“What they mean to your business”

Have you ever been around people that continually work in an area that they shouldn’t be working in? For example, a finance person who is overseeing sales and marketing but has never written an ad or headline in their life? What kind of impact can that have on a business, both short and long term?

It amazes me how so many business owners I’ve come across over the years work in a weakness area and think they are doing the right thing. If they would work in their strength area, chances are they would be happier and more productive. On a personal note: my primary strength area is marketing and sales. I do have a secondary strength; working in the pro audio/music environment as a producer and voice over talent. However, my living has been made through sales and marketing.
Years ago I heard a well known speaker, John Maxwell, teach on this subject, and it really stuck with me. He gets the credit for showing me how to work in my strength areas and grow stronger. Working in a weakness area takes too much time, energy, money and will most likely not allow you to grow and challenge yourself.

Here’s an example. One area I continue to struggle with is the applied technical end of pro audio and video. For years I worked in and out of studios but always as a creative and non-technical producer. I had a good grasp on how things worked and understood them; however, I could not sit down and do the knob twisting unless someone invested a lot of their time with me. You see, my college training was in analog (tape) audio and not with computers. Even back in 1986 when we worked with one of the first programmable drum machines in school, I had issues with it. To this day I struggle with computer audio set ups.

Could I ever get better at the hands-on, technical end of pro audio and video? Yes, but it would take a lot of training, and I might only grow and comprehend one to two levels from where I am now.

Here are some things to consider doing if you seriously want to grow in your strength areas:

• Evaluate your Strengths and Weaknesses – Rate yourself in these areas on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest. If you feel that marketing is one of your strengths, then start the transition to work on the marketing for your business.
• Rate Yourself – Once you have rated yourself and chosen a strength area to work on, focus on it for the next 30 days. Each day should have time allotted working in this area.
• Honesty – Be honest with yourself. Is this a strength area that you desire to grow in and improve, or is there another strength area that you really enjoy. Would this be an asset to your business? There is a difference, so re-evaluate and take a hard look.
• Make a Decision and Take Action– Hire out or delegate the tasks, chores and jobs that you currently consider weakness areas. If you are a creative person who enjoys marketing and sales but you are working in operations or finance every day, you’re probably not very happy and this will be a welcome change. I never said this would be easy.Do you want to learn how to develop new business, increase sales and take more vacations? Go here now to find out more.

  Dave Krygier
  Publisher