ChApter 2 | DO YOU REALLY WANT TO OWN A BUSINESS? | 15another part of the insurance business that
doesn’t require as much people contact.
Unfortunately, many people don’t
realize that their personalities will have a
direct bearing on their business success.
An example close to the experience of
folks at Nolo involves bookstores. In the
years since Nolo began publishing, they
have seen all sorts of people, from retired
librarians to unemployed Ph.D.s, open
bookstores. A large percentage of these
stores have failed because the skills needed
to run a successful bookstore involve more
than a love of books.
General and Specifi c Skills
Your Business Needs
Businesses need two kinds of skills to
survive and prosper: Skills for business in
general and skills specifi c to the particular
business. For example, every business
needs someone to keep good fi nancial
records. On the other hand, the tender
touch and manual dexterity needed by
glassblowers are not skills needed by the
average paving contractor.
Next, take a few minutes and list the
skills your business needs. Don’t worry
about making an exhaustively complete
list, just jot down the fi rst things that come
to mind. Make sure you have some general
business skills as well as some of the more
important skills specifi c to your particular
business.
If you don’t have all the skills your
business needs, your backers will want
to know how you will make up for the
defi ciency. For example, let’s say you want
to start a trucking business. You have a
good background in maintenance, truck
repair, and long distance driving, and you
know how to sell and get work. Sounds
good so far—but, let’s say you don’t know
the fi rst thing about bookkeeping or cash
fl ow management and the thought of using
a computer makes you nervous. Because
some trucking businesses work on large
dollar volumes, small profi t margins, and
slow-paying customers, your backers will
expect you to learn cash fl ow management
or hire someone qualifi ed to handle that
part of the business.Antoinette Gorzak: General and Specifi c
Skills My Business Needs- How to motivate employees
- How to keep decent records
- How to make customers and
employees think the business is special - How to know what the customers
want—today and, more important in
the clothing business, to keep half-a-
step ahead - How to sell
- How to manage inventory
- How to judge people.
Your Likes and Dislikes
Take a few minutes and make a list of the
things you really like doing and those you
don’t enjoy. Write this list without thinking