Your mind weighs them very differently, and not because you're stupid. Cass Sunstein wrote about this in the Yale Law Journal in 2002, while he was at the University of Chicago. Now a professor at Harvard Law School, he put it like this: "When strong emotions are triggered by a risk, people show a remarkable tendency to neglect a small probability that the risk will actually come to fruition."

From I Want to Start a Business but I'm a Coward, chapter 1: The safer road

Twenty-eight people is a small group, and I wouldn't bet a career on it. But that was a real exam with real consequences, not a game in a lab. It also took remarkably little: a few lines of instructions, heard and read once before a practice test, which is about the same effort as the sentence you'll say out loud before your next difficult call.

From I Want to Start a Business but I'm a Coward, chapter 8: Do not calm down

I want you to notice how small that test is. He did not build the product to find out, and he did not ask his friends whether it sounded like a good idea. He put a number in front of strangers and watched what they did with it. How many evenings have you spent on this?

From I Want to Start a Business but I Never Actually Start, chapter 2: The three-month window

These passages come straight from the books. So, if one of them speaks to you, read the full chapter. It goes further, and it ends with a practical exercise.

In addition, these titles look at low risk business ideas from different angles. Each one opens with a passage from the book. Then, pick the one closest to your situation.

• Get Paid Before You Spend a Cent
• Why You Will Price Too Low: Get Paid Before You Spend a Cent
• I Want to Start a Business
• The Data That Destroys the "Need Money" Myth: Get Paid Before You Spend a Cent
• What Actually Kills Undercapitalised Businesses: Get Paid Before You Spend a Cent
• The Bird in Hand: You Already Have What You Need: Get Paid Before You Spend a Cent
• Customers Are Better Investors Than VCs: Get Paid Before You Spend a Cent
• The First Dollar: Get Paid Before You Spend a Cent

Pick the fear that stops you, then answer three quick questions. The result tells you whether this fear is giving you facts or just noise.

The fear that stops me

Losing my savingsFailing in front of people I knowLosing the security of my jobNot being good enoughGetting into debtLetting my family down

Honestly, how likely is it to happen?

50%

If it happened, could you recover within two years?

YesNo

Could you test it this month without spending much?

YesNo

Check my fear.

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Finally, I Want to Start a Business but I'm a Coward goes deeper into low risk business ideas. Therefore, it is the natural next step. You can read it or listen to it in the stores below. It is also available in 19 languages.

Go to the book page. All topics.

• How to start a business.Diego Segura's books begin somewhere else: with a small test you can run this week, a first paying customer, and costs kept close to zero.
• Business ideas.Lists of business ideas are everywhere, but a list can't tell you which idea fits you.
• Online business ideas.Online business ideas look easy because the tools are cheap.
• How to become an entrepreneur.You become one the day someone pays you for something you started.