Everyone has natural talents and innate abilities. This is known as your “zone of genius.” Doug … [+] Foley, business owner and author of the new book Breakout Blueprint, says the key to success is finding the area where your zone of genius overlaps with a business opportunity.
Doug Foley
Entrepreneurs are “idea people.” Usually, there isn’t just one business idea rattling around inside their mind, but rather several ideas. The difficulty is not just picking the idea that has the best chances of success. Entrepreneurs must also pick the idea that fits them best.
Everyone has natural talents and innate abilities. This is known as your “zone of genius.” Doug Foley, business owner and author of the new book Breakout Blueprint, says the key to success is finding the area where your zone of genius overlaps with a business opportunity.
Your zone of genius largely determines the potential of your business. The higher the degree of your mastery, the more value you can offer your customer, and the more you can charge.
Foley says if you identify and further enhance your natural talents, it will help you see which business idea is the best fit for you. That doesn’t mean your idea is a guaranteed winner—there are other ways to vet its viability—but working in your zone of genius will help work not feel like work, which is key to avoiding some of the pitfalls of entrepreneurship, like burnout.
Finding Your Zone of Genius
Before you can leverage your zone of genius, you must define it. Fortunately, this process is simple. To find out what you are good at, just ask the people who know you best.
Foley uses this simple piece of advice from New York Times bestselling author Keith Ferrazzi, who wrote Never Eat Alone and Who’s Got Your Back: “Call, text, or email at least ten people and ask, ‘What is the one thing in the world you think I’m best at?’”
When Foley first heard this tip, he hesitated to follow it, afraid that what he thought about himself was wrong. But he overcame the fear and emailed past colleagues, friends, classmates, and clients. To his surprise, they all came back with similar answers.
All of the replies centered around marketing, communications, and small business. People said they thought he’d be running his own digital agency. That feedback encouraged Foley to pursue his zone of genius further, and ultimately contributed to his decision to found his own agency.
When you solicit feedback from the people in your life, the opinions you hear will likely make sense. They’ll “feel right” because the things you’re good at relate to your natural talents. By looking to build a business within your zone of genius, you’ll put yourself on the path to mastery and drastically increase the value your business brings to the marketplace.
Be the Surgeon, Not the General Practitioner
Mastery and specialization in your chosen field is critical to increasing the earning potential of your business. To see how this works, let’s consider a familiar situation: going to the doctor.
At the onset of symptoms, you typically see a general practitioner. They’ll do their assessment, and if it is severe enough, they’ll send you to get an x-ray, which is performed by an x-ray technician, who specializes in body imaging. They send the report to the radiologist, who determines the severity of your illness. If it is bad enough, you are then sent to a surgeon.
As you can see, as you ascend through the process, you start working with people who have more training and expertise. People are often rewarded for their expertise for one simple reason: their advice and decisions have greater consequences.
If the general practitioner misdiagnoses your condition, you will likely return in 24 to 48 hours. If the surgeon makes a mistake, you could die. That’s why you’re going to pay more to see a surgeon than a general practitioner. To raise the ceiling for your business, Foley says you must become the surgeon of your field. Master your zone of genius until you can provide the highest level services to your customers, and you’ll be worth the price you’re able to charge.
Now is the Perfect Time to Improve Your Skills
Your zone of genius describes your natural talents, but to become a master of your field, you need to put in the work. Unlike in the corporate world, entrepreneurship doesn’t have a “top of the ladder.” This means there’s always room for further improvement.
The global pandemic, though it’s been the most challenging period in modern history for many entrepreneurs, has also given us an unprecedented opportunity to invest in ourselves and our skillsets. Your best asset is yourself—not a stock, bond, mutual fund, or piece of property.
It’s you. The beauty of identifying your zone of genius is that going deeper with it and truly refining those skills to be world-class will feel natural. It might even feel like fun!
That’s why it’s critical to do the work that Foley is suggesting. If you feel like a top spinning around the room and bouncing between various ideas, now is the time to focus. You want to lock in on what you’re already amazing at and go next level with those abilities and talents.
Find that Sweet Spot for Your Business
Foley says that many failed entrepreneurs make excuses: lack of access to capital, lack of access to talent, or simply bad luck. But the honest truth? They weren’t good enough.
You want to start a business that excites and fulfills you, and that also falls within your zone of genius. If you can combine passion with expertise, there is nothing keeping you from reaching the top of your niche, leveraging your talents, and enjoying the ride along the way.
Source by www.forbes.com