Starting your own business can be terrifying, but, at the same time exhilarating. There may be many times at the beginning of this journey, that you will long for the safety net of a regular job, with regular hours, and with a regular income.
In the wee small hours of the morning, when you're long for sleep, your brain will be bursting with all manner of scary images, not least the looming threat of failure.
Just remember to ask yourself why you decided to take this journey in to the unknown. Was it for financial freedom, (something that may look decidedly unobtainable at the beginning)? Was it to prove something to your peers, and, more importantly, yourself? Or was it to follow a dream?
When we're young, we all have dreams. How many of us can remember we'd set our hearts on traveling the world, writing a novel, beating a record?
What happened to those dreams? For most of us, they were tucked away away, sometimes aired once in a while, then pushed back, never to surface again, while we got on with the business of surviving.
Never give up on your dreams. They are what made you, so you have an obligation to fulfill them. Going it alone when starting a new business does not necessarily mean just that. There's bucket loads of support out there, and it's not hard to find. As a small business owner myself, I found my greatest allies were other small business owners.
They were the obvious, and most sensible choice, when asking for advice. And, to a man, (or woman) they were generous with their support. They had once started the same journey I was on, and knew the pitfalls and setbacks I would encounter.
Business owners nearly always try to support each other; indeed, in most cases, they are simply on other small businesses to survive. It is in their own interest to offer a helping hand.
Never be afraid to ask for advice, and never be afraid to admit you may have been doing something wrong. Others may be able to see faults which are not always obvious to you. If something is not working, do not cling on to it, just because you thought it was a good idea.
Try to be positive, even when everything, and everyone, seems to be conspiring to make life more difficult. Success breeds success, failure joins more failure.
I wish you all every success.