Start Developing Your Own Plan
This blog entry was originally posted back in September of 2010 when our blog was just getting started. We believe it’s a strong piece and one worth revisiting. We hope you get something new out of it the second time around.
Start Developing Your Own Plan…
Tests to determine personality assessment or strengths and weaknesses have been around for many years. If you are like me, you have taken quite a few in your career by now. Either a current or potential employer or maybe you just wanted to know what you should do when you “grow up.”
What have you done with the results? The first few I received I sat down that very day and reviewed the document front to back. Agreed that yes, this is me. Put it away, never to be seen from again. I am sure I filed it, just don’t know where. I will probably run across it one day while cleaning up old files.
I know a few people who have read the documents and take the stand, this is who I am and therefore I can never be anything else. They use the document like a line drawn around them. There own private comfort zone.
The last results I received, I took a different approach. I have been noticing that the results have shifted slightly; however, two basic points remain the same. My greatest strength is that I am analytical, which in my case can also be a weakness. I can be so consumed with analyzing data, I never make a decision. This knowledge helps me in two different ways. I surround myself with staff that knows when approaching me with an idea, bring the data. After I have had a chance to review the data, ask for a decision. I need to move past analyzing to decision making.
My greatest weakness, at least for my job, I am introverted. I am very shy around new people. Add to that the fact I am hearing impaired. If I didn’t have to, I would never leave my office. However, running a non-profit organization that host 40 events a year, from a small educational encounter with 25 people to an expo with 1300, staying in your office is not an option. WBEA also participates in many of community partner events, and often I guest speak at those events.
I know that I have to network, so I put a smile on my face and get the job done. When it is over, I reward myself with some downtime. After a luncheon, 30 minutes of quiet number crunching with my door closed, makes my world back in balance. After Expo, we are talking a couple of days off without ever leaving my house.
The point is, I use the data to help me overcome my weaknesses. Maybe it is time to take your report out and start developing your own plan.
Let’s Get Down To Business
The idea of starting a business is exciting, exhilarating, and extremely daunting. Many of us have toyed with a business venture idea once in awhile and probably thought, “I bet that could work, but…” It’s that “but” that’s get you.
Most companies are founded on entrepreneurial spirit, and a little business knowledge of course. So, why don’t we all share some of this knowledge to the up-in-coming generation of future Steve Jobs?
Here is some advice and resources for those who have decided to pass on their expertise…
10 Tips for the First-Time Business Owners – http://bit.ly/GGS4d7
1 – Focus, Focus, Focus
2 – Know what you do. Do what you know.
3 – Say it in 30 seconds or don’t say it at all.
4 – Know what you know, what you don’t know and who knows what you don’t.
5 – Act like a startup.
6 – Learn under fire.
7 – No one will give you money.
8 – Be healthy.
9 – Don’t fall victim to your own B.S.
10 – Know when to call it quits.
Young Entrepreneur Advice: 100 Things You Must Know! - http://bit.ly/GILXBw
Some key take-aways from this list include:
The one thing that I wish I would have known before going into business more, was my own strengths and how I use them on a daily basis. – Jason C. Raymer
Don’t work with your spouse. If you want to wreck a marriage, be together 24/7 with one person exerting power over the other. – Susan Schell
How much money would I make in the first couple years of operation. Obviously, this answer would of told me to find a steady job and do this on the side until I really got it going 3-4 years later. – Marc Anderson
Less time spent on paid marketing/advertising efforts and more time screening and building strong partnerships with influential journalists, writers, editors and television producers. – Philip Farina
Marketing Advice from Steve Jobs - http://bit.ly/GONPZO
Let’s be realistic. Without some sort of marketing, whether it’s social, traditional, or gorilla, it’s vital to a business’ success. Obviously Steve Jobs knew this, and there’s much we can learn from him.
To all of you successful businessmen and women out there reading this – Do you have any advice, tips, or must-knows to pass along?
