Can a little self-doubt improve your business?

From Fallon Drewett, The Just Saying Project

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‍Having the super power to believe in yourself can be a rare commodity when facing unknown territory.

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For me, the unknown territory was starting a small community based business specialising in the self-confidence of women called The Just Saying Project.

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I have the creative drive but for the most part of the past 12 months, I have been winging the business side.

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And by winging it, I mean trying to organically build my brand on a limited budget and let my words do the talking.

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It is always a test for creative people in business, making sure you have the balance right.

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This is something I am still finding out, plus some days I doubt whether I have the business capacity to be a success.

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Which got me thinking, is there room in creative business for self-doubt? Creative people, like myself, often grapple with the esteem of their egos and whether what they have created will gain attention and, in the end, put food on the table.

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There are days when I don’t see myself as a businessperson, I feel as if I am fooling myself by thinking ‘what the hell are you doing, you don’t know anything about business, you are an amateur’.

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I believe there is room for a little bit of self-doubt in business, not every day, but on occasion.

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Acknowledging your self-doubt can actually trigger where you might be going wrong in your business plan, your thought processes and execution of ideas.

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Self-doubt can lead to an open perspective. However the trick is to not let self doubt take over, utilise the doubt you are having and make changes to push forward.

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It is kind of like the nerves before a speech or a performance, nerves and self-doubt can increase the adrenalin; reminding you that anything worthwhile will have its moments of insecurity. For me, the moments of insecurities I have felt as a business beginner have made me more passionate about learning more.

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As a former journalist, I have always believed knowledge is power. You can never doubt the importance of education from either books or my favourite, other people.

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People are the greatest teachers and, in those moments of doubt, they can be great sounding boards and give advice you might never have thought of.

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Being open to the passion of other people is vital. I have found it actually fuels my passion. It makes me want to be a better person both personally and in business.

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I truly believe you cannot have passion without a little bit of doubt. We need the light and shade, to motivate and help us create.

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Passion is what we need to ‘back ourselves’ and believe in who we are.

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And if you are passionate about your business idea or business you won’t let self-doubt be king.