One of the most important characteristics for success as an entrepreneur is self-knowledge. Having a complete and accurate understanding of your best skills, what you like to do, how you like to work, and what you shouldn’t be doing is critical.
Why? Because you’ll waste a lot of time and not make the progress you want if you don’t do an honest inventory and adjust accordingly.
Know your best skills
What are your superpowers? There are some skills you might easily identify, but there are probably several others you undervalue because they come easily to you. Make sure you include the things other people always come to you for help with in your inventory of best skills.
As you are building your business, try to ensure you’re using these skills at least 60% of the time. Staying in your genius zone as much as possible will keep you energized and inspired.
Know what you like to do
Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you like doing it. I know a lot of people who are very good at data analysis, but they don’t want to spend all of their time doing it.
Also, if you like to do something that is a low-value task in your business, or one that could easily be offloaded to someone else, think about whether it’s a good use of your time.
You may decide to continue doing it because you enjoy it, or you may decide that your time would be better spent doing something else.
Know how you like to work
One common theme I hear from entrepreneurs is a feeling of isolation. If you’re a natural introvert, you may actually be living your dream working alone in your home office.
However, if you’re an extrovert, or even fall somewhere in between extrovert and introvert, you may find that too much time alone isn’t good for you. You may find yourself feeling blue or just out of it. You may feel like you’re losing your edge.
Many people tell me they miss bouncing ideas off of other people and collaborating. There’s no reason you can’t do this as a solo or small business owner, but you’ll need to reach out to other people or join a group.
You can create your own informal group with other entrepreneurs, or you can join an existing mastermind group.
Know what you shouldn’t be doing
If you know financial knowledge is a blind spot for you, get help sooner rather than later.
If you hate going on social media, hire someone to help you with that.
I know I have a problem sorting and organizing papers. I got fed up, hired a professional organizer to come work with me, and we went through nine years of papers in six hours. That was some of the best money I ever spent.
Could I have done it myself? Sure. But I would never have gotten around to it. Having her sitting there with me going through boxes of papers made me do it. She told me “body doubling” is the term professional organizers use for that.
Here’s what I know for certain: You will have a much easier time building your business if you maximize your strengths and manage against your weaknesses.
There’s no shame in needing help. None of us are good at everything. Be honest with yourself and get support where and when you need it.
Photo by Elisa Photography on Unsplash
