Starting a Business -- Overcoming Doubt and Fear

[Avery]

I'm trying to start up a law office in my town, and even though I have a lot of specialized knowledge and skills, overcoming doubt is by far my biggest problem so far. Even though I have a few cases right now, I keep having the fear that the phone isn't going to ring and that I will be quickly out of business and unable to support myself. The main problem is not finding people who need legal help, but finding paying clients. So far most of my client base comes from friends who often cannot afford legal fees.

I've actually stopped telling people I just met that I'm a lawyer. I try to put off the conversation about my career until later since I'm unable to make a living for myself doing this yet. That may be the wrong approach--maybe I should be telling everyone I know, and even some that I don't know, that I'm looking for business right now. But the fear is hitting me hard.

I know that I won't make it right away. I know it takes continued effort that will eventually snowball into success (hopefully). I also wonder what I'm going to do in the meantime to make money. My expenses are pretty low right now since I'm a single female basically living like a college student, but I still need money to survive.

So I was wondering for those who have started their own business, how did you overcome fear? Do you think that worrying about "making it" is potentially helpful in some ways, or is it counterproductive and a waste of energy? It feels like a huge burden right now, and I'm trying to figure out how I could take more action to deal with it. Part of me wonders if it's just a natural part of the process of starting a business, or if it's something that is holding me back a lot right now.

[Johnny Metal]

I can relate, when I was starting my business, I had a fear nobody would go to my website to read my articles. I overcame the block by writing my fears, and then reframing them one by one. I focus on what I CAN do:

Fear: Nobody will visit my website

Declarations that counteract the fear:
I can find people who could be interested in reading my articles, and show them my website, some of them will read my articles.
I will add Share buttons at the end of the article to encourage people to share my articles.
I will put Subscribe buttons into people's faces to encourage them to subscribe to my blog.
I will build roads (links) to my website to create traffic movement.

See what I did there? It's an ongoing process too, as I advance, I must keep on noticing and reframing the fears that pop up.


Read more about how I do it in my article, the step c where I talk about overcoming inner resistance:

> How to get stalled projects moving again



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[Johnny Metal]

Here's a business declaration I just can't get enough of:

I am an awesome human being, taking on an awesome new endeavour.


When you feel the fear and doubt creeping in about your little entrepreneurial empire, replay this declaration in your head and giggle.

[Marvel]

My way to overcome fear is just do it anyway. There's a saying 90% of our fear will never really happen, even if it happened, it's not as bad as we thought.

So I always ask myself following questions:

"How do I know everything will not work until I prove it?"
"What am I focusing now? Lack or abundance?"
"Will fear make me success?"

Just my experience

[JBlunt]

I was also thinking about starting up my own Online Internet Marketing Business. But the thing is i live in another country and want to work for another or provide services in other country as my country dont need those services. I am really in a hot soup on how to do this.

[elucidate]

Originally Posted by Marvel

My way to overcome fear is just do it anyway. There's a saying 90% of our fear will never really happen, even if it happened, it's not as bad as we thought.

So I always ask myself following questions:

"How do I know everything will not work until I prove it?"
"What am I focusing now? Lack or abundance?"
"Will fear make me success?"

Just my experience

I do this too. Get used to discomfort...it won't kill you, but it will help you get where you want to go and paving your own way is going to entail a certain level of discomfort. Most people are too busy trying to be comfortable all the time.

[Andrew Gubb]

Well, if you need more money to survive you can work something out, right? Is there anything you can do part time that would give you some stability?

Asides from that, if you can put as much time as possible into marketing. And yeah, I'd recommend telling people what you do.

[Peterw]

It's tough at the beginning when you're trying to establish yourself. It's also quite lonely and scarey, especially when the phone isn't ringing and money isn't coming in.

I'm not that knowledgeable about the legal profession but do you specialise in any particular niche of it? What sort of clients are you after and where can you go and meet them?

What you could do is get some business cards/flyers printed that promote some free/no obligation kind of consultation just to open a dialogue with potential customers. Then go to networking events and give them out.

How are your sales and marketing skills? What is your website like? Does it have a lead generating call to action like an opt in download or a telephone consulation as it's main focus?

Do you have any case studies or testimonials you can use?

Do you know anyone else who provides services to the kind of clients you want to attract (like an accountant, different kind of lawyer) who you can work out some kind of referral scheme with?

[elucidate]

Just to add to what PeterW said, there are some companies that give discounts on business cards if you buy 250 or 500 at a time, and will offer the first month free if you set up a website with them. Google offered me free set up of a website for the first year and then $5 a month after that. I don't think it gets any cheaper than that.

[Avery]

First of all, I want to thank you guys for some really great suggestions. I love the idea of tackling each specific fear with action, and different ways of thinking about starting my practice. I do have lots of ideas about what I can do, but having faith that it will work is the difficult problem. I really appreciate your comments, suggestions, and support.

I do feel way more optimistic today than when I wrote this post. I think it's because I got internet at my office today and sat down and wrote some articles for a little bit of side income, which makes me worry less about funds. I really like my office, and I hung up my degrees today. My office is basically just one room in an office suite around some other lawyers, and I'm right next to a massage therapist, which may be useful someday. I feel very productive there, far moreso than I do at home.

Right now, I am taking just about any type of case without turning people away just because they can't pay what most lawyers charge. I have the time to figure out unfamiliar areas of the law right now. I know some other lawyers only like to take certain types of cases, and I am trying to meet those lawyers so they can refer me the cases they don't want when someone calls. I'm hoping my former boss will refer me some work, but I haven't had much luck with his referrals so far.

I am reading books about marketing right now. That's something they really don't teach in law school. I'm not a naturally outgoing person, but I am trying to meet people more, and I'm thinking about what groups I could join to help me make more contacts.

Testimonials are very valuable, and down the road, maybe I could try to get some of those from happy clients. Right now I'm focusing on building the experience I need to stand out, and most of my clients are friends or are referred by friends. In one of the marketing books I'm reading, some of the suggestions was sending out surveys to clients and asking them to list one thing they did like and one they didn't like, and that what they like could possibly be used as a testimonial.

There are specific ethical rules about promoting a law practice that I won't fully go into right now since it's not very interesting. But I'll give an example... You can't pay a person who isn't a lawyer, like a bail bondsman, to hand out your card. They can hand it out if they want to, but they can't get any type of fee for doing so. There are lots of weird rules like that, like you can't solicit clients you don't know in person, even when you know they need legal help--that has to be done in writing so they can think it over.

Some of my marketing ideas for down the road are to give free seminars and offer free ebooks and other information online about legal problems. I might make some videos of myself eventually to put on my website, too, answering some type of FAQs, to give potential clients a sense of who I am before they meet me.

Again, thanks again you guys for reading my post and giving such helpful feedback. It makes me feel more empowered already thinking about all the things I can do, rather than focusing on the chance of failure. I will probably update in a few months about how it's going.

[Omarion]

Starting business is like taking a plunge into the air for the first flight like a baby bird. But all you need is courage which is only gained through your daily experience. I suggest you should gather all the possible information the the business you are about to start then you will have to hesitation.

[itybiz com]

Hi Avery,

You'll often find you find great help and support online. I actually created an account to answer your question. I'm often asked by friends for advice on the starting up stage.

I would suggest before you spend any more time on marketing books you deal with your confidence. I hear myself in your words, especially that part about not telling anyone what you do. I can promise you that if you continue to do that you won't be successful. You must feel pride and motivation for what you're doing.

I found a ton of great advice in motivational speakers. Once you get yourself fired up about who you are and what you offer, you'll find you can naturally create business from those around you. They won't hire you if you're giving off an uncertain vibe.

A new business can be very emotional and most people don't know what to do with that emotion, so it turns to fear. The most successful people realize that it's just energy and instead of letting it rot into fear, they direct it into excitement, passion and motivation. It certainly helps that they've got the experience to know they're on the right track.

Don't let that energy turn into fear. There are lots of great resources out there. Put down the marketing books and check out As a Man Thinketh, Think and Grow Rich or even some of the newer authors. A few quotes from Zig Ziglar should get you up! I'd suggest you also do a Youtube search for Les Brown. One of the top results has footage from one of his shows that I absolutely love. He talks about how he got a job being a DJ because he was hungry for it. Definitely gives me chills every time I hear it.

You have to really WANT it.

One point about the mention of the business cards above for $5. I'd HIGHLY discourage anything that cheap. People are hiring a lawyer, not a dog walker. You need to look and feel confident and professional and I'd suggest cards on a nice feeling card stock with lawyer style layout - clean, corporate fonts etc. Check out - inkure.com for pretty good rates on higher quality cards.

In your place I'd get some nice feeling cards (at least 1,000) a nice looking card case on ebay is only a couple of dollars and you'll start being proud to tell people you're a lawyer.

Best of luck to you, keep in touch, we'd love to hear how things are going.

Steve

[elucidate]

Originally Posted by itybiz com

One point about the mention of the business cards above for $5. I'd HIGHLY discourage anything that cheap. People are hiring a lawyer, not a dog walker. You need to look and feel confident and professional and I'd suggest cards on a nice feeling card stock with lawyer style layout - clean, corporate fonts etc. Check out - inkure.com for pretty good rates on higher quality cards.

Mine have a very professional feel to them and really capture the essence of the vibe I am going for in my business. I don't believe you have to pay a lot for this, and the feedback I have received confirms this.

[itybiz com]

Originally Posted by elucidate

I don't believe you have to pay a lot for this, and the feedback I have received confirms this.

Yeah, you can get about 1,000 high quality textured now for about $50 plus shipping. The internet and modern printing presses have really brought the price down. I remember my dad ordering about 500 plain cards for about $150 for his computer business years ago. They had the tacky computer clipart in the corner.

[elucidate]

Originally Posted by itybiz com

Yeah, you can get about 1,000 high quality textured now for about $50 plus shipping. The internet and modern printing presses have really brought the price down. I remember my dad ordering about 500 plain cards for about $150 for his computer business years ago. They had the tacky computer clipart in the corner.

Really?

I paid about $14 for 250 through Vistaprint. The cards themselves were free, but postage and the matte finish cost me. $150 for 500...boy, that's a lot.

The quality is fine...they even gave me a free website to play with for a month, and now I pay $17 a month for it, but I'm about to switch to google for a new website where I pay nothing for the first year and then $5 a month after that.

I hear so many people ♥♥♥♥♥ about how long it took them to set up a website...took me about 30 minutes all up, and it turned out fabulous. I've had lots of great feedback from people I know...and they loved the cards, so I really don't know what others here are talking about?