This guest blog has been provided by Marissa Perez of businesspop.net. Thank you Marissa for your insight.

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Fear can be paralyzing. Entrepreneurship is inherently risky, and there’s no guarantee that your business will be successful. However, you can overcome fear by reducing some of the risk with these tips.

1. Test Your Business Idea

Before betting everything on your business, try to test your business idea by starting it as a side hustle. This way, you can test the waters without quitting your day job.

There are a few steps you can take before starting a side hustle:

• Create a business plan. A business plan helps you validate your idea and figure out the logistics of starting your business. Write down your business goals, target market, and how you plan to make money. This will give you a roadmap to follow as you start your business.
• Outline a marketing plan. Marketing is essential for any business, and you need to figure out how you’ll reach your target market. Write down the marketing channels you’ll use, what kind of content you’ll create, and how you’ll measure your success.
• Set up a sales funnel. A sales funnel is the process that your business uses to convert leads into customers. Adding a payment system, such as Paypal or Stripe, to your business website makes it easy to accept payments online. 
• Start small and grow organically. Finally, doing too much too soon is a recipe for disaster, especially if you’re still working a 9-to-5. Start with a small group of customers and then scale as you gain more traction.

2. Register Your Business

Another way to mitigate the fear of starting a business is by taking the necessary legal steps to protect yourself. Registering your business gives you a level of legitimacy.

If you’re starting a business in the United States, you need to register it with the federal government and your state government. There are four main types of business structures in the US: sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation. Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages, so choose the one that’s right for your business. 

3. Invest in Marketing

In the digital age, there are a number of ways to market your business online, but some of the most effective are search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, multichannel and social media marketing.

When it comes to digital marketing, the most important thing is to focus on your audience. Who are you trying to reach? What do they want? Once you know the answers to these questions, you can create content that resonates with them and gets them to take action.

4. Stay on Top of Your Finances

As a new business owner, you’ll likely have an eagle eye on everything you spend. However, over time, it’s easy to become lax with this. Unfortunately, a lack of financial knowhow can be one of the main reasons for a business’s downfall; don’t let this happen to you. 

The best way to maintain a strong grasp of your financials is to implement accounting software that makes it simple to manage the financial aspects. Look for a product that automatically tracks your income, expenses and job costs, as well as invoicing, inventory management and tax filing.  

Take the First Step

The hardest part of starting a business is often taking that first step. Once you’ve done your research and made a plan, it’s time to take action. The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll be on your way to success.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start building your dream business.