Assessing Your Strengths

Successful small business owners know their own strengths and weaknesses. They build their businesses around their strengths and they compensate for their weaknesses. If you're to succeed, you'll have to be able to identify what you do well and what you don't do so well.

As you evaluate yourself, be honest. You'll only hurt yourself if you're not. Also, don't panic if you discover that you have weaknesses. Every small business owner has them. The key to success is not so much in having every skill (although that would help) as it is in finding ways to compensate for the weaknesses.

In the Business Tools area is a checklist for determining your strengths and weaknesses. It'll help you rate yourself and will give you some feedback about whether you're ready to start your own business.

You're, in effect, making a list of what you like to do and what you don't like to do. Generally, we like doing things we're good at and we don't like doing things we're not good at. It's a simple approach, but it should help you start to focus.