I hear clients of mine tell me sometimes tell me they don’t feel ‘good enough’ or ‘experienced enough’ to start their own businesses. They look at other entrepreneurs and assume that they must somehow be more qualified and more confident than they are.

"Look how amazing their website is"
"Look at all the client testimonials they have"
"Look how at how glossy their photos are"
"They must really know what they’re doing"

Well I’ll let you into a secret. No-one is 100% confident, 100% of the time. All those business owners you are comparing yourself to, have good days and bad days just like you.

The version of their business that you are seeing is the polished, edited, ’shiny’ version which they put out into the world in order to attract clients and sell their products. There’s is nothing wrong with that, that’s just what doing business is about. But if you're just at the start of your entrepreneurial journey, it’s REALLY important to remember:

Those business owners will have been on a learning curve just like you. They have had to face fears and take risks just like you. They just don’t always show it in their marketing.

Learning to feel confident as an entrepreneur is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight, and people are not just ‘born with it’. So how can you kick start that process for yourself?

A great technique comes from Paul McGee in his book Self-confidence: The remarkable truth of why a small change can make a big difference, where he suggests working in 10% increments. Ask yourself about what a 10% increase in confidence would mean to you. What difference could it make? For example…

What if you set aside just a couple of hours a week to work on your business idea, instead of thinking you need whole days
What if you started saving just £20 a week towards your start up fund, instead of worrying about the £1000’s you think you’ll need to leave your job
What if you focused on finding just one client, instead of how to create a whole business empire?

The great thing about this technique is that not only does it start to build your confidence, it moves you into action, instead of continuing to be stuck in a sort of 'analysis paralysis'.

All those hours, those funds, and those clients slowly start to add up and then one day, boom, you’re in business!

I get it. I know exactly how daunting and overwhelming all this feels at the beginning. It's not always easy, but I’m here to tell you that you can work through it, get past it, and start a new business that you will absolutely fall in love with. You can do this!

I'll speak to you soon,
Juliette xx