As a business owner, I’m constantly plagued with this doubt in myself. I look at other successful entrepreneurs and envy their strengths. I find myself thinking, “I’m definitely not as smart as him” or “I wish I had her public speaking skills” or “I’ll never be as much of a people person as them” and in the process I put myself down to the point where I start to wonder if I’m really any good at anything at all. People will give me props for being a small business owner and I’ll shirk them off, chocking up this feat to dumb luck because I honestly don’t believe that I really deserve any of them. When I look in the mirror I feel inferior to other entrepreneurs that I’ve met or read about and secretly hope no one will ever find out that I’m a pretender. That’s how I feel – like I’m pretending to be a successful business owner, or intelligent marketing professional, or diligent working Mom. Then it becomes difficult to run my business because I feel like no matter what I‘m doing, I could be doing it better. So, if you find yourself drowning in the same sea of doubt, I have some advice for you. Here’s how you can continue to run a business when you’re “not great at anything”:
Focus on Your Core Competencies
Newsflash: you’re good at something! You are. This is just a fact. If you actually weren’t good at anything at all, your business would go under. The key is determining what you’re best at and then focusing your business around that core competency. This is difficult for some people because what they’re actually good at may not be what they think they’re good at, or want to be good at, or (shockingly) what they’re currently doing. So the key is to hone in on what you do really well.
If you don’t know what you’re good at, seek feedback. Ask your clients, family, friends, and colleagues to give you honest answers about what they think you do well. Then flip that question on its head and ask them what you’re not so good at. This brings us to our next point.
Honestly Evaluate Your Shortcomings
No one is great at everything (no matter how much they may pretend to be), so there’s no shame in being bad at something. Your shortcomings aren’t areas that you should close the door on and hide away in the hopes that no one notices. Shortcomings are places where you need improvement. You just have to remind yourself that not only can you improve in these areas, but you will improve in them as long as you’re committed to putting in the work.
The important part to remember is that you have to be honest with not only yourself but also your clients when it comes to these shortcomings. Don’t pretend you’re great at something that you’re ignorant about or that you know you struggle with, or you’ll set yourself up for failure. Just be honest when situations arise where people want advice on something or help with something that’s outside of your area of expertise.
Be Open to Learning
The smartest people in the world started out not knowing anything. Then, these people took the time to learn about things and continue to build on their existing knowledge. As long as you’re open to learning, you too can become better in the areas that you would identify as your weaknesses right now. Just remember that learning isn’t easy, and it shouldn’t be approached as such. To properly learn and put that new knowledge into practice and get better at something, you need to be deliberate and follow through with your ambition. Set attainable goals, and then commit to achieving them!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Business Blogging and Web Copywriting. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and son and enjoys cooking, watching sports, and spending time together as a family. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about current marketing trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
RSS Feed
