From Randy Duermyer,
Your Guide to Home Business.
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by Erica Olsen

Continued from Page 1

Keying in on your resources:

The sum of all individual resources is what combines to make up your company. Things like skills, assets, capabilities, competencies and so on are all the resources you use to deliver your product or service. What unique skills, resources, capabilities and assets set your company apart in the marketplace? How can these skills and resources be used to create value in the marketplace?

Here is a list of some areas that you might consider when looking for your key resources:

Knowledge/Expertise: All the information you have in your organization such as operating history, customer profiles, knowledge of buying trends, functional knowledge about your profession, research and development and good old-fashion wisdom. If someone were to start your company from scratch, what would they have to know to get to where you are now?
• Processes: All the systems, both formal and informal, that keep your company alive such as: operations, customer service, distribution, delivery, marketing, etc. Specifically, what are the key processes that allow you to deliver your product or service with the highest quality in the most efficient way possible?
• Products or Services: The final output of your process, which is based on your unique knowledge and expertise, is potentially a key resource. Your method of production, service delivery, product components or service approach may add up to something no other company can produce. Are your products and services assets that set you apart?
• Relationships: This is a great area to look for intangible resources. We often overlook how much impact our business relationships (vendors and suppliers) and employee relationships have on our business. Who are some of your key relationships? Think about upstream and downstream associations.
• Intellectual Property: Any of your trade secrets, protected or not, are a potential source of key strengths. Consider the special activities or processes that you keep within your company--those intangibles that are your special sauce.
• Personnel: As discussed in the previous section, your employees most likely are an important key resource. Do you have a staff with skills and capabilities that would be tough to replace? Or a staff whose teamwork makes the organization great?
• Assets: Assets can be anything from your kitchen sink to your bank account, depending where your office is! But are there a few key assets that make your home business hum along easier? Consider items such as office or retail location, financial standing, brand, reputation, specialized equipment, etc.

Your Key Strengths:

So now it's time to identify your strengths by using the questions provided above. After you have listed your company's purpose, passion, profit engine and key resources, review your list for common supportive threads. Then synthesize your list of strengths down to your top five key strengths. Remember - be specific so the list is useful. Make your organization stronger in 2007 by strengthening your key strengths.

About Erica Olsen

Erica Olsen is a principal of M3 Planning, making strategy a reality for entrepreneurial-spirited organizations. Her company runs MyStrategicPlan.com, a web-based strategic planning site for small and medium businesses. She is also the author of the book, Strategic Planning For Dummies.

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