Being Brave in Business

Being Brave in Business

Continuing the theme of trying something new as a new business owner… – as well as networking (as an introvert), I’m being brave in business and getting out of my comfort zone, setting up and running a series of workshops together with Lucy Rennie (Lucy Rennie Communications).

It’s not the workshop content or delivering sessions that’s new to me, it’s the actual organising of a series of public workshops – outside of the corporate environment…

Organising, say, Lean training workshops within my last organisation was pretty straightforward – together with others from the team, we generated the content, chose the dates, booked a room we knew was good for holding training sessions, invited the whole department, made a couple of posters and away we went…

Also we knew that if there was insufficient interest one week prior to the event, we would simply cancel the room booking and reschedule – no big deal…

Outside of an organisation (as well as first setting up our collaboration), we then assembled a ‘team’ (through networking we were able to identify some great experts to be guest speakers), agreed content, chose the dates, researched and booked a venue, created flyers, created an event on Eventbrite, and then hustled – marketed on social media and at networking events, sent emails, picked up the phone…

…and crossed fingers and toes…!

Of the above, the one I’ve had to work on the most, I also found the most effective – picking up the phone…

It’s very easy for me to procrastinate and put it off – phoning people to ask if they’d like to attend a workshop does not come naturally…

So, it’s good that I’ve been practising calling business owners to invite them to networking meetings – it has helped me to remember that

‘rejection is not personal’

– I am not the networking meeting or even my workshop – if people can’t make the date, can’t afford the time or the fee, even if they are just not interested – it is not a reflection on me as a person…

[As a side benefit, I’ve learned stuff I hadn’t fully appreciated previously – if I’m offered something I don’t want or don’t want right now, it’s best to say so directly – beating around the bush, saying I’ll think about it, just generates extra work for the other person in following up – it’s better to say ‘no thanks’ (giving a genuine reason is helpful!) and let them cross me off their list and move on.]

Being Brave

On holiday recently, when contemplating launching myself down a near-vertical slide (well that’s what it looked like at the time!) off the top deck of a boat into the Med, we had a family discussion about how bravery is not the absence of fear but rather acting in the midst of fear – appropriate for middle-aged women and water slides as well as new business owners making a call to a potential client…

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” – Nelson Mandela

Of course it would be easier not to try, not to stick my neck out, perhaps play with a free workshop here and there – but I (we) decided to be bold, to take a ‘brave pill’…

4 Tips for Being Brave in Business

Having committed to a series of public workshops, I still have a few wobbles but I have found it useful to remember:

1. It’s an experiment – not everything will work first time – enjoy the learning process!

2. Use my support network (my ‘energy Angels’) – share how I’m feeling, ask others about their experience, other business owners who have been on the same journey. (I found that even those who seem to ‘have it all together’ were willing to share their challenges of recruiting people for events, even cancelling events when necessary…)

3. Just do it – being brave in business is sometimes about doing the things that scare us the most!

4. Celebrate successes – however small!

What are your experiences of being brave as a new business owner? What strategies do you employ?

Let me know your thoughts and tips for being brave as a new business owner by adding your comments below..

To find out how I can support and challenge you in being more brave in your business, please get in touch via the contact form or call me on +44 7526 740486.

Best wishes!

Sian