Is this fear inhibiting your business?

Have you ever wondered why so many mission-driven entrepreneurs find it so difficult to be very clear about what they offer and how to talk about it with potential customers?

FEAR plagues many women entrepreneurs who want to make a difference. Fear has many faces. I’ll be talking about several of them here in the coming weeks.

Naming the fears and removing them from your system is the BEST WAY to be clear about what services you offer in your business so that you develop the ease of signing up your ideal customers.

Let’s talk about a fear that may be affecting you and your business without you knowing it so you can address and change it.

Tea AFRAID of doing it WRONG!

If you are like most women in business, you fear:

*message above,

* not be perfect, and

*not knowing how to respond to a new situation or challenge.

Many men don’t have this fear and, in fact, are pretty sure they can do things they’ve never done before or been trained to do.

In contrast, many highly capable women are reluctant to try anything new and instead seek another certification or more training to make sure they can handle whatever comes their way.

As you might imagine, the fear of “getting it” wrong prevents many service entrepreneurs from clarifying exactly what they offer, how it benefits their customers, and how valuable it is.

Many of us were raised to be “good girls” and want to please the people who are important to us. Taking care of others is what we do as women, but in business we can take it too far.

Let’s look at one way to address the fear of doing it wrong:

Ask yourself where in your business and offerings you are trying to please someone other than yourself.

* Do you discount your prices?

*Are you not clear about your services and offers so that no one knows exactly what you do?

*Do you do too many exchanges or complementary sessions?

(**See my note below)

Behind all these actions is the fear of not pleasing someone you care about. ask yourself:

*Who is that person?

*What would he/she say if you tried something new or daring?

*How would he/she respond if you did something wrong?

As you find your answers to these questions, imagine a different response to fear.

*Could you laugh at yourself for thinking that someone would really want less than the best for you?

*Can you release some of the fear by exhaling it and give yourself some freedom to move one step further?

*How about treating yourself to a Free Perfection Pass for the next 30 days? Intent to do wrong. Let yourself learn. You can perfect it later and the world won’t fall apart.

It is critical to you and your business that you name, confront and disable your fear of doing wrong. If you’re not clearly sharing your work and gifts with the people you’re meant to help, they won’t be able to get the benefit of working with you. And that’s a shame.

Life and business are messy. There is no such thing as perfection. Do is better than perfect. We’ll all survive if you don’t get it right this time. Next time you will know how to do it better.

I invite you to detach yourself from your fear of doing it wrong this month. Please let me know how it goes. You may be surprised how much you like the freedom of learning by doing.

** When you’re just starting your practice or service business, it’s good to do a few free or low-cost sessions to gain experience and clarity on who you like working with. Sometimes it’s also appropriate to make a trade with someone whose work you really value and desire. And it’s certainly nice to give free work to someone who can’t afford their fees at the moment.

But if you don’t get paid, don’t get paid enough, or do a lot of trading, you’re sabotaging your business, not giving your customers the opportunity to invest in themselves, and unconsciously telling yourself that what you’re doing isn’t valuable.

This is a dangerous trend and it does not serve you or your clients. Look at what you are afraid of and gather the courage to face it. I promise you it will be rewarding.