Did you know that 80-90% of all small businesses fail in the first year?
Sometimes it can be due to physical challenges like location, financial problems, poor marketing, people issues and other factors. However you may be surprised to hear that the overwhelming majority of these failures are due to self limiting beliefs.
Henry Ford said “whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you are right”. Our self limiting beliefs are often a result of social conditioning and can be conscious or unconscious. These are the things that we believe about ourselves that can cause us to place limitations on what we think we can and cannot do.
When I first started my business back in 2009 it never entered my head that I couldn’t do this. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind and I just knew in my heart that it was the right way to go. I believed that everything would fall into place as long as I continued to connect to the passion deep inside.I got the fundamentals in place including business plan, marketing strategy, location, admin etc. I was done with all the negativity of my old life and ready to jump eagerly into the next chapter. I was certainly taking a risk, jumping from a well paid corporate job to little or no income to start with. This was the birth of my first experience as an entrepreneur.
What they don’t tell you is that this journey is not an easy one; it’s exhausting, tough, lonely and there are many days when I felt out of my depth and wondered what the heck was I doing. But then I would look at the benefits associated with running my own show, the freedom, the opportunity to allow my creativity to flourish, to be the boss and make all the decisions, to watch it grow and evolve then all the difficulties, doubts and negativity would dissolve and evaporate.
I had my fair share of challenges over the last 6 years and these challenges fell into 5 key categories. These were what I called my limiting beliefs, the beliefs that could have paralysed my business, stopped it in its tracks had I not dealt with them and found ways to conquer those beliefs. I’m talking about that little voice in your head that has you thinking about quitting.
So here are my limiting beliefs and what action I took to counteract them:
“I don’t have the energy, how can I juggle everything in my life, it’s all too much I feel totally overwhelmed” – The first step is to stop, take a deep breath in and then step back. Now get organised, clear the clutter, review your plan or make one, set some smart goals, go back to basics. Little things like having a vision board or having a daily “to do” list and then ticking off what you have completed at the end of each day gives you both, a sense of accomplishment and achievement.
“I’m not good at sales, I feel bad trying to convince people to buy, it’s just not my thing” I used to say this to myself all the time and there are still times when I hear that little voice in my head cranking up again. Think about changing the way you think about selling and instead start to focus on building relationships. Move the focus to giving rather than selling and you will be amazed at how people will seek you out. I have a very good, successful and highly sought after colleague who always told me that she is only in the business of building and developing relationships, of establishing rapport and connecting with people whether online or in person. She contributes, she gets involved, she provides advice and help where she can and the sales and interest follow. Now she is very good at this and there is an investment in time involved to do this well but the rewards speak for themselves. Remember there is nothing that puts people off more than a hard sell – known in the online world as spam!
“I’m out of my depth, I don’t have the skills, I am so out of my comfort zone” – this is me again, trying to do things that are outside my area of expertise, things that take me huge amounts of time and the result is often frustration and despondency. In the beginning it’s not always an option to hire someone to help you and realistically you will have to learn to do many things that do not come naturally but are still important. However, as your business grows, as you find sales increasing you can then consider outsourcing, offloading things that you do not like or are not good at, to someone else. The first thing I looked at was someone to help with building and maintaining my website, an important tool and one that works well as long as it is optimised, relevant and up-to-date. Next it was the dreaded finances, after 2 years of using excel I upgraded to Xero and then 6 months after that I hired a book keeper to review what I had done once a quarter. Next it was a Business Coach to help me move toward to the next stage in my business and help me work towards my longer term goals. Having those experts around has allowed me to focus on my true passion and to keep that passion alive.
“I’m worried about this and that, I’m stressed out all the time, head is so full of constant chatter, can’t sleep” – Running a small business, as we know, can be very stressful and often involves jugging family commitments and demands with the needs of the business. This juggling activity often interferes with own health and wellbeing. When we find ourselves living with high levels of stress we can find that the effects on our physical body can be quite debilitating. Stress can lower our immune system making it easier to get things like colds and flu and can have a negative impact on our emotional health. So my tips here are eating a healthy diet, moving in some way every day, staying hydrated and finding ways to take time out. It could be a 10 minute break to go for a walk, to dance, to sing, listen to a relaxing download or something more significant like going to a yoga class, having a pedicure, meeting a friend for coffee – these things will make you feel as if you matter, as if you are important and will refresh and rejuvenate you.
“I’ve lost my way, lost my purpose, my focus, my drive, can’t see the wood for the trees”. Sometimes stress, anxiety, worry and the sheer enormity of what you are trying to achieve can mean that you lose direction. I have found myself here several times and I know when I feel it looming that it’s time to get help. I have already said that running your own business can be a lonely ride and that can lead to a sense of disconnect. So I found myself a business coach, someone to help me move to the next level, someone who can motivate, enthuse me, make me laugh, help me see things from a different perspective, challenge my thinking, encourage and support me. Best thing I ever did.
Creating an amazing business is important but really believing that you can make it successful is critical. We all know that running a business is hard, we also know that we need all the help we can get. That is why I have developed a series of audio downloads called Mind Boosters for Business Success
This series comprises of 5 x 10 minute sessions focussing on both belief and action. I would like to offer you the opportunity to listen in advance to Confidence & Clarity which is sample of the series and you can download it for free here.