In this second module of the ‘Starting your Business’ course run by the Open Polytechnic the subject of self analysis is covered; the somewhat delicate task of putting yourself, as the business owner, in front of a mirror and figuring out your strengths and weaknesses. Fair to say, I always seemed to find reasons to put off doing this module (as much as I needed it!) but, well, here I am. Finally.
Just want to watch my video review of this module instead? Scroll down…
In reality, it wasn’t as terrible as I had imagined it would be. I mean sure, I was staring at a list of my failings as a business owner in cold hard biro, but once I got over the initial sting of self-criticism, I started to see them as worthwhile goals, things to strive for, and I actually got a bit excited about the possibilities.
So, what are some of the typical things you would review when doing a self-analysis as a business owner? The module divides them into three main areas:
- Technical skills – Generally, most business owners won’t have too many problems in this area. These are the hard skills required to do the job, and it’s often the reason you started your business in the first place, you had a trade skill that you wanted to use to become self employed. But don’t get lazy; your industry is most likely always changing with new trends, technology and competition. Business owners need to review their technical skill set and invest in CPD as needed.
- People skills – Sometimes referred to as soft skills, they’re more important than a lot of business owners give them credit and they apply whether you have employees or not. If a business owner is seriously lacking people skills then it’s entirely possible they’ll scare away any customers, no matter how good their technical skills are!
- Affective skills – This set of skills are very introspective, essentially what are you like as a person, and what’s your attitude to personal growth and development. This set of skills directly impacts on the other two areas of business skill development, and includes things like taking the initiative and personal behaviours.
Dealing with different business roles
For most business owners, when you first start, you normally cover all the roles required. This will generally mean a steep learning curve as you take on things like business accounts, compliance, marketing and sales. It can be tough but hang in there and it’ll get easier. There are resources available to help, like the MBIE providing free resources to help businesses learn the necessary skills.
Instead of mastering these different roles, some business owners choose to hire staff to do the job, or they’ll outsource.
It’s still a good idea, even if you outsource, to have a basic grasp of these extra skills so you understand how everything works, firstly to know your staff or hired help are doing a good job, and, secondly, to understand the ecosystem of how a business operates (everything affects everything else).
For example, if you don’t see the relevance of digital marketing, you’ll possibly miss a lot of business that only comes through online channels such as Google searches or Google Maps. Or, if you don’t have a good invoicing process, it’s likely you’ll run into cash flow problems. These sorts of issues, while not directly related to your core technical skills, could wind up sinking your new business.
At a minimum, you should at least understand the different roles — marketing, sales, accounting, administration, HR, IT, health and safety, customer services, legal — that come together to form a functioning business. This will help you in the next step, which is determining gaps in your current business skill set.
Skill set assessment – What needs working on?
After you’ve made a list of all the skills needed to make your business a success, it’s time to understand how it compares with the skills you currently have. This can be as simple as writing up a list, with the skills needed in one column, and an honest self-assessment in the next column, with a third column indicating if help is needed.
Keep in mind you don’t need to be an expert – you just need to know enough to make sure any knowledge gap isn’t holding your business back from being successful. It’s not about being overly tough on yourself – it’s more a way to uncover opportunities to grow and nurture your business, to survive and thrive.
If you can, get a trusted friend to check your assessment, or talk to a local business mentor so you can get some outside perspective. It’s possible you’re being too hard (or soft!) on yourself.
Developing a plan to improve your skill set
Now that you have a better idea of what the gaps are in your business skill set, it’s time to work out a strategy to address them. Once again, a simple spreadsheet is generally all you need. In separate columns put the skill you need to work on (the development need), a strategy, the tactic and the rationale, or reasons, behind your plan.
For example, you might feel you need to improve your ability to deal with paperwork, things like invoicing and basic business accounting. You’ve identified the need. Now the strategy could be enrolling in a course to learn those skills. The tactics would then be locating a suitable course, such as an online course with the Open Polytech, enrolling and setting aside the time to complete the course. The rationale is that you need outside help to better understand how business accounting works.
Aside from tertiary courses, there are lots of different option to develop your skill set including industry associations, business mentors, government programmes, or networking with other business owners.
Ongoing skill set improvement
While it’s easy to get to a point where you feel things are ‘good enough’ it’s important to continually assess any gaps in your business skill set. If you don’t, you can get overtaken by the competition, or experience more problems in business than you otherwise would, such as customer conflicts, cash flow issues or downtime due to technical issues.
Sure, you’re busy, everyone understands that as a business owner time is tight, but using your time wisely means dedicating some of the time you have to reviewing the range of business skills you possess, either personally or collectively as a team, and making sure any gaps are being addressed.
How about outsourcing your website management?
Your website is an important business tool, it can be the difference between making a sale or not, and shape how potential customers view your business. If your website is in bad shape then this reflects negatively on your whole business, either making you look unprofessional or out of date. We can help! We offer a range of website services, from building you a brand new affordable website to any ongoing management and updates to keep your website looking good, accurate and secure. Just get in touch!