Owning Your New Identity as a Business Owner
We are days away from the Big Comeback Event! If you’re ready to create a certified Revenue Breakthrough Plan to make 2022 the best year ever, check it out. I’m so excited – this event is one of my favorites to teach. As I was preparing for step 7 of our planning process, this story popped into my head… As a business owner it can be really hard to own your new identity, and I think there are three main reasons why you might be struggling with it.
On a Saturday night, two months after I had started my business, I was walking up the stairs of an apartment building, feeling the tension start to seep out of my body as the sound of music grew closer.
It had been a tough week, and I was excited to go to a party with my friends and finally relax.
I walked through the open door and headed straight for the food table, and when I turned around I found myself face-to-face with a girl I hadn’t seen in over a year.
“Monica!” she said, “How are you? It’s been so long. You look great. What are you up to these days – are you still at the same job?”
I said, “Yeah, I’m at L’Oreal. I’m a marketing manager. I’m working on skincare. I mean – actually, I’m not at L’Oreal anymore. I’m doing something else. I’m, uh, I’m coaching. I’m helping women with their businesses, and it’s good.”
As I stumbled to answer her question, the excitement gradually faded out of my voice. I wanted to hide behind the food table, or maybe even under it!
She forced a smile and said, “Oh, that sounds great.” And then, visibly disinterested, she turned around and walked away to talk to someone else.
I couldn’t believe that I’d somehow forgotten to mention that I’d left L’Oreal and started a company. But later that night, when I really sat down and thought about it, I realized where those words had come from.
I didn’t want to own up to my new identity as an entrepreneur helping women make money.
It didn’t sound impressive to me. It sounded crazy and excessively risky. How could I own up to this new title when I only had three clients? When I didn’t even know if I could make it work?
Can you relate?
I meet so many entrepreneurs who are terrified of owning their new identities as coaches, healers, or practitioners. They’re afraid to pick a target market and memorize a verbal message that they’re proud of.
They’re afraid to walk into a room and say, “I help women get into relationships they love,” or “I help people lose weight,” or “I help parents who are struggling with their kids.”
It can be hard to own that new identity, and I think there are three main reasons why.
Number one: you aren’t successful yet. It’s hard to own something and be confident about it if you don’t have a track record of making it work – and most of us came from jobs where we had at least some success.
But other people don’t need to know that you don’t have proven success yet. They don’t need to know that you’re insecure. The sooner you own it, the more clients you will eventually attract.
Number two: you don’t always want to hear or see the judgement from friends and family. Again, most of us left secure jobs and secure paths to start this entrepreneurship journey – and, frankly, our friends might think we’re crazy for it.
Even if they don’t really believe that, the sight of the wheels turning in their heads or their disapproving glances trigger our own insecurities about whether we’ve made the right move.
But the truth of the matter is that even when you become successful, there will still be naysayers who think you’ve done something absurd.
It’s not necessarily about waiting until the naysayers go away.
It’s about starting to build your resilience so that you can proudly articulate your identity at the Thanksgiving table and let any smirks or jokes roll off of you without taking them personally. It’s hard, but the sooner you start practicing, the sooner you’ll get good at it.
Number three: if we verbally commit to our new identity, our new message, our new target market, then we feel like we have to do it.
Saying Yes to this business model might mean saying No to something else. What if it’s the wrong verbal message or target market? What if you don’t like it?
Memorizing, owning, and declaring our new identities is about making the decision to step in – which can feel really difficult.
But I want you to understand that the only way to get where you want to go is to make a decision, hit the ground running, and then course correct.
If you’re standing still, you haven’t even given yourself the opportunity to course correct. If you make the wrong decisions, you can change your mind later – but only after you’ve started moving.
So now that we’ve discussed what may be holding you back from owning up to your new business, the next time you run into an old acquaintance, I want to be clear about why it’s so important to do so.
Your first ten clients or your next ten clients, depending on where you are in your business, are actually going to come from friends, family, and followers: your inner circle.
These are people who already know, like, and trust you. Your inner circle will not only bring in more clients, but also give way to speaking engagements and partnership opportunities.
So if you go to the bank, if you go to a party, if you go to pick your kid up at school and end up talking to the teacher – and you’re not confident about stepping into your new identity as a business owner – you could miss opportunities that are right in front of you.
This week, I invite you to find a way to be proud of yourself and what you’re doing. Choose that target market, memorize that verbal message, and get out there.
If you need help with this part, please come join us virtually at The Big Comeback Event (Dec 8-10). At this event we are going to create a step by step plan on exactly what you need to do to hit your goals in 2022.
Step 7 of this plan is finding your perfect target market and message – so if this article struck a chord with you – then please join us! (Use promo code save300 to take $300 off the ticket price!)
Because there’s gold out there for you. And that gold may be as close as your next conversation with a friend, family member, or follower.
