In today’s blog post, I will share how it’s important to check in on your business weaknesses if you want to build a strong business.
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We often talk about strengths in business, “play to your strengths”, “figure out what you’re good at”, “combine your strengths with what you’re passionate about in business and then everything will be easier’. They’re all true, but what about your business weaknesses though? Some weaker areas of your business can be outsourced and then there are some that you either need to understand before you outsource them, or you just need to know them yourself.
Maybe you’re someone that could list 10-20 weaknesses in your business right now, where you’ve got a long list of limiting beliefs, but which weaknesses are real and could do with addressing?
Let’s take one of mine that I’ve been working on lately. Finances in my business. At the beginning of this year I did Todd Herman’s 90-Day Year, and as part of the programme you have to do a review of different areas of your business. I knew without answering any questions where I’d stand on the financials. I’d get my accounts done on time, I had an idea in my head of where my main income streams come from, but there was no way I could tell you exact numbers around specific marketing strategies that were working, not working.
We can feel scared of our weaknesses. I was definitely an ostrich when it came to my numbers. Like anything though, you can’t improve something that you have no real awareness of. The first step is understanding your areas of weakness, then you can set some plans in place to overcome them. I’ve always found writing much easier than number crunching. I can do it. Hey, I managed some big budgets in my HR days, but I have to think much harder when it comes to doing the numbers. It doesn’t come naturally to me.
A few areas that come up with my clients are not having clarity around their marketing message, for some it’s being afraid of the technology around doing a video, or knowing how to write a blog post. For some, like me, it’s looking at the numbers. Maybe it’s being afraid of social media and not knowing what to write.
Once you are aware of your weaknesses, you can get help with them. You can develop the skill set you need to move yourself and your business forward. If someone mentions something to you and it triggers you then it’s worth considering what it is about that thing that triggers you.
Here’s a few quick tips to help you:- Write down areas of your business that you feel weak in (areas that challenge you) Ones that make you want to run away and hide, in the hope that they will go away if you don’t talk about them
- Taking each area in turn, do a mini review
- Do you need to understand this yourself?
- If ‘yes’ – then how can you learn more about it? How can you become proficient in this area? (i.e. take a course, read a book, practice, get some coaching/mentoring – I’m waving if you need support!
- ‘If ‘no’ – then who could take on this aspect of your business for you? (i.e. outsource it)
- If you don’t develop this area, will it be an issue for your business? (as in if you keep burying your head in the sand will it become an issue?)
- If yes, what’s the impact of doing nothing?
- On a scale of 1-10, where 10 is ‘this is really urgent’ and 1 is ‘I can chill about this’, how quickly does it need addressing?
Now you have awareness around each of these different areas, prioritise your list and ask what action do you need to take. Here’s a working example:
- I have no idea how to schedule social media. It’s taking up loads of time loading it manually every day
- I’d like some control over it, so I still want to create my own content but I’d love some help scheduling as that’s the bit I don’t find easy
- If I don’t get my content scheduled, and keep hiding away from doing it, then I could be losing potential clients. It’s costing me money
- On a scale of 1-10 it’s a 7. I’ve already had people saying that I’m not consistent with my social media and they ended up going with other businesses to get support, so it needs to be a priority now. Ideally I want to get it sorted this month
- I will speak to 3 different freelancers that do social media scheduling and get 3 quotes. I’ll also pull together a plan of my content so that I know what days/times I want content scheduled, and which platforms I want to use
Remember, you don’t need to hide from your weaknesses in your business. Just get the information and then work on how to make improvements. When you’re in the corporate world you have departments that manage the different aspects of business. You can’t be great at all things, so give yourself a break, but you do still need to know what impact your weaknesses might be having in general.
Hiding your head in the sand won’t help!
So, in case you wondered what I ended up doing around my ‘money ostrich’. I worked with a lovely 90-day Coach, Sara Roach-Lewis, who helped me to put in some simple systems in place to be more money savvy. I now have set days that I work on my finances. Am I perfect? Ummm that would be a no, I have a looooong way to go, but now I am able to make much better informed decisions because I have the data to back it all up. I also feel just a teeny, tiny bit more growed up now too!
Your call to action: Review your weaknesses in your business and put a plan in place to turn them into strengths, or at the very least put a plan in place to outsource the areas you’re not so good at.
Want to know more about outsourcing? Read an article I wrote about it here.
Remember to check out my Visibility Quiz to find out whether you’re a Visibility Lady, Countess, Princess or Queen. If you’re a guy then please change the names to Lord, Count, Prince and King) Once you’ve got your score I’d love for you to come on over to my pinned post on my business page and tell me what score you got. There’s a chance to win a little prize each month.
Also, I would love to interview Ladies, Countesses, Princesses & Queens on my podcast show, Rock Your Fabulous Biz. I’ll be asking you all about what you do on visibility right now, what’s working for you, what’s not and where you’d like to be. If you’re interested then apply for your spot here – http://bit.ly/PodVisQuiz. In order for your application to be considered, you’ll need to have completed the quiz though as I’ll need to know what you’ve scored etc.
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