It’s easy to find two kinds of articles about things small business owners fear.

One is an article about a whole series of things that small business owners, in reality, don’t fear.

Such articles illuminate all sorts of challenges, such as mobile marketing or the government’s fiscal cliff, but not the stuff that keeps owners awake at night.

The other type is a motivational article telling you to face your fears and not to let them prevent you from reaching your dreams. While admirable, these articles don’t convey the reality that small business owners are occasionally stretched to the limit with stress … maybe even crippled by fear. At least temporarily.

If you aren’t subject to these feelings, congratulations. You are a spiritual giant or a sociopath (unfortunately, sociopaths are sometimes more successful at business, in the short-term at least). If the secret to overcoming fear is to realize you aren’t alone in how you feel, I hope you find solace in the idea that these are the most common fears that small business owners face. You should be afraid of these at some point:

1. Losing customers

(Photo: via wikimedia commons)

No matter what you do for your customer, sometimes they just aren’t that into you. Sometimes for good reason, and sometimes just because. It’s been my experience that you have to plan year to year on a certain amount of attrition. Over time, you may see that it’s pretty predictable, and you’ll need to add more in new sales than what you lose in a year. It’s helpful not to be overdependent on one client. You will fear losing them to such an extent that it may hinder the good growth of your business. You will end up working for them and not yourself. You also must embrace the idea that you need to be good at helping drive the kind of results they came to you for in the first place. You don’t have a divine right to your customer’s loyalty. Try to be part of an ongoing conversation about how you’re doing. You may not last, but you have no chance if that conversation isn’t taking place.

2. Access to capital/credit

(Photo: via wikimedia commons)

Most business owners don’t have an easy relationship with their bank. After all, you’ve put up $1.30 in collateral for every dollar borrowed (the amount of collateral varies of course). The two most critical factors banks will evaluate are your collateral and your cash flow (see fear No. 4 below). Don’t believe all the hype and think your masterful business plan will provide you access to capital. If you start to underperform, the bank will start tightening the screws. Read your bank covenants carefully. If your capital is equity rather than debt capital, you may be reporting to someone with more patience–or not. Unless you can fund your business yourself, and it’s money you can stand to lose, this will always be a worry.

3. Key employee defections

(Photo: on Flickr via ejbaurdo)

It hurts to hire someone, train them, see them succeed and help you succeed, then watch them leave. If they decide to join against you with your competitor, or even if they leave to go do something totally different, it will be a blow. It’s hard to hire someone to replace a great employee. It’s also tough on morale for the whole company when someone leaves. If that person is really key to client relationships, it’s going to be a source of additional anxiety. It’s a part of the deal when you’re a small business, but it doesn’t make it any less of a worry.

4. Cash flow

(Image: via wikimedia commons)

Cash flow is the life blood of a business. And when it ebbs, instead of flows, it’s tough on the nerves. It’s the basis of your bank covenants, with your access to credit dependent upon good cash flow. More important, it’s how you pay your employees and meet your obligations with vendors. When times are good, good cash flow enables you to grow. When the economy is bad, everybody tends to pay more slowly, so your receivables pile up and cash flow stutters.

5. The unknown

(Image: on Flickr via stuant63)

The truth is that you can’t let fear cripple you. It will get the best of you some days, but you simply can’t let it win. One of the problems with fear is that it can become a habit, and when there is nothing specific to worry about, we find something. Fear of the unknown is the enemy. Some business owners let that fear rest on the competition, others on the government, others on the future. You can only control what is in your hands, so don’t fear of the unknown grab you. It’s the most useless of fears.

(Featured Image: stuant63 on Flickr)