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Tips on Building the Confidence to Grow Your Business

July 16, 2013 by Rosemary

By Phil Buckley

My first experience with small business owners was in the late 80s. I was an operations manager for Zack’ Famous Frozen Yogurt, a franchise chain experiencing massive growth. My role was to set up new stores and help franchisees manage them successfully.

I was inspired by each owner’s courage, determination and passion to win. They tackled challenges head-on and typically took a glass half-full approach to managing problems.

However, when presented with opportunities to change or expand their businesses, I noticed that many owners lacked the confidence to get to the next level. They were comfortable with what they knew, and uncomfortable with what they didn’t know. Often, they’d forgo opportunities without fully exploring the benefits because their personal uncertainty was stronger than their desire for greater success.

As my career progressed into business training and then change management, I observed that most leaders struggled with change. Their confidence was tested most when their operational experience didn’t help them assess and pursue new opportunities or manage challenges. In those circumstances, what had made them successful had little impact on their ability to manage well.

Over time, it became apparent to me that the key to managing change (offering new products, entering new markets, opening a new location, etc.) is confidence.

Here are three ways that small business owners (and any business leader for that matter) can build their confidence when they uncover big opportunities to grow their businesses:

Make a list of the skills you used when making past successful changes

Small business owners will benefit from taking stock of past accomplishments and the skills they used to achieve them. Listing them in writing will help you build a playbook on how to manage new opportunities – steps to take, advice to get, behaviors to demonstrate, etc. Studying your past successes will help you create a path towards your goal and identify the capabilities you need to get there.

Identify who you can call upon for help

Peer support is a key enabler of evolving a business. Wise small business leaders ask for help, especially when opportunities require a departure from their current business model. Learning about how similar situations were managed, both successfully and unsuccessfully, will provide practical guidance on what you need to do, what to watch out for and how to act.

Write a solid plan

Business plans help small business owners stay focused and manage time and resources productively. They provide a means against which to track progress and a working tool to adjust as new information becomes available. A wise person once said, “Create the plan, work the plan, change the plan.” A growth opportunity business plan provides a map to confidently navigate.

It can be difficult to manage and grow a small business. With the right skills, knowledge, advice and plan, the small business owner can take the next step on their businesses journey and reach the next level of personal success. Have confidence!

Author’s Bio: Phil Buckley is a senior change management professional with nearly twenty-five years of experience helping individuals, teams and organizations deliver change in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Phil writes about managing change at www.changewithconfidence.com. He is also author of Change with Confidence: Answers to the 50 Biggest Questions that keep Change Leaders Up at Night (Jossey-Bass), where he provides complete, actionable answers to the fifty burning questions that leaders routinely ask about how to manage change successfully. Follow him on Twitter @philbuckley01.

Filed Under: Business Book, management, SOB Business, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, confidence, growth, small business

Influence Yourself

May 21, 2012 by Liz

Who Influences You?

cooltext443809558_authenticity

I’m proud of you. You inspire me. You’re a treasure.

Have you ever heard those words?

How nice it is to know that in some life you’ve been a treasure, a thing of beauty or inspiration. I never cease to wonder what prompts such a feeling, what someone saw in me. What does it mean to make another person proud?

Words like that influence me.
They change how I think, how I act, what I believe and what I do next.
They make me stop, think, and wonder what I did to earn them.
A powerful statement can change doubt into confidence.

When I get a response that says I’m valued, I’m influenced to do things that will earn that feeling again.

But …

Some folks think I’m brilliant and creative and other folks, well, think I’m … um … not.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

And on that idea, I figured out something when I was looking at the the stars.

Debris of a dead star
Image credit: NASA/CXC/NCSU/S.Reynolds et al

When stars die they leave behind space debris. Space debris is gorgeous colors and shines with its own bright light. The wispy, windy patterns and reflections energize filmy fibers in the endless space night.

What (hu)man named it trash?
It’s a treasure for the heart and the eyes.

People and stars are made of the same stuff.
The carbon that makes cell in our bodies came from the same stuff that makes stars.

It’s true about stars.
It’s true about people too.

Stars shine no matter who is looking.
No one has to call them a treasure.
They shine because that’s what stars do.

Influence Yourself

This week …

Be a treasure.
Start a quest. Create and conspire.
Be a mentor, a leader, a teacher. Inspire.
Be a beginner, a learner, an adventurer. Aspire.
Shine at being you.
Shine because being brilliant is what you do.
Do it because YOU have decided you’re living up to being a treasure.

Influence yourself.

Be irresistible.
— ME “Liz” Strauss

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, confidence, doubt, influence, influence yourself, LinkedIn, Liz, small business

The People Standing Around You

March 25, 2011 by Liz

Can we talk about . . .

friends?

I walk into an event. I’m looking forward to seeing you. I look across and there you are.

I start to walk over. Then I notice the people standing around you. They’re a few folks you sometimes hang with. You call them friends. I’m not so sure they live up to that title where you’re concerned. One’s a whiner. One’s a complainer, One’s a slacker. All three are takers. You give them your best and all they seem to give you is more of their problems to solve. They don’t see you, only what you can do for them.

You haven’t noticed that you keep giving your energy to folks who don’t energize you.

I was set to have a great “let’s catch up” conversation, to find out what you’re doing, to tell you about some people I’ve met who might be able to help you move forward. I value what you know, what you can do, what you’re willing to invest in learning.

But I’ve been part of the group you’re with on other occasions. Those three around you always talk about the same things — mostly gossip and what’s unfair about the world. If we try to talk about the future, they will hijack the conversation with negativity and distractions.

I reconsider. I’m not ready to share my contacts if they will have to navigate through that group.

I say a brief hello and keep moving. You never know that I’m waiting for you.

Are the people around you helping you grow or holding you down?

It’s not loyalty or friendship, or even business, if the the energy and positivity isn’t coming back to you.

Surround yourself with folks who can see you and value you.
You’ll have more energy, more confidence, and more positive people who want to spend time with you.
Please do.

Liz's Signature

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, confidence, LinkedIn, personal-identity, relationships

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