Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I like the idea of listing viable or helpful skills. Here`s what I`d consider some of my strong points:

• Logical extension of ideas, words, and concepts, to develop what would likely result if someone follows a proposed path.
• Organization of ideas as to how they connect to reality, human nature, and probable feasibility.
• Writing - content, editing, proofing, and brainstorming for phrases.
• Educational analogies, examples, and "reducing" things to a given audience.

:-D Yes, I know I write long stuff, and sometimes use big words, but it`s because I assess the SuN audience to be intelligent, business-oriented, and capable of reading something more than simple blurbs. It doesn`t mean I can`t write simple blurbs...I choose to write differently here. But it`s still a skill to write things that make sense.

• My interest in an e-mall, or what I consider to be my product, falls into the e-book or educational "reference" category.

Let`s see if we can`t develop a single thread, here on this posting perhaps, of participants, their skills, and what product they would hope to place advantageously in some sort of mall-based or other group "value for service" business. Maybe?

Hey Craig: 

I`m answering your maybe and adding an additional maybe.

Noting skills is okay but I`d rather know member`s business personalities or their core energies vs their skills.  Just because you have wonderful, useful, learned skills doesn`t mean you are using your core energy which is more of a natural, instinctual skill.  Many times when you are working within your core energy work is effortless.....not work at all. 

Craig; I`ve had the pleasure of meeting you and I noticed you seem to be in sync with your core energy and you`ve expressed you have experienced success using your core energy.

Many people aren`t familiar with theirs.  Becoming familiar with your core personality or energy and how to apply that to business will make a BIG difference for anyone.

You can discover what your business personality is with a Meyers-Briggs test, a Holland test, a H.O.T.S test, etc., etc.

I`ll get those linked in a bit so everyone may find the tests without searching all over the place.

I`m an INTJ (Meyers-Briggs), AEI (Holland code) and a HARE (H.O.T.S. Survey)

I am definately a pink, but think like a blue too.  Perhaps I am striped. The best kind!

I am an ENFP (Meyers-Briggs test http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes3.asp))

 

An IRS (Holland http://www.roguecc.edu/Counseling/HollandCodes/test.asp) but I don`t know if Iagree...

A HARE (H.O.T.S. http://www.oneminutemillionaire.com/tools/hots.asp)

 

The intent here, or on some other thread, is to develop a basic list of what resources are available, from whom, and to what degree (time). I see two "action items" that likely should take place before this project even begins to happen.

1. We should have a commitment (from Jeff?) that the SuN site provide a single location to consolidate all posts and thought-activity relating to this potential project. (That means Web developer time and money.)
   
2. There should be a roster of available skills people will really apply to whatever becomes the chosen business. Without some sort of resource management we can`t even delegate the simplest of tasks.

MiteyMite has chosen to be the point-human :-) to initiate a summary outline of what`s happened so far. But it`s hard to find, spread over multiple threads, and could easily be consolidated into a single Forum Topic. (Keep in mind people are entering and leaving all the time, joining and quitting, maintaining and losing interest.)

Who has accounting skills and can outline a few ideas of how to chart costs and revenues? Who has business experience to outline what would be the costs in the first place? Whatever skills people have, they should be actual, applicable skills that will really come into play with what hopefully will be a real business.

We`ll need some legal know-how to structure this, work out liabilities and so forth, and to handle things like disclaimers. We`ll need banking and financial know-how to figure out how participants will profit, what costs they`ll incur, and that sort of thing. That was my reasoning for listing explicit skills. :-)

Gotcha, Boss!

You mentioned..... 1) We should have a commitment (from Jeff?) that the SuN site provide a single location to consolidate all posts and thought-activity relating to this potential project.

I`ve mentioned this to Joel and will know over the next few days if SUN is willing to provide this.

Mitey Mite -

I think your core business personality approach adds another interesting piece to the puzzle. After all, a key component of ultimate success will be breaking into teams that will be able to work effectively and efficiently together.

BTW - I`m an ENTP and E-A-I (I`m guessing) and a HARE.

Here`s where it gets interesting. If we leap forward to a fully functioning business, success usually comes from a blending of different business personalities. E.g. – the personality of a great salesperson is likely to be different from that of a great IT person or web designer. And the personality of a great branding and marketing person is likely to be different from that of a great operations person. But you need all of them to succeed.

BUT in the development stages – conceptualizing and researching, putting together a business plan, identifying all the pieces and personnel that will be necessary – similar business personalities are (arguably) far more likely to enjoy a smooth and productive working relationship.

You may want to consider the possibility of very small teams carrying each idea forward initially, and then adding other community members at the appropriate time as each idea moves closer to fruition.

Just a thought.

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Michael Zucker - Strategic Planning, Marketing & Communications info@zuckerconsulting.com · www.zuckerconsulting.com “Helping You Over The Hurdles – Keeping You Focused On The Finish Line”

The problem with Meyer-Brigg and so forth is they`re somewhat useful but pretty one-dimensional for all the vaunted psychology that went into them. Aside from that, not many people know about the system, or care. To prioritize a "skill set" out of personality or other form of "type" might be interesting, but it isn`t going to be all that useful with a community this large, comprised of many people who never worked in a corporate or enterprise environment.

For the first time, here, I find myself wanting to say let`s keep it simple. :-)