At first glance, the title of this post might be a bit deflating. After all, no one really enjoys being critical of themselves or their business. It’s uncomfortable, and it’s easier to just focus on your strengths and really put your time and energy into those strengths.
But if you read our last post, you remember it was titled, “What Do You Do Well?” As much as we’d love to only ever focus on that question, being successful in business also requires honest analysis. So when we ask the question, “what do you do well?” we really also need to ask, “what do you do poorly?”
Keep in mind, we don’t raise this question to cause anyone to feel negative about their business. We raise it for one simple reason: you can’t ever get better at something if you don’t identify it as a weakness in the first place.
So today we’d like you to take a minute to really think about the one or two things that you as a business owner or manager really struggle with. In some cases, it might be something that you could do well, but really just don’t care for and so you end up ignoring it. Or maybe it’s something that you just really don’t understand. Whatever the case, take a minute and really think about it.
If you’ve identified some things about your business you’d like to work on, that’s good news. That’s the first step in the right direction. As marketing experts in southeastern Wisconsin, we’ve gotten to talk with hundreds of business owners and managers and have heard countless stories about businesses taking some of their weaknesses and turning them into their biggest strengths. And there is always one common first step: identifying the weakness.
So take it from us: finding your weaknesses is a good thing. Use this opportunity to do an honest evaluation of your business and start working to make your weaknesses your strengths. Not only will you notice the difference, your customers and clients will too!