Building up your self belief before starting a small business
Posted on December 23, 2011 by Charles
How to get rid of those doubts that stop you setting up your small business
When you’re thinking of starting a small business on your own you will probably be lacking a degree of confidence in your ability to make it succeed. Well, the good news is you’re not alone! In my opinion this is actually a good thing because it shows that you’re taking a mature and sensible approach to what is a big undertaking. Having said that, many of the problems that at first seem insurmountable will probably just turn into manageable irritations once you have looked at them logically. Here are three of the big self doubt issues that I’ve come across.
I can’t get enough funding to start my own small business
Some types of business require more money than others, but have you actually quantified the figure you require? Very often people just say “it will be thousands of dollars” and the fact that the figure is unquantified makes it worse. Sit down and work out what you realistically think it will cost to start up. Regardless of what that figure is I can guarantee that once you have a figure in front of you some of the fear will start to go away and you will see ways to get the money together.
I don’t know how to run a business
Guess what? Neither did the majority of people running businesses today! It’s estimated that over 60% of people who start a small business had no formal training or experience before they set out on their journey. Now, I’m not saying that’s right (far from it) but I am saying that you’re no different to the majority of small business owners.
Again, here we have a fear of the unknown that we need to conquer. We do that by going along to a government run business training scheme, or to our local chamber of commerce or even to the library just to do some reading up. Many government schemes are free so make the most of them. You will also meet other people doing the same as you and will be able to discuss things with them and the lecturers. Once you’ve done all that fears will subside; plus, you will be one of the minority who start a business properly and that can only be good for you.
My small business will not be able to compete against the big boys
Once again, we tend to generalize in situations like this. Sit down and do some research on the ‘big boys’ in your local area or the market sector that you will be competing in. What sort of price do they charge? What services/products do they provide? Who are their customers? How happy are their customers?
After a little bit of research you will probably find out two things. First, they’re not as big or successful as you thought. They will have grown fat, have huge debts, treacle-like bureaucracy and a lack of focus on customer satisfaction. Second, you will start to spot gaps in the market where you can step in and be successful. Once you’ve done that, when you’re advertising your business you can focus in on your good points (and their bad ones).
Self confidence comes from knowledge and understanding. The more you know the less worried about the unknown you become. Quantify those big issues (as opposed to thinking they’re just too big to deal with) and you will start to see solutions.