an hour.  This is not outrageous.  As a consultant at Navigant Consulting, I was billed out at $220/hour and saw $22.50 of it.

The goal is to get a client and remain on a monthly retainer basis.

Your first step is to call every single business contact that you have made in the past 2 years or so as a brander and let them know that you have started your own branding company.  Let them know that you would like to set up a time to catch coffee and chat about what you can do for their company.

At the meeting, be concrete, clear, and layout exactly what you can do for them.  Break down your results by month and give them a monthly total for your costs and results.

It is much better to say “I can increase your website traffic by 500% within three months and get you published on 5 major publications for $5,000 a month” than saying “My services are $100/hour and 50 hours a month.”  People don’t want to pay by hour; they want to pay by results.
Lets assume that you were able to set up 40 meetings and that 3 take your offer.  If three clients take your offer, then that means you’re making $15,000 a month for the next three months.  If you’re working by yourself without a team, then you’re working 150-hour months (37.5 hour weeks) and making $100/hour.  Not too bad huh?  You’re already making more money/hour than you were as a brander for a company.

Lets take it one step further.  You hire a team of branders to work for you and give them $25/hour, $5 more per hour than you were making at your previous company.  If they do the work for you, then after you pay them their salaries, you are making $11,250 ($15K - $3,650).  If it takes you 20 hours a month to manage the team, then you are making $562.50 per hour!

Does this seem unrealistic to you?  I don’t think so.  This is a very real scenario that a person is able to do.  All it requires is your time, initial contacts, some initial capital, and hustle.

Could you fail?  Yes, you could fail.  But if you do fail within a year, you can just go back to your corporate existence without missing a beat.  The rewards outweigh the risks

What you should REALLY be afraid of

From this short example, we have seen that what you should really be afraid of is getting a pay raise.  Your real FEAR should be staying trapped by the clutches of your current job.  The real FAILURE would be to remain at your job until retirement.

On my next post, I will address the fear of rejection.