After I had been in business for a few years, a friend asked me, "Rhonda, when did you know you were good at what you do?" I had to stop and think. Until my friend posed the question, I hadn't realized that it had been quite a while since I had experienced "the fraud factor."
“The Fraud Factor” is a feeling most entrepreneurs have when they’re still relatively new to business. It’s a sensation that what they’re doing isn’t really real. Because what they’re doing is unfamiliar, it often feels as if they’re posing or playing a part. That often makes them feel like they’re incapable, clumsy, a fraud – no matter how good they are at what they do.
If you're new to business, you too may experience feeling the "fraud factor." If you look around, you see a bunch of confident competitors, and imagine they all know exactly what they're doing, while you're still trying to figure out the business lingo or what to charge.
Take heart: just because you’re new doesn’t mean you’re a fraud. And even when you feel like a fraud, it doesn’t mean you’re incompetent.
Part of the "fraud factor" comes from the fact that you are NEW. Even if you've been in the same industry for many years, when you're new to running your own business, you now have to deal with many more issues and challenges than you did as an employee.
You may be incredibly capable at the key functions of your business - designing a new logo if you're a graphic designer, treating patients if you're a doctor, preparing tax returns if you're an accountant. But it's the business part – setting prices, negotiating with vendors, handling legal issues – that makes you feel out of your depth.
The cure for that, unfortunately, is only time and experience. It's a lot easier to feel like a genuine negotiator the tenth time you've dealt with suppliers than it is the first.
Until you've got enough time and experience under your belt, what else can you do to reduce the fraud factor?
-- Get educated: The more educated you are about business, the more confident you'll feel. By education, I don't necessarily mean getting an MBA. Often, some of the most practical business education comes from seminars or workshops run by industry associations, entrepreneurs’ groups, university extension programs. And keep reading: your newspapers’ business section, business magazines, and business books.
-- Get connected: Join with other entrepreneurs. Every industry has a trade association; many have local chapters. Most communities have entrepreneurs’ organizations. It helps to feel like an entrepreneur when you hang out with other entrepreneurs. And this is good networking for your business, too!
-- Get credentials: Most professions and trades offer some form of advanced certification programs. These credentials are important to others - particularly potential customers and referral sources - showing you've acquired the background to do your job. But they also increase your own sense of confidence.
-- Give yourself credit: You may be new to running a business, but you have other experience that makes you capable of doing what you’re doing. You’ve probably worked for years as an employee, perhaps in the same or a related field. Even those in their early 20's usually have had some relevant history - summer jobs, organizing youth groups, selling Girl Scout cookies. Remind yourself of your experience whenever you feel like you're brand new.
-- Get real: The surest way to feel like a fraud is to be a fraud. If you misrepresent yourself to potential customers to land a client or make a sale, you'll never stop feeling like you're impersonating someone capable. When potential clients ask you about your experience, be honest about your background, education, and the time you’ve been in business. You’ll still be able to compete because you’re probably charging less or providing a different type of product or service than your competitors.
So what did I say to my friend who asked the question about when I knew I was good at my job? I told her I really didn't know. One day I just did. And so will you.
