Many people waste a lifetime postponing things. They fail to understand the need to start early and take advantage of the compounding effect. Any day, month, or year that you lose to procrastination will never be recovered. There are many reasons why people fail to start and all of them can be avoided.

There is a rule I use in life to avoid procrastination. The rule says that I will never postpone to tomorrow what I can do today. I will also never postpone to the next hour what I can do now. This has helped me become committed to everything I do and avoid losing time. Time lost can never be recovered.

I have noted that when we start something, we tend to increase our commitment to it. Before we start, we will never be committed. I, therefore, endeavor to start as soon as possible because when I do, I am less tempted to abandon the activity.

If I want to write a book and am lazy about it, I just start. I write the title and one paragraph of the introduction and that is it. That will keep me committed to writing the book. It is harder to abandon something that you have already started than not to start something at all. This is because we do not want to lose the effort we have already invested.

This is why I have always said that the first secret to success is to start. Just start something. Start that business or that fitness program. Just start it. This will give you the motivation to keep working on it.

People who do not start do not finish. For you to finish, you have to start. They give excuses and these excuses act as reasons for their procrastination.

Here are 5 reasons why people fail to start a business:

1.   Fear of the unknown

People love to be in a familiar zone. They do not want risk. They would rather settle in the mediocre familiar zone than embrace the unfamiliar zone that could lead them to greatness.

The business world is very uncertain. The stakes are always very high. You cannot tell what will happen tomorrow. It is impossible to be certain about your future revenues. After all, you may run out of cash the following month and become unable to pay your bills. This is the reality in the start-ups' world.

However, as people avoid the risk, they also avoid the potential reward. If a business succeeds, it makes its founders wildly successful. This is called the risk-reward relationship. The high risk will always bring high rewards. The vice versa is also true.

The good news is that fearing the unknown is normal. Everyone loves certainty. Even risk-takers do not love uncertainty. They have just trained themselves on how to act amid risk and fear of the unknown. They do not allow the fear of the unknown to stop them from acting. This is what differentiates those who start and those who do not.

2.   Waiting for the right wind

This one also ranks high among the reasons why people fail to start. People are always waiting for the environment to be conducive for them to start. They are waiting to save a million dollars to start. They think this will be enough security for them to be able to pay their bills. They wait for the economy to bounce back. They wait for them to get the necessary connections, capital, and skills.

It is important to note that the wind will never be right. You just have to start anyway. When the wind is right, it will find you moving and accelerate your motion. If the wind does not get right, you can push yourself to success amid challenges. Therefore, do not wait until you have capital, connections, an MBA, a family, skills, etc. Just start, those things will come along the way.

3.   Average contentment

People fail to start because they are contented with their current life. They are good where they are. They have a job, a car, a house, and their children are going to school. They are therefore not aiming for anything else. They want to enjoy what they have.

There will always be a higher level. Some people are achieving more than you are just because they do not settle for less. They are hungry for change and this hunger motivates them to keep working hard. These people want to change the world and make the same for themselves.

If you are contented with your salary, you will never get the need to start a business. It is good to be happy but do not be contented; just want more. A salary will never make you wealthy. This is why you need to embrace entrepreneurship. A business will become the vehicle that catapults you to massive wealth.

4.   Fear of failure

No one loves failure. However, failure is an integral part of success. People do not start businesses because they read that many businesses fail in their first year. They avoid the failure but also avoid the success that comes after the failure.

Every successful person tolerates failure. They may not love failure but they tolerate it. They take it as an opportunity to learn and grow. They refuse to shrink with failure by deciding to grow with it.

Before you get success, you must fail. Successful people fail more than failures. They lose money almost all the time. The fact that you are not failing means that you are not taking any initiative. When you start taking initiative, you will begin to fail and then you will succeed. This will only happen if you do not quit. It is called successful failing.

5.   Lack of entrepreneurial drive

Entrepreneurship is not just an act, it is a mindset. You have to think like an entrepreneur to become one. This mindset is gotten by interacting with other entrepreneurs.

You have to have entrepreneurs as your friends, read their books, visit their blogs, watch their videos, attend their seminars, and so on. As you interact with them through various platforms, your mindset will change from that of an employee to that of an employer.

This is the only way you can develop this entrepreneurial mindset. The mindset will give you the drive to start a business.

Conclusion

You cannot afford not to start a business. The more you lose time, the more you lose revenue. The more you fear to start, the more you reject success. This is the reality. These 5 reasons why people fail to start is not a conclusive list.

You need to audit your life and discover the underlying reason that is hindering you from starting. When you realize it, choose to override it and start something. Remember, if you postpone starting, you postpone success.