Facing the Fear Factor by Jack Miller

What's Holding You Back From Achieving Your Goals?:

What separates entrepreneurs from investors? Entrepreneurs have a great deal more tolerance for taking risks. By and large, entrepreneurs embark on ventures the investors are only willing to participate in when a particular venture’s outcome can be predicted with a reasonable amount of certainty.

Entrepreneurs by their very nature want to hit homeruns while investors are happy to get on first base and let some entrepreneur drive them home. If it weren’t for the entrepreneur’s ability to clear the bases, neither one of them would score.

Investors willingly trade off the chance to become multi-millionaires in return for lesser pieces of the pie and of future profits. What investors fail to realize is that, if the entrepreneur strikes out, the game could end with the investor still on base. So, despite their aversion to risk, investor profits are linked to entrepreneur success, or to the success of the companies they have formed.

I haven’t even mentioned the most unfortunate person in this scenario. It is the person who is unwilling to undertake the risks associated with entrepreneurial activity, and who is unwilling to set aside a part of his earnings to be able to invest them for his own future welfare. Instead, he blithely consumes his earnings and bases his future and that of his family on promises made by the government, the union, or his employer; both of which have earned a solid reputation for reneging on those promises.

This little booklet is aimed at people who haven’t yet begun to put their time, energy, and talent to work to get their share of the entrepreneurial pie; and passive investors, who are held back by fear, who could realize much greater results as entrepreneurs.

Table of Contents:

I’m afraid of:

NOT HAVING ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY AND TO MAKE PAYMENTS 11
UNPREDICTABLE UPS AND DOWNS IN THE ECONOMY 15
MARKET UNPREDICTABILITY - WHETHER TO BUY, SELL OR HOLD 19
TAKING A GAMBLE WITH TRANSACTIONS AND PROPERTY 22
INVESTING YEARS OF FOCUSED EFFORTS AND NOT SUCCEEDING 26
NOT HAVING SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE OF REAL ESTATE 28
LACK OF EXPERIENCE, SKILL, AND A HAND HOLDER 30
NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND AFFORDABLE AND FEASIBLE HOUSES 32
TAKING ON TOO MUCH PERSONAL DEBT 35
NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND TRUSTWORTHY PEOPLE TO WORK WITH 37
NOT HAVING THE CONFIDENCE TO CRAFT CREATIVE OFFERS 40
FEELING FOOLISH HAVING MY OFFERS REJECTED 42
INABILITY TO LEVERAGE DEALS AND PAY INTEREST PAYMENTS 43
BUYING THE WRONG HOUSE FOR THE WRONG REASON 45
PAYING TOO MUCH WITH THE WRONG TERMS 48
CONCEALED PROPERTY DEFECTS 50
LACK OF LIQUIDITY FOR REPAIRS, VACANCIES AND SURPRISES 55
MANAGEMENT, TENANTS, COLLECTIONS, AND VACANCY 59
LEGAL ISSUES AND PERSONAL LIABILITY 64
FAILING, AND LETTING DOWN FAMILY AND INVESTORS 67