How to manage your ‘weaknesses’ in business

Whenever I carry out a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis with a new business client, it is almost always the weaknesses (their own or those of the business) that cause most concern.

We are used to identifying our suppliers’ and competitors’ strengths and weaknesses but addressing our own may be difficult, perhaps even uncomfortable, for some. Not only will you need a high level of awareness when doing this on your own, but also a desire to act and initiate the necessary changes.

People who’ve just escaped the corporate world, where continuous improvement was often taken for granted, may welcome the choice to avoid self-appraisals altogether when they start to work independently.

But when you’re losing business or not gaining any new business, then you may not have a choice. You are now forced to identify your weaknesses, or development areas, as I prefer to call them.

During the SWOT exercise, I often see people fall into two camps.

There is the female business owner who perhaps being unsure of herself, will give you everything that she considers wrong with herself or her business. Then there is the business owner who can’t think of any development areas at all.

When being too negative, it can be difficult to recognize and appreciate the positives, which will help you to build on your strengths. People, who can’t see anything wrong, often get used to a status quo, are not open to change, or simply find it hard to admit that all is not perfect, for fear of losing face.

As a business owner in this competitive business climate you simply can’t afford to be in either camp and continuous improvement is a must, as some of Success Network’s Facebook ‘fans’ recognize too:

Lynne Baker, owner of  Calla Salon says: “It’s so hard taking negative feedback, but it’s utterly essential. I go to many training courses each year, some for new things, some for refresher training, and it’s great to learn from other people. There is never a day goes by without me learning something. Very important!”

Nikki Austin, owner of Austin John Interiors contributes, “I’m always asking clients for feedback now on everything, and ask them if there’s anything they’d like me to change as a service, what can I do to improve myself and my websites, showroom etc. I like the comments good or bad (don’t like bad obviously) but it teaches me where I can improve or drop something if it’s not working. Most of my work is from a referral so I’m doing something right!!”

And Jane Gordon, owner of Man Meat Fire adds, “I work in an industry where if I do not provide a good service, my customers will not hesitate to tell me, or even worse, stop ordering completely without telling me. I feel it is imperative to build a good rapport with your customers so that feedback is given (and received) openly and constructively. I think we should all be aware of our flaws, but always strive to better ourselves. Complacency is fatal.”

So, it is clearly important to be open to feedback. Equally important may be to recognise that nobody is perfect. It is human nature to be more skilled and confident in some areas but not in others.

Recent start-ups or new business owners who are assessing their strengths and weaknesses for the first time, may find it useful to start by identifying all the business, IT or soft skills that they need to be able to carry out their freelance work or business tasks.

Once you have a list of skills, you can rate yourself against these, measuring your current level of competence against a scale, say of 10, where 10 represents excellence.

Not only will you discover which areas you may need to pay attention to in future, you will also discover your strengths in relation to all the business, IT or soft skills that are required of you.

Depending on your personal strengths and weaknesses, it may be enough to play more on your strengths and just be aware of your weaknesses.

And if the development areas have become barriers to your progress, you have two options: You can identify what you need to do or learn to improve in a particular area, but if this will take years rather than months or weeks, and you want quick improvements, then I recommend you ‘outsource your weaknesses’, a top tip Jayne Reddyhoff from the Adword Adviser once shared at one of our events- a tip that  is so valuable for one-woman bands!

Finally, I frequently make the following point and fear I may be repeating myself, but allowing time to work ‘on’ the business, or in this case also ‘on’ you, is time invested well, that could just impact your bottom line, and will therefore pay off time and time again in future!

Ute Wieczorek-King is an experienced trainer, mentor and business coach who specialises in helping busy women to be more efficient, visible and profitable in business.

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