Real and Imaginary Obstacles Block Your Path

So, you want to start a business? When you are throwing around the idea to get started as an entrepreneur you are extremely excited, but you are also very nervous about all of the obstacles that lay in front of you.  In fact, you might even write a list of all of the obstacles that you are going to have to deal with as a business owner. As you look at your daunting list you start to realize how “impossible” this journey is and there is no way that you will ever succeed. You take your enthusiasm and your great idea and you sweep it under the rug.  You decide that maybe your dream isn’t worth fighting for, because there are just way too many obstacles that you are not going to be overcome and therefore you will just completely fail. You convince yourself that you weren’t ever a business person anyways. Maybe it’s for the best, you tell yourself.

Look, I am not here to tell you that opening up a business is all butterflies and rainbows. It is sometimes really hard. There are challenges in being an entrepreneur that you have never experienced and you are going to have to learn how to adapt to each new situation. Some of the obstacles that you have in your mind are real. These obstacles should be considered and you should make a plan in order to overcome these obstacles. However, some of the obstacles, that you are so deathly afraid of, aren’t even real, they are imaginary.

Whether obstacles are real or imaginary, they still pose a threat to you ever reaching your goal. You may be thinking…

• I don’t have enough money. I have no business training.
• I don’t have any support or resources.
• No one would really want to buy my stuff or use my services anyways.
• I don’t have enough money.
• And, I don’t even know where to start!

These are some of the common concerns I hear from potential entrepreneurs.  I smile when people tell me these types of concerns, because the business market isn’t selective on who has the most start-up cash, or who has an MBA. You will thrive if you have enough passion, you are willing to work hard and you are creative.  It is completely hogwash that you need tons of money, a fancy degree, or tons of experience to create a lucrative and thriving business.

Being an entrepreneur and opening up a business isn’t for everybody. Some people may have no interest in leaving their corporate life. Some people really like working for a boss and working their 9-5 and that is completely fine. If that works for you, then I am not here to try to convince you to leave something you enjoy. However, if you are anything like me, you will want to get out of that life and into a life with more freedom and more possibilities.

Opening up my own business was very hard. It cost me a lot of time, sweat, and energy.  Although that may seem rough, it did not compare to the agony I felt every day by not following my dream. Every day I knew I could be doing more, I knew that I had a bigger potential and there I was, not achieving any of it. You may be afraid to follow your dreams, but you should be more afraid to not follow your dreams.

It is time to think of the obstacles that you are most afraid of and decide whether these obstacles are real or imaginary. You might be surprised to find out that many of the obstacles that lay in your path aren’t really obstacles at all! Once you have identified that most of your obstacles are imaginary, then your idea doesn’t seem so difficult after all.