New Entrepreneur? 7 Steps To Boosting Your Confidence and Business
When you're a new business owner, everything seems a little scary and overwhelming. It's hard to take charge and assert yourself when you don't have the experience to fall back upon.
And if you're not confident, your potential customers won't be confident in you.
How do you become self-assured without having experience as a business owner?
1. Do Your Homework
When copywriting, I have to research my clients and their industries. I couldn't expect to do a great job for them if I didn't know anything about them.
Why wouldn't you do that for your OWN business?
Take the time to learn everything you can about your own industry and stay up to date on the latest trends. When you discuss what you do, you'll be polished and knowledgeable. You'll instill confidence in potential clients. And you'll be better able to deliver a high-quality product or service.
2. Shift Your Mindset
It's easy to fall into self-doubt when you're starting out.
Focus on the things you are good at...even the little things...instead of using negative self-talk. Write a list. List EVERYTHING you're good at doing, even if you think the content has nothing to do with your business.
When you see how many things you're good at, and how many things you've already accomplished, it will boost your confidence.
3. Let Go of Small Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. Whether new or seasoned, every small business owner will have their share of them. Successful business owners won't let the small mistakes turn into a mountain. Ask yourself the question: will it matter in a week? A month? A year?
If it won't matter then, don't let it matter now. Learn from it and move on.
Here's a secret~ the majority of mistakes are small in the long run.
4. Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Advice
It's okay to NOT know everything. You're new after all! Never be embarrassed about asking someone for advice. Even the most seasoned professionals started out where you are now. Learn from their experiences.
Advice can come from many places. You don't even have to know a person to gain advice from them. You can pick up pieces of knowledge by following business owners you admire on social media. Listen to podcasts for business owners and entrepreneurs.
Or if you want to get serious advice, hire a business mentor or coach to guide you through a customized process.
5. Don't Compare Yourself To Your Competition
Every business starts out at different times and takes different paths on their way to success. What might work for one, might not be right for you. While your industries might be similar, you might not share the same core values, missions, or goals.
Business is not a game or sport where there can be only one winner.
Stick with what works for you and only measure your progress against yourself. Are you continuing to see growth? Are you building and moving forward? It's not a race with anyone else. So long as you're progressing, that's the only comparison that matters.
Remember, it's a journey built for endurance. It's not a sprint.
6. Go For Excellence, Not Perfection
It's not going to be easy every day with only wins and perfect attempts. Sometimes, you're going to have failures. But those failures are what help you gain experience and improve quality.
Focus on feedback rather than the setback, and learn how to make your experience better for next time. Fine tune and create excellence for yourself and your customers.
7. Focus On Serving Rather Than Selling
Too often new business owners start out thinking they need to have huge sales from day one.
They run out of patience, question their skills, and sometimes give up before they even get going.
Focus on how you can best serve your clients needs and provide them with value instead of worrying about the quick sale.
When you find ways to help others, you build confidence in your abilities.
But you also build a relationship of trust and confidence with potential customers.
Building confidence, much like building your business takes time and effort. Use the 7 steps above as a template for boosting your own self-assuredness.