What am I referring to?

CONFIDENCE!

Think about it.  Why are we having a mortgage crisis in the U.S. today?  What changed that all of a sudden made millions of loans look so bad?  The answer is that buyers of debt suddenly lost their confidence in people’s ability to pay.  That’s all that changed!

But look at the impact on the world.  Houses are no longer getting sold, people are no longer remodeling and refinancing their homes, and corporations are suffering billions of dollars in write downs and laying off mortgage brokers that just last year were easily making well into the six figures.

How confident are you in your future?  Or the future of your business?  A recent study by Administaff suggests that the majority of small business owners think that 2008 will be a better year than 2007.

I can’t stress enough how much your level of confidence directly impacts the likelihood that tomorrow will be better than today - for you or your business.  This is a business blog…so I’ll stick to that and leave the personal development stuff to others.

Can you attract top talent to your business?

Can you get them to accept less than top salaries and still be excited to work every day?

Can you raise funds when you need them?

Can you create a bidding war from investors who want to participate?

Can you get early customers to sign up and pay for a service or product that isn’t even fully developed yet?

It’s my experience that your ability to do any of these things depends almost entirely on your level of confidence in your vision, and your ability to influence others to be as confident in that vision as you are.  You must learn to communicate a level of confidence that inspires others to see a better future by being associated with you and your business!