Know Your Business Know Your Capabilities

The fourth of eight articles entitled ‘Know Your Business’, which explores how to identify the perfect business to run and is written by entrepreneur and multi business owner James Keightley, who runs his own ecommerce business and business coaching consultancy.

This articles looks at the next step in identifying the perfect business for you, how to identify the perfect skills and capabilities you enjoy and would be good at when running your own business.

The previous articles, ‘Know Your Business Know Your Environment’ and ‘Know Your Business Know Your Behaviours’ have explored how to identify what the most ideal environment is for you to operate in and then what behaviour you will be demonstrating in that particular environment.

However, it is important to make sure that the way in which we operate, what it is we do and enjoy doing is utilizing not only the skills and capabilities we are good at, but most importantly the ones that gives us real satisfaction.

So far we have spent a lot of time drilling down to identify where we like to do what it is we like doing the most, so now you can start to think about what skills it is you like to use the most in those preferred environments.

Ask Your Self – first start off by reflecting on what skills you like to use the most. Think about some of the behaviours you like doing and ask yourself what skills do these utilise and which you enjoy the most. Note down what they are and start a list of skills.

Go For A Walk – time for another walk as this is always good for stimulating thinking and provides you with the solitude to reflect and consolidate on your existing thoughts. See if you can identify any other skills you enjoy doing, no matter how trivial you think they are. It could be planning, writing, organising, prioritizing, devising, questioning, listening, supplying, rehabilitating, restoring etc.

Write A Sort Story – write another short story about something you enjoyed doing and explain what you did, how you did it, what challenges you faced, how you over came these and what the outcome was. Having written the story read through it and pull out all of the skills and capabilities you identify yourself as demonstrating.

Go For A Walk – get yourself out for some more fresh air and reflect of the short story to see if you can identify any other skills and capabilities that it reveals. Make a note of these and add these to your skills list. Also reflect on the short stories you wrote for environment and behaviour to see if these throw up any skills you have not thought of and add these to your list of skills.

The Yellow Pages – the good old Yellow pages is an excellent source of inspiration, in fact you can also use this to reflect on what your ideal business environment and behaviour is. Turn to the index and look at all the services advertised such as garden designers, taxi services and so on. Think about each one and ask yourself what skills you think each particular one might require and if you think any are ones you have or think you could acquire and would enjoy. Add these to your list of capabilities.

Go For A Walk – you may have found the last task quite tedious and so you will no doubt be ready for another walk so you can spend some quiet time thinking about any other skills and capabilities that leafing through the Yellow pages might have prompted. Notes these down and add them to your list.

Ask Others – email friends and family and ask them what skills and capabilities they think you have, are good at and seem to enjoy and then add these to your list.

Like before it is time to whittle your skills and capabilities down to the three which you feel you would enjoy using the most and to be the core of your business. However, it must be remembered that running a business requires you to be a jack of all trades, but what we are looking for here are the three preferred skills and capabilities that you will use to inform and shape what you decide is the ideal type of business for you to run.

Write each skill down on a piece of paper and as before pick two up at a time and ask yourself which you would be prepared to sacrifice in favour of the other if you had to and then place your preferred skills in a separate pile. Repeat the process with all of the skills until you have a pile of preferred skills. If there are more than three then repeat the process with your pile of preferred skills until you have just three left. Then note these as your three most preferred skills.

My skills were planning, organizing and studying.

Before moving on to the higher Logical Levels that are relevant to running your own business we will be consolidation on the three preferred environments, behaviours, skills and capabilities you have identified so far.