Self-assessment is the process of performing a critical analysis of one’s own goals, interests, skills, and experience. As an entrepreneur, you have to know your strengths and weaknesses so you can evaluate what areas you need help with, which may require you to hire someone in order to build a successful company.  You can determine your strengths and weaknesses by evaluating past accomplishments in your personal and professional life and reflecting on the skills required to complete these tasks.” In other words, entrepreneurs may be able to improve their chances of success in business by taking an honest and detailed look at who they are, and conducting a true self-assessment. By evaluating such personal traits as business skills, experience, knowledge, financial goals, likes and dislikes, willingness to give effort, and ability to meet challenges, entrepreneurs may be able to identify the business opportunities best suited for them. In some cases, self-assessment may even lead to innovative and creative business ideas. In addition, completing a self-assessment can help entrepreneurs recognize areas where they will need assistance or training to build upon their current knowledge base. By increasing self-knowledge, a self-assessment may also help entrepreneurs to attract investors and impress lenders.

In addition to the business skills, create a list of personal attributes—such as ability with numbers, common sense, communication skills, organization skills, people skills, etc.—that may be useful in starting and running a small business. The mere process of thinking about and categorizing one’s skills and experience can be informative. Viewed objectively, these documents can assist the entrepreneur in a lot of ways.

A good place to start in performing a self-assessment is to list all of your skills. Yes, something like a resume, the same document that is usually prepared when applying for a job, but with greater details. It should include educational background and professional experience. Take the time to describe the requirements and responsibilities for every job you’ve performed. This can be as an employee or entrepreneur. Make sure to be detailed, and don’t forget hobbies and outside interests. You can then categorize these skills and label each category such as marketing, accounting, or human resource management—and determine your level of knowledge and understanding on a scale from 1 to 10.

In addition to the business skills like, create a list of personal attributes—such as ability with numbers, common sense, communication skills, organization skills, people skills, etc.—that may be useful in starting and running a small business. The mere process of thinking about and categorizing one’s skills and experience can be informative. Viewed objectively, these documents can assist the entrepreneur in a lot of ways.

So, do you have what it takes to start your own business? Click here to take the SBA Entrepreneurship Readiness Assessment.