Do you regularly put off reviewing your business’ financial reports because you’re unsure of what you’re supposed to look at? Do you feel uneasy when speaking to your accountant or financial advisor because you don’t really understand the jargon they use? Are you uncertain about your business’s financial performance and whether it’s on the path to achieving your goals?
Please remember: It’s completely normal to feel this way. Here’s a stat for you: only 29% of small business owners with less than 10 employees feel confident about their money decisions. Hear me again: 2 (!!!) out of 3 small business owners share your feelings.
The good news: there are strategies to enhance your financial confidence. The three most effective, down-to-earth strategies you can apply today:
- educate yourself
- focus on the future
- dare to fail
Let’s look at them a bit closer!
1) Knowledge is Power
Lack of confidence stems from uncertainty. Therefore, gaining a basic understanding of critical financial concepts will empower you to ask informed questions, make informed decisions and ultimately drive your business towards success and sustainability.
How it can be broken down into actionable steps:
- Identify the areas that cause you the most uncertainties.
- Search for meaningful resources: online tutorials, blogs, workshops, podcasts
- Develop a plan: prioritise the areas that matter most to you, define the expected outcome and set a timeframe – at the very least.
- Stay focused: stick to your plan during implementation.
- Acknowledge and celebrate every win, no matter how small or big. You’ve accomplished something great.
2) Be future-focused
Think about where you want your business to go financially in 1-3-5 years. Whether it’s hitting a revenue milestone, paying off debt, or saving up some money, setting clear goals can help you stay focused and motivated.
Planning for the future is a rather challenging task. You should set realistically attainable targets when striving to enhance financial confidence in your business life. And that’s quite tough: you don’t want to set the bar either too low as that won’t inspire you or too high, which could further undermine your confidence level. Your aim is to find the right balance that works for you.
When you have your goal, break it down into manageable tasks. This approach provides a clear roadmap to follow. Celebrate each and every win on your way and learn from all the missed steps.
I can guarantee you’re going to build up your financial confidence gradually step by step as you’re following and completing your roadmap towards your goal.
3) Dare to fail
Your confidence needs reinforcement. Make decisions and don’t procrastinate, don’t overanalyse!
Decide, move on and assess the results. You’re on a learning curve on which failure is only a tiny dot – an opportunity to learn from it.
If you dare to fail, you’ll make decisions quicker and more fearlessly.
I hear you asking: but how? Easy:
- jot down all the stuff that you’re pondering at the moment
- highlight the ones that have financial consequences (ie. it costs money or you gain money)
- arrange them in order of financial significance, starting from the smallest
- decide, wait a bit, then assess the results and make note of the lesson learnt
- move to the next item on your list
When you approach your financial challenges as experiments and allow yourself to fail, you’ll learn to trust yourself and your decisions. You’ll gain firsthand insights into what is effective and what is not working for your business.
Takeaway
As a business owner you don’t only need passion and dedication for being successful but also financial confidence. You need to be in control of your money matters for you to drive your business towards the future you like.
By taking proactive steps to educate yourself, adopt a future-orientated mindset, and take an experimentational approach to financial decisions including allowing yourself to fail, you can boost your financial confidence immensely.
I believe in You: you’re a champion 🏆
