Failure might be a learning opportunity, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. As a small business owner, you’re going to fail a lot. Most of those failures won’t impact the company in the long run, but they’ll certainly affect your confidence. While that seems like a small thing, your confidence plays a big part in how productive you can be. Confident business owners close more deals and get great results. Remember, the confidence you exude affects not just you, but your prospects, clients and team members.
If you want to be the kind of leader that compels others to stepping up their game when they come to meet with you, here’s 7 practical ways to build your confidence
Make Your Startup Your Own
While you’re not the only person whose opinion matters when it comes to office environments, you are the boss. You must be comfortable with how the company functions, from which employees are hired to what actions are acceptable. This should also apply to the physical environment. Do you want to work with a view of nature? Find an office that offers that.
Be More Than You Are
Chances are that at the beginning, there’ll be spots in your skillset that will be lacking. While later on you can compensate for those by hiring the right people or getting the right partners, at the start you’ll just have to make do. Instead of letting your lack of skills get you down, double down and improve those skills. You may not be as competent as you want to be, but with enough work you can be
Get a Strong Support Team
You will doubt yourself. You will doubt that you have what it takes to run a small business. That doubt is unavoidable and can blind you to everything you’ve previously accomplished. Having a strong support team around you to remind you of what you’re capable of is important. Just don’t go too far and rely on them entirely for your confidence. They won’t always be around.
Do Something New
Confidence doesn’t always come from merely succeeding. Sometimes, the best confidence-boosters come from doing something new or learning a new skill. Step out of your comfort zone and do something you’ve never done before. It doesn’t have to be office related, though that dovetails nicely with your productivity numbers.
List Your Skills
It’s distressingly easy how people can lose perspective while running a small business. There’s so much to do that you can even forget what you can actually do well. While it sounds silly, it’s a real problem. It is how highly successful people can end up feeling like they’re good for nothing, despite all evidence otherwise.
Don’t let that happen to you. Re-asses and list down your skills every now and then. Not only will this remind you that you can do well, it’ll also inform you of your progress and what aspects need improvement.
Help Others
Confidence isn’t just about doing things for yourself, it’s also about doing things for others. Think of it as helping others with their problems – because they’re in the middle, they lack perspective. You don’t have that problem. Helping other people in your team by providing positive feedback when appropriate doesn’t just help you feel better about yourself, it can set a positive example.
Brace Yourself
One of the biggest threats to your confidence and self-esteem will come from problems you weren’t expecting. You’re going to get blindsided a lot as a small business owner. While you can’t get rid of that threat entirely, you can manage it by bracing yourself. Tell yourself that bad things are going to happen, that you’re going to get blindsided, but that you have ways of dealing with it. This should emotionally prepare you for whatever trials the day throws at you.
A small business owner can only go as far as their confidence will allow. You can’t get the fruit if you’re not willing to risk going out on the branch, and you’ll never take risks if you don’t believe in yourself. Manage your self-esteem as critically as you would manage any other part of the company. Your future depends on it.