Step 1—Take a Look
Time to get really honest with yourself, and about yourself, and take a look at what your skill strengths and weaknesses are as they pertain to these skills:
After each skill, select the number that most closely matches your ability and/or comfort level. Then see where you have the most highs and lows—and check out the guidelines to your answers.
► Click here to download this chart in printable format (.pdf).
|
BUSINESS SKILLS REVIEW
|
|
SKILLS
|
LOW
|
MEDIUM
|
HIGH |
| Sales and Marketing |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Advertising, promotion, public relations
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Creating marketing plans
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Creating marketing strategies
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Advertising copywriting
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Pricing
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Packaging
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Sales planning
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Negotiating
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Direct selling
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Customer service
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Tracking competitors
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Financial Planning and Accounting |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Cash flow planning
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Bank relationships
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Managing credit lines
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Bookkeeping
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Billing, payables, receivables
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Monthly profit and loss statements
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Tax preparation
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Personnel |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Hiring employees
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Firing employees
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Motivating employees
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Scheduling
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Payroll
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Benefits administration
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
General management skills
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
Communication
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Oral presentation skills
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Written communication skills
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Computer skills
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
Personal
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Ability to establish goals
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Ability to work long, hard hours
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Ability to manage risk and stress
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Ability to handle failure
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Ability to work alone
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Ability to manage others
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
It’s All in the Numbers
There are no right answers to know if you’re cut out to be your own boss. But here are few guidelines:
- If you see a lot of 1s or 2s in a specific section, those are probably areas you need to work on before you should consider going into business for yourself.
- If you scored low in the Personal Skills section, you might want to think twice about being your own boss.
- Are you mostly 2s and 3s? Then it’s time to go on to the next step.
