Being an entrepreneur is more than just a great idea—it takes a lot of diverse business skills to thrive as one. Before starting any business you must understand how to manage and grow it effectively using essential entrepreneurial skills. If your goal is to own a business, you’ll need to develop these skills and leverage them to make it a success.
Ready to learn these important skills?
Let’s dive into six skills you need to master, how you can apply them as an entrepreneur, and why they matter:
- Leadership
To be a good entrepreneur, you’re going to need a team to handle different kinds of operations. It can be a team of employees, contractors, or collaborators. Developing strong leadership skills will guide your team towards success.
To be a good leader, you’ll need to ensure that every team member is performing their task efficiently.
For example:
- The marketing team creates strategies to find your target audience.
- The sales team closes deals and drives revenue.
- The customer service team ensures customer satisfaction.
Leadership is an essential entrepreneurial skill for inspiring and motivating your team, communicating business goals clearly, and leading by example. Leadership is also about decision-making, adaptability, and accountability.
“A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” —John C. Maxwell
- Communication
Communication is one of the crucial business skills you need no matter what the industry.
As an entrepreneur, you are going to have to communicate to:
- Your team members to assign tasks and define business goals;
- Investors and business partners for funding, collaborations, and deals; and
- Customers to sell your product or service effectively.
To master effective communication, you need:
- Emotional intelligence—understanding how to relate with others;
- Clear messaging—ensuring your words are easily understood; and
- Active listening—engaging in conversations and responding appropriately.
How communication skills apply to your business:
As an entrepreneur, you need to be able to explain what you do to boost trust and productivity in your business.
“The art of communication is the language of leadership.” —James Humes
- Networking
Networking is a way of building valuable relationships with people who can grow your business.
Connecting with other entrepreneurs, industry experts, or potential clients can lead to:
- Collaborations that open new business opportunities;
- Investment opportunities from the right partners; and
- Increased visibility in your industry.
How networking applies to your business:
You’ll need the entrepreneurial skill of networking to help find the target audience for your products or services. You can network through:
- Business events and conferences;
- Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter; and
- Entrepreneurial communities and networking groups.
“Your network is your net worth.” —Porter Gale
- Sales and Marketing
You might have the best product or service, but there is a good chance of you not getting buyers if you don’t know how to market and sell them. These two entrepreneurial skills work together to get customers for your business.
For marketing, you need to know the strategies that will attract potential customers and build brand awareness; for sales, you need to know how to negotiate prices, close deals, and interact with potential customers to convert them to paying customers.
They both serve the goal of growing your business.
- Financial Management
You should be able to account for every penny spent in your business and channel these finances in a way that will grow the business.
Making business investments, having a budget, expanding business operations, and calculating your ROI (return on investment) should all be part of how you manage your finances. They will help you track your expenses, understand the state of your business finances, and keep control over them.
- Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
Problems are inevitable in business, as every business comes with a risk factor. When these problems arise, you, as a business owner, need to go into critical thinking mode to know the next line of action. For instance, if your bakery’s baking machine breaks down, the next step should be to find a way to fix it without pausing all your baking. So instead of overthinking and allowing the situation to ruin your day, you need to get to work on solving the problem in a way that will allow operations to continue.
It takes effort and dedication, as a business owner, to build these business skills, but once you do, you’ll be on your way to growing a successful business.
