What do you think is the one thing you need to run your business?

Is it knowledge of how to maximise social media?

Is it understanding how to get found on google?

Is it creating and developing a strong brand?

Yes, all of this stuff is important. But there is some magic sauce you need to add to all of this. And without this magic sauce, you’re going to find it really hard to get out there and convince people that they need a little bit of you in their lives.

And it’s confidence.

Without a sprinkling of this magic, you’re going to find it hard to create a strong kick-arse brand. You’re going to struggling to get out there on social media and get your voice heard and you’re website not’s going to sing as well as it could, if you can’t sing about yourself.

Yesterday I ran an event with the My Business My Way team and we invited 4 businesswomen with over 50 years of business experience between them to share their knowledge to new start-ups.

And every single one of them ended their talk with a word about building confidence. We hadn’t prepped them for this. They all just came to this conclusion themselves.

And it hit home to me, just how important confidence is.

I remember working with a business coach and her talking about how no-one realises that they don’t have confidence and how no-one would buy a coaching programme that improved confidence. Because it wasn’t tangible. But I’m not so sure.

It really is the bedrock of a successful business.

When we look at business people who have excelled they have confidence in bucket loads. Lord Sugar, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, Karren Brady, Martha Lane Fox.

They all exude that special something.

And yes I think some people just do naturally have it in spades. But for most of us, it’s something we can work on and improve.

Read my 10 steps to improving your self-confidence

And partly it is with a little grit and grace.

Just pushing through those barriers you make for yourself.

Making yourself stand up in front of people and speak, even if you hate it. Creating little challenges for yourself, like creating a Facebook Live every week, or going to 2 networking opportunities a month.

The more we do, the easier it gets.

I shook uncontrollably of the first few years of public speaking, I recoiled from speaking into my phone and doing facebook lives, I can find networking really difficult. But I know that if I want my business to grow I need to step outside of my comfort zone.

Because my comfort zone is going for a few drinks with my lovely friends or sitting at home on a Sunday playing a board game with my family. But unfortunately, neither of those things are going to pay my bills (well not with the current business I run anyway!).

What is it you find difficult to do in your business? What makes you cringe, but you know it would grow your business if you did it?

Can you commit to pushing the barriers of what is comfortable? What challenges can you give yourself in 2020?

Want to grow your business in 2020? Find out how we can work together!