| Are You Business Confident? - "Wired" 2006 |
So how do you become business confident? It comes from good preparation and knowledge coupled with a willingness to accept some level of risk and uncertainty, backed up by a healthy dose of self-belief. Here are some top tips to help you become business confident: o In your business do something you love and feel passionate about and your energy and enthusiasm for what you are doing will carry you, giving you the confidence you need. o Know your market. Research gives you confidence in your competitive advantage. o Build a support network. Your self-esteem is higher when you feel that others also care about where your business is going. o Prepare well. If you have answers to "what's the worst that could happen?" then you will be ready for anything that a situation throws at you. o Look after your most valuable resource - yourself. Bolster your self-esteem by getting enough rest and exercise and eating well. Initially, without you, there is no business so you need to stay in tip-top shape. o Fake it till you make it. Thoughts, feelings and actions are linked so if you act confident then you will start to think more positively and feel more confident. o Accept that sometimes you have to feel the fear and do it anyway. Being nervous is a normal physiological response to the unknown. This helps to keep you alert and ready for any challenges rather than becoming complacent and stale. o Measure exhaustively. If you don't measure - sales, enquiries, cash flow, repeat business - then you will not see success and achievement when they are staring you in the face. Seeing your business moving forwards and growing is a fantastic motivator. o Celebrate success and achievement, however small. When you reach targets, finish difficult tasks or simply survive the week then give yourself a small treat, something that you really enjoy, just for you. o They can't see inside you. If you have a bad day, remember other people cannot see the butterflies zooming around your stomach. They will just see your calm unruffled exterior. o Finally, when you are going into a situation and need super confidence, take a moment to imagine a shower of positive energy falling onto you and enveloping you. Hear, see or feel this positive energy being easily absorbed into your body. Now imagine the situation going exactly as you planned, take a deep breath and walk on. Being business confident may not come naturally but as you practice each of these steps you will improve and will soon be getting positive feedback from customers and suppliers. Sue Hewitt is based in rural north Cumbria where she runs Milecastle Consultancy, providing specialist women's development programmes, including Springboard, for organisations across the UK. To subscribe to her free e-newsletter, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with Positive Energy Yes Please as the subject line.
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You need to be confident if you are running your own business. But being business confident is more than just having confidence in yourself, says Sue Hewitt. To be business confident, you need to be confident of your suppliers, your equipment, your staff and your advisers, as well as really believing in your product or service and overall business idea. After all if you are not confident about your business why would anyone want to buy from you?
