Funding The Future Today

Fear of Success…

Kevin McCarthy has been a friend of mine for many years.  He is the author of The On-Purpose Person and The On-Purpose Business.  In a recent email to his network Kevin dealt with the eternal question of FEAR.  You can hear what Kevin has to say at:

http://www.kevinwmccarthy.com/my_weblog/2010/07/is-fear-avoidable.html

Kevin lists the number two fear that entrepreneurs face as the Fear of Success. Now that may seem strange to those of you who have never owned a business.  After all, one would think that personal success is a prime motivator for entrepreneurs and that is true.  But….

What entrepreneurs have to face every day is the possibility of success.  Sure they face the possibility of failure.  But, success has a set of problems that can imobilize and entrepreneur.

What if you actually get that great big contract?  What if you have to suddenly hire a bunch of people you have never even met?  What if your client likes your proposal and wants to “roll it out” nationwide…this year?

Believe it or not, these are the very things that have caused many well intentioned entrepreneurs to fail.  Success can bring failure and failure hides within every success for the entrepreneur.

Then there is the real fear of being a fluke.  Truly, entrepreneurs frequently fear not being able to “keep up appearances.”  That is, they fear not being able to come up with the next success.  This is the fear of not being able to repeat a success.  This fear can keep the entrepreneur from reaching for the success in the first place.

I once knew a wonderful lady who had become a very successful business owner while still in her 20′s.  She came from a family of entrepreneurs so she knew the ropes.  Her business really exploded.  She was written-up in national magazines.  She was beautiful, brilliant and young.  But her business failed.

When I asked her what happened she replied, “It all just came too easily and too fast.”  She had not been taught how to handle success.  Unfortunately, she did not “get back in the saddle” because the fear of success was very real to her at that point.

My advice is to talk to your trusted advisors about how to handle the success before it hits.  Put in place the processes and procedures that will serve you well when that client finally says “yes”.  Do it now.

Get the financing in place to help you make payroll every week; meet the recruiters who will give you the kind of service you will need to hire and train the right people quickly; and talk about where you will give.

In our family, talking about where we want to give the next windfall is our favorite conversation.  You see, knowing that your success isn’t just for and about you…that it has a higher purpose, can take the wind right out of those fears.

And that brings us back to Kevin McCarthy.  If you want help sorting out the idea that your success has a higher purpose, Kevin is your man.

If you want help meeting that payroll…well, we have an application for that.

Brenda Standlee