“He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” – Lao Tzu

Starting a business and keeping it sustainable is a really huge responsibility especially in Nigeria, where the environment doesn’t seem economically friendly for small and medium enterprises. However, so many business owners and startup entrepreneurs are so busy trying to grow their organization that they often forget how important personality development is.

At the root of every successful business or person in the world today and in the past, is a burning desire to become better by the day or to be the best at whatever they do. They constantly seek to empower themselves by consciously investing in human resources as much as they do in the material resources. This is from the understanding that you cannot maximize a resource beyond the level of your knowledge.

But as an entrepreneur, do you know that the understanding of your personality and that of those around you can influence the growth of your business?

It’s somewhat easy for any coach or consultant to identify the problem of your business but recommending a personalized solution is not a common thing for many of these professionals. Oftentimes they give generalized one-fits-all solutions to peculiar problems. But as Segun Awosanya, a brand strategist, human right activist, and one of the conveners of the #EndSARS campaign recently shared in a closed-group meeting that every killer brand strategy begins with Competitive Analysis. That is, identifying your key competitors, what you can learn from them, and what it takes to outperform them, so also, every personal/organizational success begins with Personality Development.

Jared Lewis, a professor of history and philosophy shared that “the type of business personality you have can affect the way that you run your company. It can give you an advantage to know this personality type so you can assess how you make your business decisions.” When you, as the business owner, fully understand your personality, you will be able to determine your need for any role in the business. As a business owner, you always want to hire for your weaknesses more than you do for your strength, and knowing this information about yourself will help you when making strategic hiring decisions. A good understanding about temperaments will give you clarity on who can manage people more and the type who can manage products more.

The understanding of personality is, however, not limited in capacity to affect only your immediate working environment as a business owner but also has the power to influence your target market and the approach needed for success. Everyone is not your ideal customer, especially if you are offering professional services. When you understand the nature and need for your business, you will be clear about what you can offer potential clients and ensure that you attract the clientele you can serve best. For instance, if you are providing health services, you know which personalities are the best fit for the business and how to target them.

If you’re however searching for ways to take your business to a higher level, you may not need to consider increasing your staff base or market and advertising budget. There are myriad of challenges that many business owners face regularly for not understanding the personalities of people working with them which leads to workers inefficiency and short-term exit from the organization. If you don’t already have a personality development program, now is a good time to find one, otherwise, you’d be limiting your business growth and minimizing the potential of your human resources. In fact, investing in personal-development programs is among the biggest ROI’s you’ll find on anything.