You might already have some good ideas for starting  your business or for taking your business to the next level; but are those ideas in line with your performance strengths?

Do your ideas enable you to become an expert in your chosen field and start making money from it?

Ask yourself whether a doctor would start up an accountancy firm; or would a solicitor open up a barbershop? They most probably would not, because their strengths do not lie in these areas.

Find Your Weaknesses:

Let us dive more into the awareness of strengths by firstly looking at my previous experience. I started my own business more than ten years ago, and at that time I felt perfectly capable of managing the HR, Finance as well as the Sales areas of my business; mainly to keep costs low and because I felt knowledgeable enough. Was my decision at that time realistic and sustainable? To be honest, no, it wasn’t. During that first year I was involved in some lawsuit cases with my employees and, by the end of the year, while setting up my own annual financial report I found unrealistic numbers and miscalculations.

I began asking myself; am I good in HR and Finance? Do my strengths actually lie in these areas? Unfortunately they didn’t, and this had caused the issues in my company. Don’t get me wrong, I still was making money despite the problems with my business; but that was only because, and to my surprise, my strength was within sales, but just not enough to achieve business growth.

Build greater awareness of your strengths:

it’s very important to build greater awareness of your strengths and how these can be used for starting and building your own business. This will be a starting point to make strategic decisions to drive your business forward in the right direction. Once you gain more awareness as to what your strengths are, you will be amazed at the talents you have within yourself and at what Allah has blessed you with.

Let me share some simple examples: If your strength lies in being creative with clothing then you could start thinking of designing clothes and starting a business in clothing & accessories. Hint: A brilliant opportunity for meeting the needs of the Muslim consumer these days. Or, if you are good at listening, communicating and understanding others, you could start thinking about becoming a life coach and start your own coaching business. Hint: A very interesting home-based business opportunity.

Create Effective Solutions – Map your Talent with Opportunities:

By building awareness of your weaknesses you can begin to think of solutions which will help you run your business more effectively. For example, you might consider outsourcing the business activities which are too difficult and time-consuming, or to alternatively find a business partner who has the strengths you need to run your business more smoothly and efficiently.

Looking back again at my experience; when I became aware of my strengths and weaknesses I was able to easily solve my business issues. The problem regarding my lack of financial knowledge was solved by outsourcing it to an accountancy firm that fitted within my budget. The issue regarding my lack of HR knowledge was solved when I began to study for a degree in Human Resource Management, and also by outsourcing HR for advice and guidance on employment law. Finally, my business started to grow and to make more money, but most importantly; I was more involved with the work that both matched my strengths and that I enjoyed the most.

Once you have gained a greater awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, you can begin to make better use of your talents as well as creating new opportunities while developing your business.

Your Assignment:

Let’s start right now to build greater awareness of your strengths and weakness by clicking on the link below and filling out the worksheet that We have created for you.