Believe it or not, not all business owners are confident. Many people come across as confident but really they suffer from imposter syndrome. Imposter Syndrome is the inability to believe in your own success and not recognising your own skills and expertise.

If you suffer from imposter syndrome you doubt your own abilities, this can mean you portray yourself as inexperienced which is the last thing you want to do as a business owner.

It’s important to show your ideal client that you’re an expert in your field and give them reasons why they should want to choose you over the competition. If you don’t your business could suffer as a result of this and you’ll find it hard to move your business forward. You may find this difficult especially if you’re suffering from imposter syndrome. So how can you boost your confidence in order to grow your business?

Reflect

Take the time to reflect on how far you have come. What did your business look like when you first started out? What did hitting all your milestones mean to you? Can you remember that feeling? I’ve recently put an award submission together which has involved reflecting on my business and it surprised me at how far I’d come in such a short space of time. It made me feel really proud of what I’ve achieved. I highly recommend writing down what has happened in your business since you started and over the past year. I think you will be pleasantly surprised and it’s bound to give your confidence a boost.

Community

Surround yourself with positive people. People who experience imposter syndrome often report having negative feedback from those closest to them. If your family and friends don’t have faith in you, this can knock your confidence. People usually do this as they are scared of the unknown and the risks you take in starting up your own business. Make it your goal to prove them all wrong and that will soon change their minds. You may find it useful to get involved in Facebook Groups or networking groups where there are other business owners just like you. When people start to ask questions in these groups, which you know the answer to, you will see that you are an expert in your field and there are other people who feel just like you did when you first started your business. A few years ago I found The 6 Figure Bookkeepers’ Club on Facebook. It’s a place where like minded bookkeepers and accountants gather to talk about problems they have, share ideas and just give praise to one another. It’s about collaboration rather than competition. These are the types of groups you need to associate yourself with. It’s developed my confidence no end!

Self-Development

You may have the experience and qualifications which are needed for your role, however times are changing rapidly. Self-Development is really important. Whether it means keeping up to date with industry news, reading books or looking at new software to compliment your business processes the more you invest in yourself the more confident you will feel.

Set goals

You should set yourself business goals each year. Write down what you want to achieve each week, month, quarter and by the end of the year. Then reflect on these achievements. How far have you come? Did you achieve what you wanted by the deadline? If not, don’t worry. By reflecting, it gives you time to consider the reasons behind not achieving your goal and you can put steps in place to improve your processes in order to make sure you meet those goals next time. If you did smash that goal then that’s going to give you an overwhelming sense of pride. 

Stay positive

Remaining positive will motivate you more. Negativity drags you down. Remember when I mentioned earlier about surrounding yourself with positivity? If you’re not a positive person try reading a mindset book or listening to a motivational podcast each morning. Starting your day off well will set you up for a great day! 

Focus on your strengths. We all have strengths and weaknesses but focus on what you’re really good at. We all find it easy to write down all of our bad points but we find it more difficult to praise ourselves. Think about what you’re really good at, write it down and remind yourself of this on a daily basis. 

Remember to always learn from mistakes. Mistakes happen, we’re only human but what’s important is what you take from it. Concentrate on what went wrong and think about how you can make changes next time to avoid the mistake from happening again. Without mistakes we wouldn’t know what success looked like.

If you need help with your financial goals, or need someone to support you with your bookkeeping so that you can concentrate on your confidence then get in touch. When you have a professional bookkeeper by your side who meets you on a monthly basis to show you how far you’ve come it will give your confidence an extra lift.