Lelia King

The best antidote for fear is knowledge.

– Robin Sharma

At last week’s FreelanceCLT event, one theme stood out for me – freelancers, not surprisingly, are afraid. Afraid of failure. Afraid of running out of money. And I know it’s not just freelancers and solo entrepreneurs, but those fears seem louder when you don’t have a salary and a 401(k) to fall back on.

I have seen a similar fear overshadow the confidence of small business owners. It takes confidence to start a small business, to quit a corporate paycheck, to go out on your own and put your stamp on the world.

So, why not name that fear and then do something about it? Are you afraid to start a company Facebook fan page, because you don’t understand the inner workings of Facebook and don’t have time to read a dictionary-sized guidebook about it? Are you afraid that you won’t be able to track your time, your invoices or deal with the IRS?

My philosophy? Jump in, get your feet wet, and then change and grow as needed. The world will not stop to let you catch up.

I am not a blogging expert, but I started one. I am not an expert at naming a company, or putting together invoices, or going after new business – but I didn’t wait to become an expert first. I’m learning as I’m doing – isn’t that what the “real world” is all about?

None of us had a Twitter handbook when it first came out. But I didn’t want to wait for one – I wanted to find out for myself. I think many of us who are freelancers or small biz entrepreneurs have that itch within us. So why do we let fear take away that drive for knowledge?

So today I say to you – just do it. (thanks Nike). Just start that Facebook page, create a Twitter account, put together an invoice system – put pen to paper and just go. You will be amazed, once again, at what you can do. And when you need help, just ask.