28. Skill Set: Digging Into Your Toolbox

It’s absolutely necessary to begin with your skill set, not just with your business idea. Starting a business is tough enough without handicapping yourself and expanding into an area that is not supported by your skill set. Most entrepreneurs fail because they choose to pursue entrepreneurship with new skills instead of skills they already have.If you’re not sure what your skills are, you can use the following exercise to discover them:

List your responsibilities at your job or company, and/or the things you do everyday to manage your life if you don’t have a job. List the specific tasks associated with these responsibilities. List what other tasks you do at your job or to manage your life because either you like to or feel compelled to do them, even though strictly speaking they are not your responsibility. List the industries and markets in which you have experience. List the tasks you do at home.

List the activities you find yourself doing in your spare time.List the activities you would choose to do in your spare time. List the tasks that others often ask you to help them with. List the tasks you’re good at and might take for granted. Skills you will need to learn or strengthen, or hire until you do:Organization. You need to create the systems that will help you manage your company.

Energy management. This is more realistic than plain time management; time isn’t the real issue – how we use our energy in that time is.Driving the outcome. Always try to push your agenda in every business meeting and accomplish what you want it to. Quantitative analysis. Numbers are a part of business, enough said. Qualitative analysis. Seeing the subjective factors surrounding .