(This article originally appeared in Sumi’s column for Entrepreneur.)
When I became an entrepreneur, I was motivated by one thing: freedom. I wanted the flexibility to follow my dream. Entrepreneurship allowed me to do work that was engaging and empowering.
I’m not alone. According to a Cox Business study, 61 percent of women entrepreneurs started a business to be their own boss, and more than 50 percent became entrepreneurs to have greater control over their future.
So, what holds more women back from taking the plunge? Sometimes, a “good enough” life is itself a deterrent. College, the corporate ladder, a family: Often these things feel comfortable.
“I was successful at a job that wasn’t really that difficult,” Linda Shesto, CEO of Pearl Aqua LLC, tells me. “When it was time to step into a new reality and become an entrepreneur, I wanted everything set up perfectly. I wanted the same formula for success.”
But there’s no magic formula for entrepreneurial success, of course. Stepping into the unknown is scary — and many women doubt their abilities, feeling like impostors. “I believe that no matter how thoroughly prepared a woman might be, she will feel unprepared, whereas a man will feel even more prepared than he really is,” Shesto says. Unfortunately, research supports this notion.
Other women hesitate to pursue entrepreneurship from fear of not having enough time for themselves or their families. Melissa Sherwood, CEO and creative director at Klara Kelly, says that the biggest challenge is balancing running her business with running her household. And there are many like her. Sherwood’s husband can leave work at the office. But she says that her home is her office, making it that much tougher to get work done when her kids are home.
Here, then, are five strategies to help you crush these types of entrepreneurial fears and succeed even as you step into the unknown:
