How To Be Fearless In Business

[bond]

So you want to be a successful entrepreneur? Well, it's true. Those who are successful overcome their shyness. So this "How To" will be about just that. To make it more interesting, I'll talk about my experiences.

Why is it important to be fearless?
As an entrepreneur starting out, I didn't know what's possible and what's not. I been told that if I really knew how hard entrepreneurship was, I would not bother. So, it's a good thing I don't know. There are so many, MANY things an entrepreneur won't know in the particular business he/she is working in. So how do you find out about those things such as... "Who will buy my product", "How much should I charge my product for", "Will my product really make a difference"?. You have to ask. And that has been the toughest thing for me. Why? Fear of rejection. But the ones who are fearless ask questions, even if it is something they don't want to hear. And at the end of the day, the fearless ones understand their product, market and themselves better and will be more successful than the fearful one.

Steps To Become Fearless:
Step 1: Speak up whenever you can, and ask intelligent questions. This applies to being in class, or in a group setting. This exercise helps you get over the fear of what others think of you. "What others think of you is none of your business."


Step 2: Grab any opportunity to make a speech in front of a crowd. Yes, it will be very difficult at first. But the more you practice, the better you get. Besides, you want to be an entrepreneur and entrepreneurs do things that are hard. That's what makes them entrepreneuers! Brainstorm what you will say whenever you get the opportunity for your first speech. When I did mine, I did not type out a speech and read it. Instead, I made bullet points of the things I wanted to talk about, structured them in a logical sequence, and then spoke freely. For me, this works best. It might be different for you. Experiment.


Step 3: Go to networking events once a month. This will also be a difficult task at first because you will feel like the odd one out as you won't know anyone. I been through this before also. Go into these events with the thought of "what can I offer" instead of "what can someone offer me"? This exercise will help with going alone missions that entrepreneurs will often have to do. Case in point, I walked into a regional office of a big organization the other day and just started talking. I introduced myself as an entrepreneur and said that I wanted to learn more about what the organization does. The networking events I attended helps prep for these things.


Step 4: Finally, repeat. Keep doing these things. Keep asking questions to extend what you think is impossible and be pleasantly surprised. Pretty soon, you'll realize how it works. The veteran entrepreneurs that I met all tell me the same thing. You would think that people won't talk to you if you ask them a question but you're wrong. Call anybody and they will talk to you. Do this enough and pretty soon, you won't be afraid to talk to anyone or ask anyone anything. You'll be fearless!

Comments are welcomed.