By Rieva Lesonsky
Jen Groover, inventor of the Butler Bag, is an innovative entrepreneur who’s a real inspiration to others. If you’re thinking about starting a new business but your fears are holding you back, pre-order a copy of her forthcoming book What If? & Why Not? How to Transform Your Fears Into Actions and Start the Business of Your Dreams.
Groover knows that the biggest roadblock to startup success isn’t the outer obstacles like getting a license or even finding financing, but the inner obstacles that keep you stuck in the status quo. “This is a book about overcoming self-doubt and the fear of failure so that you can take action,” she writes.
The book’s chapters are structured around specific fears, such as, “What if everyone tells me I can’t do it?” or “What if I’m terrified of selling?” In each chapter, Groover addresses the fear and offers a series of “Why Nots” to help you overcome it. She also includes anecdotes from real-life entrepreneurs who share how they overcame fears.
There are many business books that will tell you the nuts and bolts steps to startup, but Groover’s edge is in addressing those inner steps that are often the biggest and hardest to take.
Rieva, Thanks for the information on this new book. She’s hit the nail on the head that one of the biggest obstacles a new small business owner faces is themselves. I just wanted to chime in that another way that the prospective small business owner can feel more confident is to know what they are getting into. The Microsoft Small Business center has an excellent start up section with step by step instructions on the things that have proven successful once they’ve gotten up the nerve to take that first step
Microsoft Small Business Center/Learning Center:
http://bit.ly/ckcKFy
Cheers,
Rebecca
The Microsoft SMB Outreach Team
As an 8 years SBDC consultant and trainer, the book is very much on point. One of the things I drive home on numerous sessions is do not suffer from overanalysis paralysis! My second corporation took over two months for me to make a decision on the business entity afraid to fail. I say “hurry up and fail”, so that you know what works and what does not work for you and your business.
To help me from having to “press rewind” and “play” on the most common questions on starting a business, Small Business 101 DVD that touch the top 10 FAQ’s on a small business. http://www.tiny.cc/profittracker
Use the new book along with other resources to get you going. Just do something and do not give into “overanalysis paralysis”!