Asking a fair and reasonable price for business services sometimes feels risky for small business entrepreneurs. Whether it’s the fear that no one will buy, a lack of belief in oneself, or a not having the pricing know-how, small business owners frequently price their services below market value and suffer the penalty of underearning.
Growing a small business is complex. It’s tricky to stay abreast of the latest industry developments and keep pace with up-to-the-minute business trends. Instead of leading, many small business owners are running as fast as they can to keep step with their business.
Entrepreneurs are notoriously optimistic people. Their forward-thinking optimism likely sparked their entrepreneurial launch and inspired others to join their dream. Add the fierce desire for independence and the ability to call the shots and you have a perfect mixture for an entrepreneurial tidal wave – or do you?
Every small business entrepreneur has to sell – like it or not. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs would rather (fill in the blank) than have to sell. Why? Entrepreneurs who are “sales reluctant” have experienced bad examples of the sales process and are led to believe that if you’re going to sell, that’s how it’s done.
Business growth doesn’t occur accidentally. Reliable, dependable business growth occurs when small business entrepreneurs put emphasis on the importance of planning. In fact, minus consistent and regular planning, business growth is quickly stunted during the most critical stage of business growth and development – Core Business Development.
Women in business are captivating the news. From Facebook Executive, Sheryl Sandberg, who told women that to succeed, they needed to “lean in,” to former Lehman Brothers CFO, Erin Callen, who shared how she leaned in, leaned in hard, and regrets her choices, women are at the forefront of recent conversations.
Business burnout! You may not know you’re affected – until it’s too late! Commonly associated with the first stage of business growth and development – Core Business Development, business burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It slowly creeps into your business after an extended duration of the passionate pursuit of your entrepreneurial dream. Left to smolder, it can extinguish your small business dream.
Small business entrepreneurs have many fears in business. We fear success, and we fear failure. (That’s a little confusing, don’t you think?) We fear falling on our face and looking like an idiot. (Okay, I confess. This is my fear.) We fear the competition. We fear risk. We fear the unknown, yet we fear asking for help. Fear is gripping. It chokes our creativity and clouds our decision-making. Yet, we seem to engage in fear on a regular basis.