Although there’s a growing trend of Australians leaving behind the security of a corporate job to become their own boss, most still believe it’s “easier” to work for someone else.
In research conducted CoreData Research Australia, 91.5% of the 800 Australians (367 female and 433 males) surveyed said they believe working for someone else is easier than going out on their own. And, although many respondents said they want to be more successful, 31.8% said they haven’t been successful because of self-limitation or a “can’t do” attitude, with more than half (52.6%) blaming their lack of success on their fear of failure.
“There’s a definite movement towards a micro-entrepreneurship economy built on the foundation of empowerment of individuals, allowing entities to create their own job,” says John Carter, an entrepreneur and founder of Lifestyle Advantage – a business advisory company.
“An opportunity now exists for an enabling environment as people definitely see the financial and personal benefits of creating his or her own wealth, but they lack the tools and support to take the next steps to achieving this.”
Although a fear of failure appears to be the biggest barrier to people’s success, Carter says fear is “False Evidence Appearing Real” and simply “feedback for learning”.
With respect to the word ‘failure’, almost one third of respondents (32.8%) associated it with ’embarrassment’, while 30.6% associated it with ‘financial loss’. Only 4.8% associated failure with ‘feedback’.
“It’s a limiting belief based on a subconscious fear of failure,” he says. “I want to remove the self-sabotage thinking.”
The research also revealed that women are more likely to start their own business to enhance their creativity (53.5%), while almost a third of men see entrepreneurship as an escape from corporate life (27.1%).
“Women are generally more creative and to be an entrepreneur you need to be creative. They’re also more intuitive than men. Men are more ego-based and see working for themselves as more of a leave pass rather than the pursuit of their dreams based on what they really want,” Carter says.
When it comes to entrepreneurship, Carter says women are also more “surrendered to the outcome”, compared to men.
“Women will explore an idea but they’re not so attached to where it will go and that’s an important aspect of being an entrepreneur. You don’t need to see the staircase before you take the first step,” he says. “To build that base, you need self-belief.”
For those considering taking a leap into the world of entrepreneurship, Carter’s top tips for creating wealth are:
- Remove limiting beliefs: “Acknowledge or explore whether you have any limiting beliefs around money. Do you have any fear relating to money? You really need to be detached from the outcome and have an abundant mindset, not a poverty mindset.”
- Establish your mindset first: “Start with the mindset first and work your way through. Have a millionaire’s mindset.”
- Have multiple sources of income: “Have numerous streams. Don’t just rely on the one stream of income. It doesn’t really matter how much each stream earns but it’s about have multiple sources. If you only have one stream, the river will only grow so large.”
- Education: “Go to as many seminars as possible – mindset seminars, ones on the law of attraction and your subconscious mind.”
- Have faith: “Faith and action are incredibly important. Faith is the bridge builder. It’s about having that self-belief in something you’ve always wanted to do but have been afraid to take the first step.”
- Go with your gut: “Don’t buy into what anybody else thinks about what you’re doing, particularly family members.”