Overview

There have been many people in the past who have nursed a secret aspiration to running their own business. For most the prospect remains just a wishful thought. For others, something happens in their lives which presents an opportunity, perhaps an unexpected inheritance; or an event which forces a change in direction, such as redundancy. But simply having the capital available to start a business is not enough. Even in the case of the tradesman who is made redundant and possesses both the technical skills needed to work and the redundancy pay to out start on his own, surviving in business requires a much wider portfolio of skills. The problems lie firstly in identifying which specific skills are most relevant to the business proposal, and secondly in determining objectively whether or not they are available. In the event that the required skills are not currently available, then those deficient skills must either be developed or imported. The process of identifying the necessary skills and assessing their presence is called the skills audit.

The objectives of this chapter are to assist the reader in understanding how to carry out a skills audit, and to provide some practical methods of self-assessment which will assist him or her, as a potential owner-manager, to define the skills gaps which need to be filled. Following on from that, the reader will be able to define his or her own personal development plan to acquire the further skills needed to succeed in business.

This chapter...