Analyze Yourself

As a business owner, you are both the boss and the employee. Some people can thrive in this type of situation and achieve more than they could in a traditional work environment. For other people, this situation can spell disaster. That is why it is important to analyze yourself several times a year to make sure you are staying on track.

Are you focused on your business? This alone can throw your business into high gear or create a standstill. It can be easy to lose focus when you work at home, as there will always be other things competing for your attention. It is okay to let the laundry wait for a few hours while you work on your business. Your laundry can’t pay your bills, but those few hours you put into your business could reap you many financial rewards.

Not only is focusing on business tasks important, but it is important to be focused within your business. It is easy to get sidetracked with new business ventures and other offers. It can be hard to spread your time and energy over too many projects. It is easier to manage a select few projects that are tightly woven within your target market.

Are you being productive? At the end of the day, do you ever feel like you worked all day but accomplished nothing? Take a look at the tasks you are working on, and whether they are actually important to your success. If you find yourself getting sidetracked by surfing the web, chatting in forums, or reading blogs, try to schedule time for those activities after your “real work” is done.

On the other hand, if you feel your time is being sucked away by answering email, updating your website, or collecting research for an upcoming information product you are working on, try outsourcing those tasks to a virtual assistant. This will help you free up some time to work on business tasks that need more attention.

Are you reaching your goals? If you find that you are constantly missing your goal deadlines, you may want to take the time to revamp your goals. Create an action plan that will be easy to follow and help you get to your end result.

Would I hire myself? This is a tough question to ask yourself, but it is very important. It may sound silly, but perhaps you could write out a job description and give yourself an interview. Are you the type of employee you would want to hire?

If you answered “no” to the above question, take some time to write out the areas within yourself that you would like to improve. This can be a hard exercise to complete, but once you have analyzed yourself, you’ll be on your way to becoming a better business owner and having a better business.