When you are first determining what all is involved with having a home business, you must have some kind of loose plan, even if it is just the desire to have a business. It does take a bit more organization and planning to make it happen vs. imagining. Compare what your plan is presently and project all the way out to what you believe it should be or will be ‘someday’.
Since you will be the primary practitioner it is all about your abilities, ranging from attitude to skill level. Your qualifications and skills that you have acquired in your lifetime are the core resources you have to work with. They represent the foundation that you will build upon to create a profitable business.
It is important from a few different perspectives that you be confident in what you can bring to the table – especially when you are in new territory. New like starting a business of your own, new like learning to use technology, and even being in a different ‘field’ or niche than you have ever been in before.
So it may help you to do some exercises at the planning stage of developing a business, for the purpose of a self-assessment. Like an inventory, listing what exactly you have to work with from the get-go.
At the same time you can feel confident because you know you will learn more as you go along if you have an open-mind and are willing to work. As well, you can identify areas where you might consider some basic training or coaching if you don’t feel ‘up to speed’. Whatever it is it is best to get it out of the way so that it doesn’t become a stumbling block to your progress.
Exercise: Consider if you would hire you? Apply for a job in your own home business and write a resume and cover letter about why you are qualified for the job and are confident you are the candidate that should be chosen for the position. Promote yourself without ‘convincing’ behavior or ‘selling’.
If you have powerful terminology to describe examples of your assets such as for example proactive, timely, accurate, dependable/ reliable, flexible, learn quickly, efficient, passionate, honest, desire to succeed and enjoy helping others.
Enumerate your skills – mainly pertaining to the work at hand, and also life skills as a qualification. For example you were on a committee or participated in a ‘workgroup’ for a project; if hobbies or interests have led to using business skills, for example as club president or church secretary, then they are definitely relevant.
You maybe wouldn’t think of sports as having anything of value to business; but learning to work as part of a team, and striving for perfection by consistent practice are very important skills for business. Don’t forget you can also consider skills used in your home – balancing the budget, reconciling your checking account, “running the house”.
Final Exercise: Submit actual statistics or factual information to demonstrate where you have had actual on-the-job experience using those skills. Give the title of the position, but more importantly define all the duties that you performed. Give length of experience and special recognition, promotions, and accomplishments.
