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Introspection
Making Business an Extension of Your Life
There are a myriad of businesses that you can create as a solopreneur. Many career coaches today are parroting the mantra “do what you love”. I, too, believe that building a business on your passion is important. Most people live their lives trying to find a way to love their jobs instead of doing what they love. But, what if you create a business based upon a passion that doesn’t pay the bills?
Passion is an important factor, but it is only one ingredient in the recipe for your success. I believe that most people fail in this respect because they either build a business on their experience or on their passion, but fail to find the right combination of balancing passion with experience while capitalizing on their strengths and finding coverage for their weaknesses.
I will be your guide in helping you to create and grow a business that is integrated with your life goals and your passion. To succeed in this process, you will need to take an inventory of your life plan, your personality, your experience and your strengths and weaknesses.
I recommend that you complete this process even if you already have a solopreneur business. You may find through this review that you have areas where you bend your life to your business instead of the other way around. When you do this, you subconsciously put yourself at risk for subverting your own success.
Don’t choose a business simply because you believe it will make you quick money – especially if you don’t have previous experience at it or a passion for it. Don’t choose a business because you believe being your own boss would be fun. Freedom is fun, but forgetting to plan for the responsibility that is inherent in running a business is painful. Don’t jump into a new business because you need to get out of a current unhappy employment situation. These are all high risk scenarios for failure – equating to lost time and money. A realistic review of your life goals, your capabilities, your needs and your wants before selecting a business is imperative to sustainable success.
Following is a link to The Solopreneur’s Guide Introspection Survey. Fill out this form before you go any further. Take the time to answer each question thoroughly and honestly.
Introspection Survey
Need a little help getting the juices flowing? Following is an example of my response to the last question in the survey regarding criteria for my new business.
- Low initial investment
- Quick ramp up of ROI
- High level of integrity
- Ability to run on my own
- Allows creativity
- Can operate it anywhere – easily transferable
- Minimal overhead of carrying inventory and hiring employees
Personality & Career Tests
In addition to completing the Introspection Survey, taking a personality or career test can offer some insight, too. There are a variety of free and pay-for tests available. Here are a couple to help you on your way.
Click on the link below to see my results from the PersonalDNA test:
