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3. Asset: Industry Knowledge

+ You easily pass this question if you have at least three to five years’ experience providing the service or product you plan to offer through your business, and you know the industry well. But demote yourself to a check score if all of your experience is with only one employer.
√ If you have less than three years’ experience, but know the industry well, you still pass.
– If you have less than three years’ experience and do not know the industry well, you fail the question.

How To Improve:

• You really need industry knowledge. By that, I mean that you have some understanding of issues such as these, as they affect your business:

Are there slow and busy times within the industry? What professional organizations are important to belong to? How is your profession or industry structured? What divisions exist for entry level, mid-career, and advanced levels?

What happens during the normal course of business? For instance, if your industry is publishing, what happens in order for a book to be published? Can you name all the steps? Which steps would a
customer expect you to perform, and which would be referred elsewhere? What is the jargon used in your industry or profession? What words will you need to know in order to communicate with people while doing your work? How is the industry segmented?

Using publishing as an example again, do you know that the industry is segmented in to small publishers, specialty publishers, large publishers with multiple imprints, and so on? What rules govern your industry or profession? What licensing is required? Which government agencies regulate the industry/profession?

If you don’t have industry knowledge appropriate to the work from home business you’re planning to launch, there are two things you can do:

a) Stay in the work force and gain the knowledge you need, or

b) Choose an industry in which you have more experience and knowledge. This is one positive aspect of regular employment. Employers provide great on-the-job training—the results of which are tough (and expensive) to replicate. It is much more cost-effective to gain experience (and make mistakes) on someone else’s dime.