Over the past couple years I had this crazy idea to start a business. I wanted to start a mixing and mastering service for small musicians trying to get a great sounding demo or EP. So I set out on the journey hoping it would work. I began by learning as much as possible. I already knew a decent bit, but I really wanted to excel at the art. So every day I would practice mixing. On the way to school and home I would listen to podcasts. I would read books and learn about business and marketing. I set aside some amount of time every day to invest in my idea. Over time, I noticed my idea start to grow.
Here recently I took a couple huge steps forward. I built a professional website and a mixing portfolio. Those are two very important things to have if you are going to run an online or local business that involves creativity. People want to know you are a professional and want to hear what you have done before they throw money your way. So at this point I was all pumped up and excited to really get the business going. I had the foundation laid and the plans were coming together. But then I got hit by something that I wasn't sure how to deal with. Fear.
I began to be afraid. I hadn't charged anyone yet, and I was afraid to. I didn't think I was good enough and I wasn't sure if people would even want to pay for my service. So many questions started popping in my head. How much should I charge? Where do I find clients? How do I keep clients? What if people hate my service? I was just plagued by all these thoughts and the fear began to cripple me. But then I started to think back to these books I had read on leadership and running a business. All of them talked about the fear of failure and how you have to push through even when you are afraid. Failure is just an opportunity to learn and failure is the way to success. Success is not some straight line from point A to point B. It's a crooked line full of turns, ups, downs, failures, wins, and unpredictability. So I pressed on. I decided to charge.
Once I put a price on my site I thought, "Just great. Who in the world is going to spend money on my service? I'm worthless!" But I just did it anyways. My first week of having the website I received three emails and got three paid mixing gigs. You can imagine how ecstatic I was. I couldn't believe that someone had gone to my website, listened to my portfolio, and decided it was worth buying. I was so encouraged by this but once again, the fear came. What if I can't deliver the mix they expect? What if they find out I'm not the greatest mix engineer in the world? I remembered again that failure is a part of the path to success. So I did it anyway. All three clients loved their mixes. I was successful because I pushed through my fears.
I'm still pursuing this business and this idea. I'm still learning how to market and how to grow. I'm still learning how to be a better engineer and how to gain new clients. I'm still learning. And I'll always be learning.
The point in all this is to say, take a step forward. Don't be afraid to have some initiative and step out there. Don't feel like you have to be perfect. Don't be afraid to fail. Through willpower, hard work, and endurance, you will be successful. Learn everything you can in the process! Learn how to run a business and how to market. Learn how to keep clients and how to grow. Learn, learn, learn. It will pay off.
Every day I still fear failure. Some days I want to quit and go back to a more secure path. Some days I don't know how in the world it could possibly succeed. But this is just all part of the process. I continue to make myself take initiative and move forward in spite of my fears.
We're all afraid of taking initiative. We're all a little insecure about our abilities and our value. Don't let fear hold you back from accomplishing your dreams. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be willing.
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