What to do – what you need to do
What you enjoy is quite often connected to your strength, what you are good at. A general rule for a success is to choose what you enjoy.
However, sometimes we dream about what we want so hard that overlook the critical thinking. To balance it out, I give a thought of my weakness, what I don’t enjoy or like, as well.
- I don’t like or enjoy being the front person
- I have language handicap with English compared with a native English speaker
- I am a detail-oriented deep thinker, which can be overkill or complicating to others in a certain occasion. Also because I take time for thinking and planning, I am not a fast worker.
- I am not a good sales person
Now I start seeing the conflict, my challenges. To run a business, you need to sell your products or services. To sell something to others, you need to convince them it is worth it to pay for it. Likely you need the social exposure to get people’s attention. Unfortunately my weaknesses show I am on the other end.
So what can I do?
Basically there are only two solutions. Either I change myself or seek someone who fills up my weak areas. Based on this understanding, I assess each weakness. Is each weakness absolute conflict to run my business?
Number one, as far as you are a small business owner, you can’t avoid being the front end for the most occasions. This is something I need to overcome no matter what, breaking my comfort zone.
Number two, my language handicap – this is a bit different. This is not the matter of my comfort zone. This is simply the matter of ability or asset of an individual. A woman can’t be a man or Japanese can’t be something else no matter what. Although I should keep improving my English, I can deal with this conflict better by marketing. I should target specific people, those who enjoy my unique differences, instead of others who expect me to be equal to a native English speaker. I can also seek a help for this conflict as needed. When I need more professional English writing in my operation, I look for someone who is good at and pay for the service.
Number three is my personality. I think a lot. It is generally a good asset but I need to be careful not to talk too much and confuse people for no good reason.
Number four, not a good sales person – I try multiple approaches to this. To begin with, why can’t I sell a product? Because I can’t be sure it is good for someone else. Then, be sure! I should study and think more thoroughly to make my opinion about the product confident. This part I can work on myself and make a change. An optional idea is to seek for a help. There are people who are good at selling things. If I happen to discover someone’s such a talent, I may ask for his or her help time to time.
Summary:
Write down your weaknesses – what you don’t like or enjoy.
Assess each weakness closely.
Do you have no choice but need to change yourself? If so, are you willing to make a change?
Is there any creative approach to live with it or even turn the weakness to strength?
Can you seek a help to support the weak area for you?