The Skills You Need to Start a Great Business

Entrepreneurial Skills

Being an entrepreneur usually means starting and building your own successful business, although people with entrepreneurial skills can thrive within larger organizations, too. Entrepreneurs generally take a creative, innovative approach, and they may take risks that others would avoid.

Many researchers have studied the subject, but there are no definitive answers. What we do know is that successful entrepreneurs tend to have certain traits and skills in common:

• Personal characteristics.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Critical and creative thinking skills.
• Practical skills and knowledge.

The Personal Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

First, examine your personal characteristics, values, and beliefs. Do you have the mindset to be a successful entrepreneur? Ask yourself these questions:

• Optimism: Are you an optimistic thinker?  Optimism is an asset, and it will help you through the tough times that many entrepreneurs experience as they find a business model that works for them.
• Vision: Can you easily spot areas for improvement? Can you quickly grasp the "big picture," and explain it to others? And can you create a compelling vision of the future, and then inspire other people to engage with that vision?
• Initiative: Do you have initiative, and instinctively start problem-solving or business improvement projects?
• Desire to lead: Do you enjoy being in charge and making decisions? Are you motivated to lead others?
• Drive and Persistence: Are you self-motivated and energetic? And are you prepared to work hard, for a very long time, to realize your goals?
• Risk tolerance: Are you able to take the risks, and make decisions when facts are uncertain?

Interpersonal Skills and Entrepreneurship

As an entrepreneur, you'll likely have to work closely with others – so it's essential that you are able to build good relationships with your team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, investors, and other stakeholders.

Some people are more gifted in this area than others, but you can learn and improve these skills. The types of interpersonal skills you'll need include:

• Leadership and motivation: Can you lead and motivate others to follow you and deliver your vision? And are you able to delegate work to other people? As an entrepreneur, you'll have to depend on others to get beyond the early stages of your business – there's just too much to do by yourself!
• Communication skills: Are you skilled in all types of communication? You need to be able to communicate well to sell your vision of the future to a wide variety of audiences, including investors, potential clients and team members.
• Listening: Do you hear what others are telling you? Your ability to listen and absorb information and opinions can make or break you as an entrepreneur. Make sure that you're skilled at active listening and empathic listening.
• Personal relationships: Do you have good "people skills"?Are you self-aware, able to regulate your emotions, and respond positively to feedback or criticism?
• Negotiation: Are you a good negotiator? Not only do you need to negotiate favourable prices, but you will also need to resolve differences between people in a positive, mutually beneficial way.
• Ethics: Do you deal with people based on respect, integrity, fairness, and trust? Can you lead ethically? You'll find it difficult to build a happy, productive business if you deal with staff, customers or suppliers in a shabby way.

Critical and Creative Thinking Skills for Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, you need to come up with fresh ideas and make good decisions about opportunities and potential projects.

Many people think that you're either born creative or you're not. But creativity is a skill that you can develop.

• Creative thinking: Are you able to see situations from a variety of perspectives to generate original ideas?
• Problem-solving: You'll need sound strategies for solving business problems that will inevitably arise.
• Recognizing opportunities: Do you recognize opportunities when they present themselves? And are you able to create a workable plan to take advantage of the opportunities you identify?

Practical Entrepreneurial Skills and Knowledge

Entrepreneurs also need practical skills and knowledge to produce goods or services effectively and to run a company.

• Goal setting: Setting SMART Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound will focus your efforts and allow you to use your time and resources more effectively.
• Planning and organizing: Do you have the talents, skills, and abilities necessary to achieve your goals? Can you coordinate people to achieve these efficiently and effectively? Effective project management skills are important, as are basic organization skills.
• Decision making: Your business decisions should be based on good information, evidence, and weighing up the potential consequences.

Be honest with yourself about your motivations and the level of commitment you are prepared to give to your project – this could prevent you from making a costly mistake.

You need knowledge in many different areas when you're starting or running a business, so be prepared for learning.