Have You Got What It Takes?

Prior to embarking on a new business venture, entrepreneurs will often act responsibly by performing a detailed assessment of the potential of their business idea. They will analyze their target marketplace, the competitive landscape, the unique selling proposition of their product or service and how their proposed messaging will resonate with their target customers or clients. They will confirm the applicability of their business model, their supply chain, production, the legal requirements and accounting protocol for their business. They will forecast sales and new competitive entrants to their market. They will layout plans for public relations and corporate communications. Investor packages and documents will be prepared. They will research the process of taking their company public. And without a doubt, begin the process of selecting the international locations of their beachfront homes situated strategically around the world.

All of this is extremely important, well maybe not the last step so much.... But there is one essential thing that is almost never assessed during this lengthy process of due diligence: the assessment of the ability of the entrepreneur to successfully lead this new business. In other words, can they actually do the job.
There are a number of personality traits that are proven to be beneficial in the business world:

• Task orientation
• Logical thinking
• Ability to multitask
• Leadership capacity
• Integrity
• Work ethic
• Ability to eliminate emotion and ego from business decisions
• Vision
• Dependability

Before you invest time and money to investigate whether or not you have the next million dollar idea, spend some time assessing your own skills and abilities. Objective introspection is technically impossible so I would recommend the following to gain additional insights into your own strengths and weaknesses:

• Seek out an expert within your target marketplace, find out what you will need to be successful
• Meet with a business coach
• Seek out a mentor (someone who has your best interests at heart and has the experience to help you avoid making the same mistakes that they made)
• Talk to qualified family and friends (people who have some experience and knowledge about the business area you would like to enter into)

Once you are armed with their feedback, you will be better prepared to fill the gaps in your skill set with help from qualified individuals. You can also write a business plan that focuses on your strengths and thus has a far better chance of succeeding.