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Sometimes the answer is right in front of us, but sometimes we've got to dig deep to find out the root cause. It's never fun finding out the weakness is in your business, but it's an essential self-analysis to discover what our business is lacking in so that we can progress. It doesn't matter how new or established your company is, understanding where you are falling behind gives you a renewed sense of perspective. And if you're someone who has never been able to stop and take stock, or you are drawing a blank and have no clue as to why your business is falling behind, what are the best ways you can find the weak spots in your organization?

Breaking It Down Into Identifiable Chunks

When you're looking for the weaknesses, you can start here. By drawing up a list, and then breaking it down into smaller sections, such as the finances, the technology, or the customer service, you can then slowly begin to realize where the issues may lie. If you realize that customer engagement is poor, and you can draw a line right back to the speed of your website, you can then take steps to optimize it. It is a very simple way to delve into something deeper. Sometimes, you don't even need to go that deep. If there is a glaring problem with one area of the business then it’s easier to identify. But if you are drawing a blank, and there's nothing standing out, this is when you can begin to be more methodical in your analysis. There are practical methods businesses use, like the SWOT analysis, but if you want to get deeper into it, you will need to go external...

Asking For Feedback

Either from your customers, via market research, or through the employees and clients, asking for feedback can be valuable because it demands an honest opinion. It's a very difficult one when going to your employees to ask for feedback, because they may not want to rock the boat. But if you can provide an open forum where people feel safe in expressing their opinions, and you are willing to take these ideas on board, then it will be invaluable. Sometimes you may find little quibbles that mean a lot. For example, the technical problems that arise may highlight the fact that you don't have sufficiently skilled workers in-house equipped to deal with these problems. As such, you may realize that outsourcing to companies like ClearFuze Networks can be the shot in the arm your business needs. It can be difficult to ask for feedback, especially if you've never done it before. But once you get into the swing of it, it can be a consistent part of your learning and development as a whole.

Finding those weak spots can mean a considerable shock. But as part of the process where we learn and grow, we should learn how to identify these weaknesses. There is no point putting your head in the sand and ignoring these things. Sooner or later, you will find out the hard way where your weaknesses are. It is far better for you to discover these as soon as possible.