Personal growth is amongst the least exciting aspects of entrepreneurship for two reasons. First, it’s hard work – which may not yield returns in the short term. Second, it requires that you know yourself by digging deep into your core; something people generally don’t enjoy.
How well do you know yourself? In order to grow, you need to know and understand who you are and the implications of your journey so far. Self awareness forms the foundation on which to build a better you. Good knowledge of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) will help reveal a clear picture. And yes, the SWOT analysis does apply to the entrepreneur’s person.
Know your strengths
These are areas where you easily excel. In business terms, they are assets or your ‘cash cow’. It’s the gifts and abilities with which you effortlessly transact in life. You may be an awesome writer, surgeon, lawyer, singer or have a great personality – whatever you’re good at falls in this category.
Our strengths show us how much value we have to offer and provides the energy needed to keep growing. These ‘super-powers’ make us feel good and help to balance out our faults.
Know your weaknesses
I’m convinced that our weaknesses are as important as our strengths. Motivational speakers, inspirational books and positivity theorists encourage us to focus mainly on our strengths. I don’t completely agree.
I urge entrepreneurs to give their weaknesses as much attention as strengths because in the subjective world of business, if not well managed, weaknesses cause more trouble. Weaknesses are our liabilities, undeveloped areas and aspects of least strength in character, competence, and so on. Folks are generally not proud of these. But know and try to understand how your weaknesses work so that you’re able to manage them.
Know your opportunities
Entrepreneurs thrive on opportunities. But an opportunity is one slippery animal. Often, people are driven by the idea of a good chance, hoping that it’s concrete. In other words, “all that glitters isn’t gold”.
Opportunities are avenues by which we can exercise and benefit from our strengths. For the entrepreneur, the challenge is finding the right one. That’s why it’s vital to know your strengths and weaknesses so that you’re able to identify clear prospects.
What constitutes an opportunity for a chef wouldn’t apply to an engineer. But if the engineer doesn’t know herself enough, she would be frustrated trying to access the benefits that accrue to the chef. Are you pursuing opportunities that are not for you? You probably need to know yourself more.
Know your threats
In the success journey, your greatest challenge won’t be money, contacts or other resources – you will be your toughest fight. You will have to contend with the complexity that is you. Simply put: you’re your biggest asset and your strongest threat; interesting paradox.
Threats are elements (internal or external) that can stop you from achieving your goals and dreams. Usually, folks focus on the external threats, leaving the internal ones to run amok. What are those personal traits that can hinder your dream? Do you know them? Weaknesses become threats when they take you further from your goals. It’s wise to be aware of threatening elements about you so that you’re able to adjust accordingly.
Now, that you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, what do you see? What picture has emerged? The information that you get will help you identify areas in which you should improve. With this intelligence, you will know the required resources for your growth process. If you can know yourself better, you can grow stronger.
Twitter: @SamuelMpamugo. Blog: theyouideology.com