Resolving Your Business Finance Emotional Hot Buttons
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One of the areas that perpetually pushes buttons in business is finances. Whether you are a micro-enterprise owner or hold a position in a large company, the decisions you have to make about finance can cause huge emotional reactions. Money is a hot topic for most of us and our conditioning around it impacts how we view it and the results we get. Working as much as I do with small business owners I see many struggle with business finances. We joke about the emotional roller coaster of having a small business and we know it's based on what many experience. In the process of writing a business plan, most people are overwhelmed by financial forecasting. When asked to fill in spreadsheets they go completely blank from the fear of having to focus on money. Many people believe they 'can't do numbers' and experience intense anxiety in the budgeting process. Fortunately I can help them resolve their conditioning and anxiety, and they are able to complete their financial forecast with ease. Once the business is operating peoples' spending habits come into play. Many are loathe to spend money to properly promote their business. These are people who have been conditioned to be very cautious with money and are afraid there will not be enough money to survive. Even when they are consistently shown it requires a financial investment to properly launch and promote their business, their fear overwhelms them and they attempt to 'bootstrap' as much as possible. They typically loose out on business opportunities because not enough of their target market knows they exist. There may be a considerable amount of worry and second guessing around making financial decisions. The question "Am I doing the right thing?" constantly presents itself. Doubt and internal conflict take up a lot of energy and result in a lack of clarity. We end up vacillating, experiencing stress and business progress often slows. An area that occurs with start-up companies is establishing sales volumes for a new product or service. I vividly remember a client having a very difficult time talking confidently about his business when he was networking because he didn't have a contract at the time. He was attaching his confidence and measuring the quality of his work on whether or not someone was paying him for his service. This was a very talented man who had been employed as a writer for years and had a very strong portfolio. His own judgment stemming from the current lack of revenue was completely obliterating ownership of his highly marketable talent. Once his emotional hot button, called judgment, was removed his business started to flourish as he had more confidence in himself. Business growth can create a lot of emotional turmoil as well. How many of you find yourselves highly overworked? Business owners are pulled in many directions tending to the myriad of roles required to maintain momentum in their operations. The company is ready for growth but the owner is very reluctant to hire others to help out. They worry about the expense of hiring staff and often are afraid to let go of control. So they stay stuck not being able to work any harder, or longer and their revenues don't grow. When we remove the emotional hot buttons that contribute to doubt, worry and anxiety, owners are able to move forward with confidence and make the right decisions to support the growth of the company. Business growth may also require outside financing. This can really push buttons for people. What if projected revenues don't materialize? What if they can't repay their loans? What will happen if....? All this doubt and insecurity are a waste of energy and keep us stuck, going no where. What would be possible if you could resolve some of your emotional hot buttons that are creating worry, anxiety and doubt? Would you have greater peace of mind? Would you sleep better at night? Would you have less worry and more energy to do what is important? Would you have greater focus and work with more confidence? All of this is possible when you remove your emotional hot buttons. Wishing you more ease and grace with business finance decisions.Jacque Small |
