The advent of the information age brought with it new demands for every entrepreneur. No matter the kind of business you will like to start, you will still need these key skills in order to make it in the world of business. The first skills I will discuss have become so indispensable that even existing and already established businesses that do not embrace it end up failing. In all, I will discuss 10 KEY SKILLS which are a requirement for every aspiring entrepreneur. These skills can be learnt, developed or acquired so never doubt your potential in any way.

 

1. Leadership

Starting your own business comes with the responsibility of working with people to achieve your goals. Employees will join your company who will contribute their quota to your business but will ultimately look to you for direction and motivation. Partners and financiers will back you based on your conviction and ability to articulate your vision and goals. All of these people have a role to play in your business, but the ultimate responsibility rest on your as the founder and originator of your business. You should show clear leadership, focus and rise above conflicts, setback and lead your time to achieve the goal you have set for your business. This is your key responsibility an entrepreneur.

 

2. Tech Skills

One key characteristics of the modern age economy (or information age) is the migration of business from community based to online base. As the world get more computerized and mobile, more and more people are switching to doing business online. This has implication for entrepreneurs who do not migrate their businesses online.  It means your company will lose business as more and more people migrate their purchases online. Developing your skills in tech is the first advice I give you any entrepreneur or startup. Entrepreneurs should learn the basics of Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation and ensure their business properly utilizes these tool for optimal growth.

 

3. Sales

All successful entrepreneurs know how to convince the world to buy into their products and services. If you want your startup to survive, I suggest you make selling skills a priority. As an entrepreneur, every action you take will revolve around sales. You will have to sell to your clients, sponsors, partners, bankers, investors, suppliers, even employees. You will need to convince a lot of people to buy into your business in order to be successful. Most importantly, learn to make relationship selling a core attribute of your new business at the early stage of your business.

Relationship selling simply means developing and deepening a long term relationship with you clients. Instead of viewing a purchase a one-time transaction, relationship selling demands that you see a purchase as a start of a business relationship. This allows you to generate repeat business and referrals from your clients which enables your business to grow.

 

4. Resilience And Persistence

This is one of the most important skills you should develop as an entrepreneur. Resilience or persistence simply refer to your ability to withstand disappointment, rejection or failure in your business and not give on your goal. Every entrepreneur that has succeeded has had to overcome some form of disappointments or setbacks.  

 

5. Analyse Risk And Manage Risk

Entrepreneurs are risk takers. They embrace risk when others ovoid such risks. They also understand and manages risk better which is what you must learn in order to become a better entrepreneur.

 

6. Focus

Managing a successful enterprise demand long term focus that will allow you steer your business in the direction you have planned and envisioned for your business. A successful entrepreneur focuses on growing his business in the long term and aligning short term decision to long term goals. 

 

7. People Skills

Great businesses are built with great team. Your business will only succeed when you attract the right kind of employees that will contribute to your vision and productivity. This is very vital especially at the early stage of your business. The people you employ at this stage must add real value to your team and should make significant contribution to help you advance your business’ interest. You must learn how to motivate your team and articulate a clear vision that will synchronize your actions and cause you to focus your actions on achieving your visions together. The foundation you lay with people will determine the kind of results your new business will achieve in the future. 

 

8. Curiosity

The world of business is constantly changing, which demand that entrepreneurs must learn to embrace new ideas and constantly improve on their processes. As an entrepreneur, you must question everything around you and constantly ask how it can be improved. You must develop a mind that generate, evaluates and think about new ideas every day and every time. You should also be a lifetime learner and constantly strive on acquiring relevant knowledge that feeds your business with innovation. This is what makes entrepreneurs successful in the information age.

 

9. Time Management Skill

As a student entrepreneur, you will be combing studies with businesses which will require you make efficient use of your time to avoid burnout and exhaustion along the way. You must be able to plan your day and allocate the right amount of time to manage your business whiles learning and attending lectures at the same time. This is one of the most important skills I advise students to develop even before they decide to become entrepreneurs. A successful entrepreneur must learn to manage and save time through multitasking, priority setting, delegation and operating by deadlines.

 

10. Understand Financial Statements

The world of business has its own language which you must learn if you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, it is called financial statements. Every young entrepreneur should be able to understand financial statement and learn basic bookkeeping in order to make successful pitches especially to financiers and backers who will be much interested in how you demonstrate a solid understanding of your business before backing you with their funds. As your business expands, you will be able to hire professional accountants who will absolve these functions and perform these roles fulltime. Knowing how to analyze business statements will however help you make better judgment and decision even if you have a fulltime accountant and should be encouraged.