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Speciale Halloween: le paure da affrontare per fare startup

This year's Halloween special will show you how many "startup" fears can be overcome with the right approach.

I believe that only one thing makes the realization of a dream impossible: the fear of failure!

Paulo Coelho

Last year in our Halloween 2020 special we talked about fears related to the world of technology. Today we talk about the most common fears among startuppers, but before you get the shiver, read to the end of the article for some tips on how to overcome them and let your projects take off.

1. Fear of the unknown

You've got anidea, you've planned everything down to the last detail, you've created the perfect team but you still don't know what the future holds. It's the most adrenaline-filled but also the scariest part of the journey so far. How will the market react? Will you find someone who will invest in your idea? Will customers look at your solution as the answer to their own needs? Doing business implies putting yourself on the line and accepting that there will be risks to face, that there will be a lot of work to do and above all that you will have to defend your idea tooth and nail (please, with rationality). Analyze the data, think about the expectations of your future business, consider whether you should put on the brakes to avoid crashing in the attempt to do too much and you will realize that the challenge against the unknown may be fully within your reach.

2. Fear of leaving a stable job

Working on your own on a business project is an unpredictable choice and it is absolutely normal that the idea of leaving (or discarding) a secure, lasting and stable job can make you waver. Developing your own idea and choosing to work on a startup means taking on responsibilities and risks but also offers the opportunity to feel like the master of your own destiny. Why wonder what would happen if you followed your dream?

3. Fear of failure

Many times before succeeding you have to face failure. Paradoxically, it is better to fail as early as possible in your first attempts and experiences because you will gain more than you will lose. Learning from mistakes will make you grow, give you the right perspective to tackle the next idea and continue on the road to your next challenge.

4. Fear of losing money

Funding, calls for proposals, grants, investments, loans, pre-seed, seed: the search for money for your startup, at first glance, may seem an impossible task from a lexical point of view. Once you have solved the problems with the glossary , the next hurdle will be to find out from whom and where to go to find the funds you need. This seems easier said than done. Obviously, getting your mindset right from a business/financial standpoint so that you don't jeopardize everything you've worked for should be your top priority. Network, find contacts, tell people about your idea, get people excited about believing in you enough to give you their money to enable you to realize your project. There are many investors, accelerators and incubators that in recent years are committing many resources, time and energy to the world of startups.

5. Fear of exposure

If you believe in your idea strongly enough to have faced all the previous fears you can't let insecurity stop you. Some people out there don't know yet that they need what you are going to propose to the market but there will also be some who miss the solution you are going to propose to them (if you did the ideation phase right). There may be someone faster than you but perhaps further behind in development who may emerge instead of you just because you took too long to study your go-to-market strategy.

So, what to do?

These are just some of the "startup" fears but there are others: the fear of having your idea stolen, the fear of not being able to manage your work-life balance properly, the fear of not having the technical skills and experience, the fear of not being able to grow and scale, etc...

Develop competence and confidence, get organized and study scenarios carefully but don't stop to analyze the infinite horizon of events because you risk getting lost in imagining all possible futures without ever starting to take any road. Be brave, build a working method and surround yourself with people aligned to your goals and if you really believe in what you do you will see that your path can become an incredible experience and the value and passion of your work will be seen in the results you will bring home.

If you need help to make a success of your startup project, visit our Resources Resources

Author

Luca Coppolella
Head of Content

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