Trust Yourself!
My goodness! Sometimes business can be totally intimidating. I know! Sigh! It’s just amazing how we can go to work each day for someone else with full confidence that we can get the job done but the moment we transition those skills to our own business and vision, we suddenly get this FEAR of failure! We feel like we aren’t qualified for the job and we don’t trust ourselves.
My main struggle was confidence! Ugh! I don’t know what happened from the cubicle life to my home office life but my confidence seemed to take a serious blow overnight. I started to think to myself “why would they hire me?” “no one will want to work with me,” “I’m not capable, or am I?” I don’t know where these thoughts were coming from. I was a Paralegal and Executive Assistant for over 20 years, with raving reviews at work every year, awesome references whenever I transitioned jobs, so how does this happen? How do you lose confidence and question if you can actually do what you are in business to do? Where does the fear of not being qualified even though you’ve been doing this forever come from?? I think one issue was when I was working 9-5 and running my business on the side, I knew in the back of my mind that I had the job to fall back on. I had income that was non-negotiable and stability. But now that I am running my business “full-time,” I feel like there is so much more on the line. An unhappy client can mean loss of finance and I am reminded every day that there is no other source of income. But as I continue to work hard, encourage myself each day, surround myself with like-minded people, rock my work with my clients, I continue to rise up and know that I am well able and capable. I have to Trust Myself!!!
Another reason I believe we lose confidence is “people.” We let people who question our prices and value cause us to feel as if we aren’t qualified. I challenge you to think on your old boss. Did they change their prices or bring the value of their product or services down because someone else tried to dictate that to them? No!! HECK NO! And guess what, they obviously still made it!! We’ve got to have that same confidence and strength. Know your worth and value and stand by it. Stand by your experience, stand by your education, stand by your hours of blood and sweat put into your business. Try to remember that every lead may not convert to a client. Some people honestly can’t afford your services or merchandise and other people are just in the business of devaluing people because they want something for nothing. That’s just the reality of business.
I beg of you, don’t lower prices for people who haggle you because the truth is, they will most probably be one of the most difficult client’s you ever have! J That’s just in my experience. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say don’t ever provide a discount to someone if you feel led in that direction. I’m just saying, don’t let anyone pressure you into lowering your prices because they don’t want to pay. When we shop for products or online, the price is the price. The only time that price changes is when they decide to change it on their own. No one can force their hand or make them feel as though their product has less value, so don’t let anyone do that to you! I know I have integrity and have never inflated my prices because I had a bad week at work. I live in New York and my rates should coincide with the cost of living here! Not to mention, there is no way that my hourly price can be lower than my hourly pay breakdown at the cubicle lol I’ve now got overhead (although minimal compared to brick and mortar businesses) but nevertheless, overhead. My rates are justified and I’m confident and you should be too! So long as you are running your business with integrity, be confident and don’t waiver! Trust Yourself! You can do this!
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