How higher education can help Education makes for a good start to the entrepreneurial process, allowing you to gain a clear idea of what you are letting yourself in for. It can also give you the skills to make it more likely you will succeed, as well as the self-efficacy to believe in yourself. Conversely, however, such knowledge can initially increase a potential entrepreneur’s fear of failure as they begin to realise what could go wrong. Fear of failure can be addressed in a number of ways that can be emphasised in our teaching. For example, students can be encouraged to connect with a mentor who has been through the same process in a similar industry; they can articulate whether their fears are real and, if so, how they can be addressed. Sharing the burden with co-founders can also help, for example individuals you might come across in an MBA class cohort, or someone from an accelerator programme. In the same way that a limited company and its founder are separate in law, budding entrepreneurs must try to keep some degree of separation between themselves and the business to allow for switch-off time. They need to look after themselves through stress management – whether that involves sports, meeting friends not involved with the venture, travelling, general relaxation, or whatever else helps. Those thinking of setting up in business should use self-reflection and aim to focus on what the positives might be rather than worrying about the worst-case scenario. They ought to reflect on failures they may have had growing up, how they were shaped by them and overcame them. Sometimes there are genuine positives from failure, such as building social capital, or meeting new people who can help you in the future; alternatively, despite ultimate failure, the process and the journey may have been enjoyable. In addition, they must change their view of failure to one of a learning experience and understand that doing nothing can be a more severe form of failure. On a more practical note, they need to eliminate any route for their particular venture that will not work, so they can spend time on something else that might; they must ensure, too that their goals and objectives are realistic and not simply setting themselves up to fail. We advise potential entrepreneurs to take advantage of the university’s various offerings to help student ventures become a success: there are good entrepreneurial ecosystems with incubators, accelerators, small pots of funding and multiple different networks, plus there are mentors, as well
decision-making, the company becomes paralysed, often with the founder focusing on insignificant tasks, or an insistence on perfectionism, rather than addressing and acting on important issues. However, despite the negative elements that can impede you from starting a business and prevent you from taking risks once you are up and running, fear of failure can also have some positive effects. For example, it can act as a reality check before you start your business: are you sure that this really is for you? Stopping yourself from investing a lot of time and money in a venture that ultimately comes to nothing could be doing you a favour in the long run. It can remind you that there are real risks involved with entrepreneurship and that you should not behave recklessly. The Dunning-Kruger effect shows how people with low skill or knowledge often overestimate their ability, ie the most confident people are not necessarily those with the best skillset. Learning more about entrepreneurship before you start, therefore, can help you make a more informed decision on whether you believe you can be successful. Fear of failure can also help you channel your efforts and resources into making sure your venture is a success; if you are afraid of failing, then you will put in a huge amount of effort to make sure the business thrives, making it more likely to succeed. In this sense, fearing that you might fail can be important for self-preservation, but entrepreneurs need to get the balance right. After all, you cannot be a disruptive innovator if you are overcome by thoughts of failure. Instead, these must be used as the motivation to be ambitious and help negotiate the fine line between risk-taking and recklessness.
32 Business Impact • ISSUE 1 • 2026
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