Well, guess what? It was one of my biggest mistakes. I should have just jumped right in and got at it. As a result of my inaction I wasted a lot of time because the majority (90%) of the research I did was never used. It meant absolutely NOTHING. Experience is the best learning tool you could ever have. That is why I constantly tell entrepreneurs to dive in head first and learn to swim.

Failure

People get immobilized when they think about failing. Some people cannot face failure head on, but successful entrepreneur’s can! Failing is a part of life. It’s a huge part of finding out what works and what does not work. That is why I tell entrepreneurs to fail as fast as possible so they can find out what is working. The more times you fail the faster you find out what works!

Change

There are few absolute guarantees in life and change is one of them. Many wannabe entrepreneurs fear change. Charles G. Koch, the founder of the worlds largest private company, Koch Industries, has continuously embraced change. He has learned to adapt his strategies to embrace change and lead his company to greatness. We encourage you to read more about Koch’s Market Based Management philosophy. He has also published a book about MBM which is a great read!

Economic Uncertainty

You probably think that right now is a bad time to be thinking about starting your own business. Don’t worry, many people feel this way. However, a poor economy creates several opportunity’s for entrepreneurs. In fact a lot of successful companies started and grew significantly during a recession or depression.

One of my favorite examples of this is Jim Koch, not to be confused with Charles Koch of Koch Industries. Jim Koch is the founder of Samuel Adams beer and the Boston Beer Company. He began his journey during the 1980’s recession, which just so happened to be perfect timing. There used to be 1,000’s of brewery’s in the United States but when the recession hit a lot of them flopped. Mr. Koch saw an opportunity and went for it. The recession was a perfect time to enter the marketplace.

Now, think about what business’s were in abundance before the recession and have rapidly declined because of the recession. The biggest one that comes to mind is banks. What else can you think of?

Your Business Will Consume Your Life

You want to start a business but you also want to have time to spend with your family and friends. Many people think that starting a business will disable them from having a social life. Well, this is preventable. Don’t let your business run you. You need to run your business!

The bet example I can provide is from Timothy Ferriss book The 4-Hour Work Week which is basically about increasing your efficiency as much as possible and then outsourcing the rest of the work. The principles apply to every type of business and the extent to which they can be applied varies across business’s. However, you will find it extremely useful.

Fear of Being Your Own Boss

When first starting out it can feel like you are wasting your time or that what you are doing is really not that important. It feels like you are running a lemonade stand on the corner of the busiest street in your town, no one is stopping in  and everyone is laughing at you. It can really be discouraging.

Furthermore, starting a company is not exactly going to provide you with a sense of security or stability. This is often really hard for people to deal with. I know it was for me as well. That is why it is important to set goals. Set goals that can be done in a short time period to give you confidence in yourself and in your new business venture. The absolute key to overcoming this fear is setting goals!

There are pretty good arguments for each perspective. There is a theory in consumer behavior that people’s memories can be unlocked using a “key”. That key can be a taste, smell, picture, video, etc. Anything that makes you think about the memory that you have “forgotten”. Have you ever heard a song on the radio and it made you think of someone that was once in your life? Well, that’s a “key”.

With this knowledge, is it possible that people are born with certain characteristics and traits but they are not actually “unlocked” or utilized until they get some training, knowledge and experience?

Let it be known that the U.S. Government spends massive amounts of money training leaders. Schools and Colleges also offer leadership courses that focus on making you a leader, or at least teaching you how to be one. For instance, Cornell has a leadership initiative program for students that is a huge success.

So, what can a leadership program teach you?

Many teach that you are actually born with the potential to lead. However, bringing out those leadership quality’s requires effort, and experience is needed in order for you to develop your leadership skills. Just as important, is figuring out what type of a leader you are. These types of programs often give you the confidence you need to engage with your peers at a high level and even surpass them.

Usually these types of programs focus on case study’s. They go through loads and loads of case study’s that focus on facing and figuring out tough business challenge’s, learning to embrace change, learning to build teams and get the most out of your team and most importantly learning how to lead under pressure. These case study’s are real world experiences. They are designed to assess your leadership style and help you improve on them.

Are you the type of person that likes to always do things yourself? In general, I am. However, I know how to identify what my peers can and cannot do. Most importantly I know how to get the most out of them through delegation and collaboration. You really do need a diverse team around you who’s styles complement your own, or you and your team will not reach it’s full potential.