14 | HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN
makes no difference whether you refer to
people who give you money as clients,
customers, patients, members, students,
or disciples. It makes a great deal of
difference to your chances of ultimate
success if you understand that these
people are exchanging their money for the
conviction that you are giving them their
money’s worth.
The following self-evaluation exercises
will help you assess whether you have
what it takes to successfully run a small
business. Take out a blank sheet of paper
or open a computer fi le.
Your Strong and Weak Points
Take a few minutes to list your personal
and business strengths and weaknesses.
Include everything you can think of, even
if it doesn’t appear to be related to your
business. For instance, your strong points
may include the mastery of a hobby, your
positive personality traits, and your sexual
charisma, as well as your specifi c business
skills. Take your time and be generous.
To provide you with a little help, I
include a sample list for Antoinette Gorzak,
a personal friend who has what she hopes
is a good business idea: a slightly different
approach to selling women’s clothing.
You’ll get to know her better as we go
along. Her strengths, weaknesses, fantasies,
and fears are surely different from yours.
So, too, almost certainly, is the business
she wants to start. So be sure to make your
own lists—don’t copy Antoinette’s.
Antoinette Gorzak:
My Strong and Weak Points
Strong Points (in no particular order)- Knowledge of all aspects of women’s
fashion business - Ability to translate abstract objectives
into concrete steps - Good cook
- Faithful friend and kind to animals
- When I set a goal, I can be relentless in
achieving it - Ability to make and keep good
business friends—I have had many
repeat customers at other jobs.
Weak Points - Impatience
- Dislike of repetitive detail
- Romantic (is this a weak point in
business?) - Tendency to postpone working on
problems - Tendency to lose patience with fools
(sometimes I carry this too far—
especially when I’m tired).
Your list of strong and weak points
will help you see any obvious confl icts
between your personality and the business
you’re in or want to start. For example,
if you don’t like being around people
but plan to start a life insurance agency
with you as the primary salesperson, you
may have a personality clash with your
business. The solution might be to fi nd