When starting a business, you should know your strengths and weaknesses. This way, if you feel that there is something you can’t do, you can either learn it or employ someone who can. So, are you ready to open a business? 

Mike Whalen, co-founder of Escape Works, located in Weirton, West Virginia, talked with Jim Matuga, host of The Positively West Virginia Podcast, about conducting a self-assessment before starting a business to find out what you need to learn or hire someone for.

Escape Works, which is great for team building, group date nights and family fun, brings excitement to their live-action escape room.

Conduct a self-assessment.

Before you open a business, you need to assess what you can and can not do. If you’ve already developed a business plan, this should be easy.

You should know all of the components you need to have a successful business, as well as what each of those components will need.

“I would say, before you get started, conduct a very honest self-assessment,” Whalen advised. “Be honest about what you’re missing so that you can fill in those parts.open a business

For example, if you’ve never taken an accounting class, you may want to hire an accountant or enroll in a class. Whalen goes on to say whether you do that through your own education or through partnerships, this is a crucial step.

As an upcoming business owner, you should also think about how you work best and make the appropriate changes to how you can work with employees. This self-assessment can also help you understand if you’re in over your head and what you need help with.

Have a career plan.

If you don’t have a career plan or a long-term plan for your business, your employees could get confused. It’s always a good idea to have short and long term goals and objectives and map out tactics on how to reach them. As your business progresses, you will be able to measure how well you are reaching your goals and objectives.

Keep an open dialogue.

It’s incredibly important to keep an open and honest dialogue with your employees. If your employees think that you are hiding something from them, they could potentially become cold toward you.

Keeping an open conversation can bring up conversations, such as: what will our biggest priorities be, is there anything that can help my employees do their job better and what should we spend the most time on.

Mike Whalen was a guest on The Positively West Virginia podcast. Listen to his full podcast here.

PWV QUICK BITS | OPEN A BUSINESS

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