The courage to start your own business

If you act like you have confidence, pretty soon you believe it yourself.

We have to remember how small children behave. When they fall over, they just pick themselves up and start again.

Unfortunately, too many of us, particularly women, underestimate ourselves. Our self-esteem is needlessly low. This could be blamed on two thousand years or more of a patriarchal society; the advertising, fashion and beauty industries; or our self-grown sense of inadequacy. Women of my age often feel that they’ve missed the boat and have given up on achieving their dreams.

Sharing with others always helps build confidence, particularly for women. Why don’t you join up with some friends with compatible skills and ideas and swap wisdom? Failing at anything is just another lesson. I’ve made countless mistakes in my professional life as well as my personal life, but it hasn’t stopped me. Far from it.

Next in the series

Read more from Lynne Franks' SEED Handbook: the feminine way to create business.