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Self Assessing
your Abilities to Start and Run a Business
To be successful
in a new business venture, you should start with
a self assessment of your abilities,
likes and dislikes. There are many areas where your past
experience will be of benefit in your new venture. This
self assessment is a sort of "get-to-know-myself" of abilities,
likes and dislikes which you always knew were lurking in
you, but never really found out about!
Up to
now, you did not have to put those qualities into
a context, but now, when you start your
own business, they very well, become
vital to your survival.
| Self Assessment |
| Don't
think of this as some psychological test
or some other evaluation method. It simply
provides you with an organized way to find out what
you offer and what you
are willing to contribute in terms
of ability and effort to
a new business venture. Many
people find talking this over with a
trusted friend a good idea. That might
help them to crystallize what they want
and who they are, in terms of their business
abilities. The key contribution, a third
party will make, is to help you see things
better. His function is not to push you into a
specific direction or really give you advice.
But, it should be a mixture of a devil's
advocate and someone
who encourages you. It is
the new thoughts, he/she might plant in your mind
that are important. You should, if they come
about, pick up these thoughts and develop them
further.
In
order to get a useful discussion, you might want
to create a sort of question and answer
session. You prepare the questions
beforehand and ask the other person their views.
Be very specific with these questions, and don't
get defensive when the other person says
something critical. Instead, encourage
him/her to explain to you, why he/she thinks
that. Don't defend yourself, you
are not in a competition and you do not have to
justify yourself, just
listen and absorb. Take notes and, be
sure that after the session you go over the ideas
and comments that have been voiced.
You
don't have to communicate details of the business
you are intending to pursue. You can keep the
session general about the business, but, very
specific about yourself and your perceived
abilities!
Before
you start your business venture, you should set
aside several sessions with yourself,
about knowing yourself! The self
evaluation should cover your personality, as well
as your objective technical abilities needed in
running the proposed business. In the end, you
should have a fair idea about how well
you know yourself and how
well you use any abilities, as well
as how you cover any short comings,
you have.
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| Probably, you have a fair idea
about, what you want to do, and
the area, or sector, in which your future
business venture should be active. Matching
your abilities, be these technical or personal
through a self assessment, to the
demands of the business sector of your choice, is
a key ingredient that lowers
your risk and improves your chances of success.
It does not, by necessity, mean that, if you lack
a certain skill, you cannot enter a specific
business area. Obviously, you can! Provided you
have the resources, to buy in that skill. But, to
remain within realistic boundaries, you are
unlikely to enter a business area, where you are
from the start, handicapped by the absence of an
essential ingredient! To guide
you through a self evaluation, we have
made a small checklist, which
will help you to remain systematic in this task.
You can add on things which you might think are
important or are specific to the business sector
you are intending to enter.
|
| Ten
Points to Start your Self Evaluation |
 |
What
is my Goal? Self Fulfillment? Earn
Money, because I need to(?), or work because I
want to work? Make a ranking of these and
other factors in your order of
importance! |
|
What are my
strengths and weaknesses? (if you really
need to, take a know-yourself test in a Career
Book!). This is your
perception of things! Make a list of five to ten
points on your strengths and weaknesses. Rank
them according to your perception of importance. And
then make a ranking on how you perceive other
people might see their
importance! Try to integrate the session
you had with your friend and his/her views about
your abilities. |
|
Where, or
about what, do you have your highest
confidence levels? (list five items and
see, whether they match your strengths!) |
|
Make
a list of activities (jobs, work etc.) that you
would like to do or that are important in your
proposed business venture. Then match
that list to your Strengths and Weaknesses and
your level of confidence in what
you bring to the table. |
|
Make a list
of places where you would like to work
(You can have dreams, but be realistic about it -
"I would like to work on the moon",
does not help you very much! |
|
What
impact will starting your business venture have
on your surrounding (family, friends,
hobbies etc.) Think hard about that and write it
down, because you do not want to make people
close to you and around you unhappy! |
|
Ask
friends or former colleagues (or your
former bosses) you worked with, what their
perception of your strengths and weaknesses are ,
i.e. what were or are you good at? This is an
expansion of the idea we touches on in the blue
field above. But here it is more related to your
job skills than your personal traits. Again, be
careful in evaluating these comments, because
often people will tell you what they think you
want to hear! Remember, you will get the best
assessment if you listen to them and
don't interrupt them, to justify yourself, when
they say something negative about you! |
|
Based on
the above, start to match job functions
needed in your business venture with your
abilities and skills! If you feel you
cannot do something, you will have to find a way
to cover that later. But for the moment you simply
identify the issue. |
|
Look
at individuals or companies that are
similar to your intended venture, and what skills
the leading have or have not. Then compare it to
what you bring to the table. |
|
The final
phase is in bringing all these point
together and identify how they will
affect the way you start your business. Remember,
especially the start up phase will be
the one where you are most
likely to have the least available
resources to "fix a problem" from a
lack of ability or a personal shortcoming! |
Although, the internet provides a large
number of avenues that offer business entry with minimal
funds. Don't be fooled by the idea that it will be easy.
Any start of a business, on or off the internet, needs
your full attention and all the skills you can master. It
is therefore essential that you know yourself,
that you know what you can, and what you
cannot do well!
Knowing
yourself, will be half the start-up battle won!
There
are areas in which your personality, experience
and skill, as well as seriousness of purpose are key
elements that drive an activity or are the
essence of a job and a new business venture. Obviously,
that should apply to every task, though sadly, it does
not.
Here are
some books that should help you in assessing yourself.
You have to be careful in this area, since many books
tend to be "trend-books", i.e. those that want
to push you in the authors direction, rather than give
you the ability to find out about yourself. We tried to
stay clear of the former. Try to stay clear of
authors that attempt to "sell a life style",
whatever that means!
| Some useful Books from
amazon you could consult |
The above is only a small selection of
books available on the topic. Sometimes reading someone's
biography, will help you determine, some of your
abilities and skills. But remember, while we are not all
Napoleons or Katherine the Great, there might be a Custer
lurking in many of us!
The next step will be to look
at "Starting
your own Business"
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