Building confidence as an entrepreneur is extremely important because our confidence literally determines how much progress we make as business owners. When you take a look at how much progress one business owner makes over another, you can often connect their progress back to their amount of confidence!

For example, if Business Owner A is made six figures as a business over the course of two years, while Business Owner B is still stagnant and only made about $2,000 over two years. The culprit that’s holding Business Owner B back is probably their confidence!

I know this because, when I was lacking confidence, it took me FOREVER to make real money in my business, while I was still at my 9-5. I was working on my business during my free time for like three-ish years, giving myself all these excuses on what I needed to do, have, or be first before I could take myself seriously as a business owner.

I told myself I needed to be older, that I needed more life experience, that I needed everything to be perfect, etc. and none of that was actually true. I was just making up all those excuses in my head and it was causing me to really undercharge severely, instead of getting into action to take the right steps to create a serious business.

But things completely changed for me once I decided to take my business full time (I quit my last 9-5 job in September, 2018). At that point, I no longer had that steady two week paycheck to fall back on. So I had to force the confidence to come to come. And it's just funny because after doing that, I was able to make a $100,000 in a year and a half, versus before, where I spent three to four years only making $2,000. And I was pretty much selling my services to do it, too! I was selling web design services at the time.

So based on what I’ve learned over the years, here are the three strategies for building confidence as an entrepreneur, so you can avoid years of wasted time doubting yourself:

Tip #1: Remind yourself of the accomplishments that you’ve already had.

Oftentimes, as we’re working to build our businesses, we tend to forget about the things that we've already accomplished in our lives — outside of entrepreneurship.

Like if you graduated from college with honors or if you were able to secure a job that you really, really wanted or if you were a top performer at work — ALL of those things are still amazing accomplishments, even if they don't have anything thing to do with your business.

So take the time to remind yourself of what you’ve accomplished already! And let those accomplishments be a confidence booster, as you dive into the journey of building your business.

When we lack confidence as new business owners, it’s likely because we’re having to do something new that’s outside of our comfort zone. Feeling unsure of yourself when you push yourself to do something new is totally normal. ALL of us experience that. But the difference between people who are able to become successful entrepreneurs and the ones don’t is the ones who are successful push through, despite their lack of confidence, while the ones who aren’t successful give up instead.

So remember, as you’re building confidence as an entrepreneur, remind yourself of the things that you’ve accomplished already, and let that be your fuel as you dive into the new territory of entrepreneurship.

Tip #2: Fill your knowledge gaps.

When we're not feeling very confident, especially when we’re starting a new business, it's because there may be just be some things that we’re not educated enough about yet. There’s always a learning curve whenever we're charting new territory, but that's normal.

The good thing about it is — we live in the age of information! So any knowledge gap that you have can be filled just by getting on Google and looking up the topic you that want to learn more about.

So if you want to get better at online marketing, read about it or get an online marketing course to learn how to attract the clients you want. Or if you want to get better at handling discovery calls to enroll clients, start looking for resources on how to get better at them. Whatever it is that you’re not feeling so confident about, in regards to your skills, as a new entrepreneur, you can find resources to help you can fill your knowledge gaps and take your skillsets to the next level.

Disclaimer: When you start educating yourself and learning, don’t get stuck in just studying forever. Sometimes, people will use “learning” as an excuse that holds them back from making real money in their businesses. So be sure to learn what you need and quickly implement it, so you can start making money in your business!

Tip #3: Building confidence as an entrepreneur comes when you just start doing the work!

The confidence that you’re looking for isn’t going to come until you just dive in and do the work. So once you remind yourself of your past accomplishments and you’ve filled your knowledge gaps, the next step is to do it afraid!

You're going to be scared when you start putting yourself out there to build an audience online to get clients. There's going to be fear. Maybe you fear failing. Maybe you have a fear of judgment. Or maybe you fear people saying “no” to working with you. But remember, that's a normal part of the journey!

The best way to really boost your confidence is to just start working. Start by taking those first few clients. Start by putting your package together. Start by doing the marketing to promote yourself online.

You’re not going to see any progress from sitting in your room and hoping to magically get more confident someday because — because guess what? Someday is a day that never actually comes!

So waiting to feel confident before doing the work will cause you to look at your life with regret, three to four years from now, because you’ll be in the exact same place with no progress to show for yourself.

So go ahead and dive into your business. Do what you can to complete the first step right in front of you. And remember…fear is normal and we all feel it when we’re embarking upon something new. But the difference between the successful entrepreneurs and the unsuccessful ones is the people who are successful feel the fear and they go for it anyway! They don't let fear become a barrier that stops them from going for what they want. Building confidence as an entrepreneur comes, when you dive in and do the work!