Starting a business can be risky, especially because half of them fail within the first five years.
But Gary VaynerchukThe CEO of VaynerMedia, a global company with over 1,200 employees, says waiting to start can be worse than failure. Vaynerchuk is a serial entrepreneur worth over 200 million dollars which has recently started vYve, a four-month accelerator, $50,000 per person program designed for entrepreneurs and corporate executives.
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In an exclusive interview, Vaynerchuk, who passes Gary Vee on social media, told the Entrepreneur how to overcome “imposter syndrome” and get started on your business goals.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Vaynerchuk says fearing the financial risks of starting a business or feeling like a fraud is perfectly normal.
“Imposter syndrome is just a new word because you're insecure. And that's allowed. You're allowed to be insecure,” Vaynerchuk said. “We've repackaged it.”
Gary Vaynerchuk. Photo: Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images
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Insecurity is a feeling that can be overwhelming, but it can be overcome, he says.
“My advice to someone who wants to start a business is this: The longer you wait to not do it when you're actually ready to do it, the more it becomes a thing,” Vaynerchuk said. “The more you stand by a pool like a 6-year-old and you're afraid of swimming, the more you wake up like me, and you're 9 and you're still not swimming. That happened to me. because something started to happen inside yourself, so my recommendation is, don't make a plan.
You better try
Vaynerchuk added that the “biggest thing” to overcoming your fear is taking the plunge in the first place.
In other words, you're better off starting a businessfailing and then going back and getting a job than reaching retirement and asking the question, “Why didn't I?”
“'Why didn't I do it' is the big poison of the back half of our lives,” Vaynerchuk explained.
The financial fear of entrepreneurship pales in comparison to the regret a person might face by not taking the plunge at all, he says.
More people can take the risk and explore entrepreneurship. New business applications were at an all-time high last year, with 5.5 million new applications were filed.
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