Each of us have some things we’re good at and some things we’re not so good at. We all have certain strengths and weaknesses that make us unique. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs mistakenly believe that they need to be good at everything to successfully run their business. There are a plethora of skills involved in operating a business from sales to marketing to IT to accounting. It can take months or  years to learn even one of the numerous skills needed to run a business, time that most business owners simply don’t have. No one is able to be great or even very good at every single one of those skills. That’s why it’s important to develop your strengths, rather than strengthening your weaknesses.

Identify the skills and talents you posses and develop those first. When you come across and area where you posses little skill or have difficulty, outsource it to someone else. When you spend time strengthening your weaknesses rather than developing your natural strengths, you only wind up with strong weaknesses. Every one of us possesses talent for some thing or another, which implies that there will also be some things we just aren’t talented at. Rather than trying in vain to turn your weaknesses into strengths, simply focus on leveraging your inherent talents and skills.

The first step in developing your strengths is simply to identify them. Discover your skills and know what it is you do best.  How do you know what you do best? These easy-to-answer questions should help illuminate your areas of skill.

1. What do you do extremely well and quite easily in your business
2. What do you do that energizes and fuels you passion?
3. What do you do that makes you and your company significant amounts of money?
4. What do others (family, friends, co-workers) say you are naturally talented at doing?
5. What do you do that is almost at a mastery level but somehow you get better and better at doing it?
6. What gives you joy and time flies by when you are doing it?
7. What do you do that is very valuable and special to your company, even if you take it for granted?

Now that you have a good idea of what you excel at you can start to plan your business around further development of those talents. When tackling any task, keep your skill set and natural talents in mind. If it involves a lot of skills you don’t posses, delegate that task elsewhere. Hire employees who have strengths in areas you do not and let them do what they do best while you focus on what you do best.