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Preparation

Assessment: Assessing Yourself

• You are the visionary who identified the market opportunity.
• You are the strategist who developed the plan to exploit that opportunity.
• You are the tactician who will implement that plan.
• You are the persuader who convinced investors and bankers to back the venture.
• You are the manager who will bring together, and hold together, the many people working within the business.
• You are the marketeer who relates to customers’ needs and will do all that is necessary to fulfil them.
  
• You are the product champion who will ensure that quality comes second to none.

You are … your business’ single most valuable asset. You are also, at the same time, your business’ single greatest potential liability.

If anything goes wrong with your business, it is more likely to be your fault than the result of any external action or person. You may misjudge the market – the pricing or costing of products. You may hire the wrong people. You may spend foolishly the money you and others have invested in the business. You may ... destroy the business single-handed.

So, before you take another step towards self-employment and your own business, you need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

• Who do you see?
• What skills, talents, and strengths does that person have?
• What faults, weaknesses and failings does that person have?
• What is their motivation – in life generally, in this new business situation specifically?
• What is their attitude to risk, uncertainty, and pressure?

Make sure you know yourself truly before you commit to self-employment. Then ask yourself two questions:

• Am I right for self-employment?
• Am I ready for self-employment?

The first question has to do with skills, talents and strengths (and to an extent, faults, weaknesses and failures). Do you have what it takes? Can you cope with the ups and downs of self-employment, with the absence of a regular pay-check (sometimes any pay-check at all), with pressure from customers, suppliers and staff, and with the long hours of graft that will be necessary?

If not, that’s fine. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, and those that are not are no worse for it. If you are not right for self-employment, it is better to make that determination now than to have it made for you in the Bankruptcy Court in years to come when you have lost everything.

The second question has to do with timing. You may fit the perfect entrepreneurial profile, have all the necessary skills, no faults that will affect the business, but not be ready to take the plunge because of your personal circumstances or for some other reason. Maybe you have given a commitment to someone that means your free time will be restricted over the coming months, maybe you are not in full health, maybe your family circumstances (new baby) or finances (new house and big mortgage) mean that you cannot take the risk of self-employment just right now.

Don’t worry. If you are right for self-employment, the opportunity will come. If now is not the right time, wait. Don’t blow your chances by jumping at the fence too early.

Self-assessment is the first step – and the most important. Remember, you are your business’ single most valuable asset … and its single greatest potential liability.

Now move on to consider the other aspects of assessment:

• Yourself
• Your team (if you have one)
• Your family
• Your idea
• The market.