What’s the reason you don’t take the leap into entrepreneurship?

Are you scared of failing?

Are you scared of being embarrassed if things don’t work out? What will your friends say? What will they think of you?

Are you scared that you‘ll have a hard time finding a job again and that companies won’t want you if you FAILED?

You’re not alone. I had these feelings when I started my company but these aren’t reasons that should stop you from following your dream.

I failed… and guess what. It actually turned out to work to my advantage.

Starting a company was one of the greatest learning experiences I could have ever asked for. I attribute that experience to the tremendous growth i’ve had in my career this past year.

Since exiting my company, I increased my salary, moved to San Francisco and have finally found a career that I really enjoy — leading marketing at a startup.

Whether you are thinking about starting a company, have just started one, or are just starting out in your career — here are some lessons I learned from my experience that you can hopefully get value from:

1. Take Calculated Risks- This is something my Dad drilled into my head from day one. “Know where your money is going to come from for at least the first 90 days and make sure you have enough money in the bank to cover your expenses if things don’t go as planned.” Not only does this apply to your money but this applies to all of your decision making. Try to minimize risk as much as possible.

2. Vet Your Idea Before You Take The Leap- You have to vet your idea before you just take the leap on your own. If you’re in a service based business- start doing outreach to see if your target market would be interested in your services. If you’re trying to launch a product, try to get some market validation. See if people would be interested in your idea or create a simple version of your product and try to get growth to validate it.

3. Start A Business That You’re Passionate About: Now I know this sounds a little cliche but it’s an absolute must. If you can’t imagine yourself working on this idea for at least 5 years, living and breathing this idea, then you will not be successful at it. If you’re in it just for the money, then it will probably be short-lived.

4. There Are Always Options: There’s no piece of literature that encapsulates what it feels like starting out on your own more than Ben Horowitz’s “The Struggle.” This is literally how I felt day in and day out- always questioning myself and every decision I made. However, there’s no point stressing out about what went wrong or what could wrong. There are always options and there is always a way out. Even when you’re at the worst point in your company- when you don’t know where your next paycheck is coming from and you don’t know if you’ll make rent the next month… there are options. You just have to be strategic and take a step back and work “on” your business instead of “in” your business to find the answer.

5. Failing is NOT the End of the World: Failure is never a bad thing as long as you have learnings you can take with you. For every time you fail, you will have takeaways that will make you better the next time you make the attempt.

So if you're thinking about taking the leap into entrepreneurship, don't be scared of failing. Failure can sometimes lead to better opportunities. It's always better to take the risk of failing than to not take risk at all. Someday you'll look back on your experience and be happy you made the attempt rather than regretting not taking the chance.

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If you've failed at a start-up before please share some of the things you learned in the comments below.