Are you afraid to make a difference?

Fear of becoming an entrepreneur can be hard to distinguish from the practical barriers you face. In this video from May 2011, I ask whether some of us make the plan so big that we never have to take the first step.

Fear of becoming an entrepreneur or a real obstacle?

I talk about people who wanted to start a business, but thought they first needed premises, employees and substantial funding in place.

When the bank said no, that became the explanation for why the project couldn’t happen. My suspicion was that some were also afraid of failing, so they’d made getting started unnecessarily difficult.

That’s my interpretation of those conversations, not an explanation of every rejection or everyone’s situation.

Does the plan need to be that big from the start?

I don’t think you need to become the next Bill Gates to have a good business. I knew self-employed people without employees who were happy with both their work and their lives.

I also talk about a friend who compared having many customers with depending on one employer. That was his argument in a conversation with a bank, not a rule about which income is safest.

Examine one step at a time

My advice was to break the ambition down into smaller steps and look at which one you were actually afraid of. That makes it easier to examine whether the obstacle is real or whether you could start another way.

That can also lead you to decide against the project. The point was to make a clearer decision instead of continuing to regret it.

The video’s statements about bank loans and expectations for pensions reflect my debate in 2011. They are not a current assessment of financing or pension conditions.

Also read about starting with one market.

The leap into the unknown

Today I don’t want to talk politics. I’m fed up with it now. Instead, I want to talk about why we don’t do the things we want to do. My angle is entrepreneurship, but the idea applies to many other ambitions in life.

Entrepreneurs are in the minority, in Denmark and elsewhere. Doing something that most people around you don’t do can feel frightening. You also have to take chances and live with not knowing quite as much about tomorrow or your next pay cheque.

It’s about breaking patterns and habits. I’ve met capable businesspeople with MBAs and all sorts of qualifications who still couldn’t take the step. They had the ability, but they also had a barrier.

I compare it to standing on a ten-metre diving platform. You know the jump won’t necessarily kill you, although you could hurt yourself. Even so, stepping out into the unknown can be difficult. That’s the feeling I’m trying to get at.

A two-million-kroner plan can become an easy explanation for a no

People tell me they’d like to be entrepreneurs, but it isn’t possible. When I ask why, the answer is often that they drew up a business plan and went to the bank, but the bank wouldn’t lend them the money.

Then I ask about the plan. Often, they’ve set up a big scenario from the start: People need to be hired, premises rented, desks and all sorts of other things bought. They need DKK 2 million to get going.

In this video from May 2011, I say that’s not money you can just get from the bank without security or a good track record. I’m not even sure I could walk in and get it myself, despite having made the banks a lot of money.

My suspicion is that some people know deep down that the answer will be no. They’re afraid to fail, and by making the task enormous they can protect themselves from making the decision itself. Afterwards, they can say: I wanted to, but the bank said no. Shit society, shit banks, shit everything. Sadly, now I have to stay an employee.

Then you can comfort yourself that at least you tried. If you’re truly happy with that choice, that’s fine. I just think many people keep regretting it because they really wanted to try something else.

My friend had 200 customers; his friends had one employer

One of my friends, who’s an entrepreneur, was at the bank asking for a loan for a house. The bank employee said it was too uncertain. Being an entrepreneur was risky.

So he asked about his friends who’d been allowed to borrow for a similar house. Each had one employer. If that employer fired them, they would no longer have that income.

He, on the other hand, had 200 customers paying him. If ten customers disappeared, he’d still have 190 left and time to find new ones. That was his way of challenging the bank’s view of security.

I think that’s an interesting angle. It doesn’t make every business safe, but it shows that risk can take several forms. You don’t have to automatically see entrepreneurship as dangerous and employment as secure.

I wouldn’t count on society sorting everything out either

In the video, I express very bleak expectations for early retirement benefits, the state pension and future welfare. At the time, I fear there won’t be enough money for the promises well-meaning politicians want to make. I also say I could be wrong.

That’s my concern from 2011, not a description of the pension rules that apply now. The point of my argument is that I wouldn’t build my entire future on the idea that an employed job and the state would always provide a secure life.

As an entrepreneur, I feel I have more options. When things go badly, you can try scaling back. When things go well, you can put in an extra effort. Hopefully, you can build value in the business and have several customers to rely on.

That’s the flexibility I want included in the thinking, rather than only looking at the uncertain beginning.

You don’t have to become a world champion or Bill Gates

If you’ve bitten off far too much and then say it wasn’t possible, try looking inside yourself. Have you set the conditions so that you never have to decide whether you dare?

I use a marathon as an example. If you’ll only run if you can become the world’s best, you can find an excuse in your legs not being long enough. But even if you’ll never be world champion, you can still enjoy running a marathon.

The same goes for a business. You don’t have to become the next Bill Gates and work 24 hours a day. You can have a great business working for yourself without employees.

I know several people who, in my view, make a very good living working for themselves, better than they would in some of the best paid jobs. They don’t necessarily work more than 37 hours a week. Those are my examples, not a promise of what every self-employed person can earn.

Look at the ambition in a more nuanced way. What do you actually want from it? And when you put up those huge barriers, could it be because you don’t dare?

Which step are you actually afraid of? Also read Skab din egen succes about finding your own path and daring to take the first steps.

If fear is taking up space, examine it. Break the journey into small chunks. Which steps do you need to take to get what you want, and which one are you afraid of?

You might find a completely real obstacle. Perhaps you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur, marathon runner, world traveller or schoolteacher. That can be a reasonable choice, and then it’s good to make peace with it.

But perhaps it’s a barrier that isn’t as rational as you imagine. A ghost, or an idea about the Law of Jante. I initially call it a psychological flaw in the video, then correct myself because that sounds too strong. It’s a barrier I want us to examine.

I’d find it a bloody shame to get far into life and ask why I never became an entrepreneur, tried high diving, travelled abroad, became a teacher or dared to come out and live the way I really wanted.

Take each piece on its own and work on it. You might discover the task isn’t so frightening when you look at one step at a time. And then, for God’s sake, take a chance.

We’re going to die anyway. I don’t really believe I’ll get another life afterwards with wings on, and I’m not taking that chance. I’ve got this life. I want to use it, do something with it and enjoy it. That’s the encouragement I’m passing on.

Have a great weekend. Best wishes, Martin