The fear of failure

Fear of failure... Many people say when informed that I have set up a business at the age of 23 'that is very brave of you'. Every time I enjoy replying 'Thank you, that's the name of my business'. I run the startup Brave New Enterprises and yes at times it is incredibly scary to swim against the tide and start up alone. There are good and bad times but the ride is fantastic fun. The opportunity costs of starting a business are huge - it just so happened that they were too much for me to resist!

I feel fear holds so many people back. So much of modern society live in constant fear. I heard a statistic that more people die falling off ladders than are killed by terrorists. This point goes to show that at times the fear we all feel can be both exaggerated and irrational. If only more people could give starting a business a go they will see its a bit like riding a bike, we all fall off a few times to start but then we get the hang of it. The only difference is most people will spend a lifetime getting better at riding the bike and falling off many times along the way.

Something bothers me about British societies approach to failure which probably gives root to most people's fear of starting a business. In Britain I feel the attitude to failure, although improving, still has a long way to come. In the States failure is seen in a more positive light as a learning process.

There is a saying 'Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment'. As entrepreneurs I feel it is important to recognize the fear of failure and strive to face it, overcome it and build our dream businesses. For me 'dreams are not what I have in my sleep, they are what prevent me from sleeping!'