AI. Crowded marketplaces. No clear USP. Differentiating only on price. Customers don’t understand what you do. All of these things can be barriers to business growth and success. So how do you stand out? You have to be brave and be yourself.

How to be Brave

As a business owner, you’re already brave, even if you don’t think you are. 20% of businesses fail in their first year, and 50% fail within the first five years (according to this Forbes article).

So if you’ve got past your first five years and you’re still going, you’re braver than 50% of people who started out at the same time as you. OK, they might have been unlucky, been badly advised or bankrupted, but you have to have the courage to keep going in the face of adversity.

Everything we do as business owners is brave. We tell people at networking events what we do, we put our prices up regularly, we attend conferences, submit tax returns and update websites. We just don’t give ourselves enough credit for those things.

Maybe the way to be brave, then, is to celebrate yourself. Mark each tiny milestone and feel proud that you’re still the boss of a company, still making money and still learning and growing.

How to be Yourself

With all of that said, then, it’s obvious that the struggle isn’t about being brave so much as being brave enough to be yourself. Those aren’t the same thing. So how can you find a way to be yourself?

If you don’t feel like going full-on jazz hands enthusiasm, or sharing whacky videos on LinkedIn straight away, that’s fine. Because being yourself isn’t necessarily about being weird. It’s about showing people what matters to you and what you care about.

In their book Rare Breed, Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger identify seven ‘virtues’ or characteristics that make a business owner a rare breed – someone who doesn’t fit in in the traditional sense of how to be the boss or an entrepreneur.

You don’t have to have all seven, and to step into what makes you a rare breed is about deciding to no longer compromise on the way you do business. That’s about having the courage of your convictions, not wearing a top hat everywhere you go (although that’s cool too).

To be brave and be yourself the rare breed way is about following your passion and commitment to succeeding in business no matter what obstacles are in your way. And to communicate that clearly and consistently.

Share your mission, vison and values once a month to start off with. Read Content Fortress and write a repelling blog to put off the wrong fit clients. Explore tiny ways to show your particular virtues as much as possible.

FYI, the seven values are:

1. Rebellious
2. Audacious
3. Obsessed
4. Hot-blooded
5. Weird
6. Hypnotic
7. Emotional

The two I identify most with are rebellious and weird. How about you? Oh, and here are my mission, vision and values, which I’m trying to share more:

Mission: Helping business owners to streamline the writing process to fit with their unique needs so they can share their messages further
Vision: For every client to be able to communicate clearly with their target audience and stand out from the competition so that they can change the world
Values:
1. Fairness
2. Loyalty
3. Individuality

Is it Easy to be Brave and be Yourself?

You’re probably thinking: “Well, it’s easy for you to say, Gudrun. You’ve obviously always been like that.” And it’s true, I have. I was always opiniated and would never shut up and go along with something for an easy life.

I always wanted to protect and help people who couldn’t do that themselves. I’ve stopped the car in the middle of the street to help someone in distress, I’ve called ambulances for old people who’ve banged their heads; heck, we even ended up with our dog because we couldn’t bear to leave her on the side of the road.

But, and this is a big but, (snigger), I haven’t always been like this in business. My desire to always do the right thing has been evident since I was a child, and everyone who knows me knows that I’m there to support them at the drop of a hat.

When I started in the world of employment, I always did what I was told and got on with my work. Although I did make myself unpopular by advocating for newer, better, quicker ways to do things, I was always conscientious.

So when I started my business, I hesitated to show the full range of my personality – my weird quirks, my love of puns and word play, and the fact that sometimes I say things without thinking that can be a bit outrageous (but funny and never intended to hurt).

But just as I could never deny the fact that what I really wanted to do as a career was be a writer, I couldn’t hide the things that made me different. And in the end I’ve chosen to embrace them. And I want you to be brave and be yourself in business too.

Want Some Help to be Brave and be Yourself?

If you don’t learn to be brave and be yourself, you’ll never be fully satisfied with your business. And if you’re on a mission to make the world a better place, you’ll have  to stand out and stand up for what you believe in.

I can help you to find what makes you unique and create content consistently. You can also find out more about how I work and who I like to work with.