Dear Alia:

There is always a risk starting a business. The good part is that the startup is not a lot of money, but there will be a lot of work put into it, that kind of investment, maybe more money invested along the way.

Your lack of confidence in your abilities, one that you expressed in the previous thread, is a problem and will be a problem if and when you embark on starting a business. You will need to prepare for it and manage it. Lots of small businesses fail, but if yours fails, you will consider it (will you not?) another personal failure. And it may not at all fail, if it does, because of something you would do wrong.

So, yes, part of the business plan would have to be planning for your emotional well-being as you go about it.

anita

Dear Alia:

You mentioned your family in a previous thread as well as in your recent post: “my family suffering for my issues”. You mentioned in an earlier post that you are in your early forties. I am wondering if by family you mean parents/ siblings, your original family, that is (not husband/ children). Maybe your sense of responsibility toward your parents (if I am correct in my assumption that this is the family you referred to) is dragging you down. Maybe a sense of over-responsibility is and has been making your life very difficult.

When I believed that every choice I made regarding money/ employment was a choice that greatly affected my mother, that I owed her… that made every such choice very difficult to make and “making mistakes has paralyzed me” as well. Is this the case for you too, feeling the burden of financial responsibility for parent/s?

anita

Dear Alia:

This small child, “already being affected by (your) issues”, if this is a small child, maybe a little girl who is living with you, then she needs much more than your  money. She needs your calm, the  calm in your voice as you talk to her, in your eyes and smile as you look at her, in your touch as you  put her to bed at  night. Aim at calm for her sake.

For that purpose of calm,  I think it is better that  you find employment as an employee, make enough money to pay off your debt and sustain shelter, food, medical care,  the necessities. With your anxiety,  better not start a business, I think, or anything freelance. Better have a routine, a schedule and a paycheck at the end of the week or month.

If your concern is the well being of this child, then outside  of providing for bare necessities, the best  you can do for her is appear calm, and encourage  her to do things for herself, be it small things, to achieve,  to  make things happen  in her young life, a cleaning chore or a cooking task. Praise her for job well done, give her the sense  that  she is adequate and successful in her endeavors. If you do that, there will be  no  one more awesome in her life.

anita

Hello Alia,

I too am starting my own business. It is scary.  I do have a full time job,  I have to support myself as there is no one else in my life.Mine is a web biz ourtime2thrive.com.

I’m curious what your is. You have not shared.

It takes a lot of courage to start a business, do not let self doubt stop you! If it feels right I say go for it! What is the worst that can happen?