By all means having some type of experience in a business idea you have is always a great starting point. But there are times when you will have a good idea (or at least think you have one) but don’t have the experience necessary to get things going. This is what is known as the fatal flaw of the concept or the reason that the idea would not be successful. It is not necessarily a bad thing to be able to see fatal flaws early on, they save you time, money and effort.

But then there are those ideas that you do have just enough know how to get them going. With that being said it’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses to know where you will need to fill in the gaps. I’ve already pointed out my weaknesses of having to teach myself how to do web design, journalism, and photography to get the online version of Business Empire Magazine up and running. I do not consider myself to be a professional in these areas by no means and these are my weaknesses. However, being willing to learn and seeking those who are professionals has helped my continued growth in these areas. As I’ve stated before, I’m fully aware that if I want to continue to grow I’ll eventually have to delegate these tasks to professionals.

But coming into this I felt my strengths were my willingness to learn, my motivation (or stubbornness) makes it quite easy for me to keep moving forward after being turned down in business, and I had already started mentoring others to avoid my mistakes. Can the website be better—YES, am I satisfied with being able to say I had an idea and did everything myself in order to create a business around it—NO! In all honesty trying to continue doing everything my self will be the ultimate demise of the business. I’ve mentored business owners who feel the business can’t function without them and it’s hurting them, their relationships (personal & business) and their bottomline.

The point I’m trying to make is that I’ve had a lot of individuals approach me saying that they can’t start a business because they don’t have a degree or prior experience. Passion, Persistence and Patience along with wanting to increase your knowledge in anyway possible are the factors that help improve your chances for success. You should love what you are doing but also be willing to change if necessary. After all, you’re trying to satisfy customer demand not your personal needs.