DEVELOPING YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
Are entrepreneurs born or nurtured? There are many people that you come across who seem to be born for this life of innovation, risk, success, failure and high-energy and high-octane living. Sometimes you meet people who probably never thought they were entrepreneurial until later on in life. Whichever of these categories you feel you’re in, these tips can help you develop the skills you need to succeed at the entrepreneurial life.
What is it that impresses you?
In an organisational context, what lights you up when you see something impressive? It might be a new product and how it functions. It might be the way that a company has set up its service that marks it out from others. But the root of this is your curiosity and your interest in understanding how things work.
Think harder about why something impresses you
The likelihood is it’s about the uniqueness of propositions and your ability to see a gap in the market where nobody seems to have thought about placing a product or a service.
Your ability to look at how something could be different
This is a skill you want to develop. You want to be able to see or analyse how to do something new. Successful entrepreneurs are those who slot their product or service into a space where nobody else has thought to tread before. Entrepreneurism by definition is an idea that comes into a new space. Whether it works or not is a separate issue.
Feed your curiosity
For different people this occurs in different ways. For extroverts, who get energy from other people and from things, they’re going to be out and about being energised by their connections’ stories and activities. The more introverted will feed their curiosity by thinking, reading and being in their own head. Maybe they’re in the laboratory or the library or the museum or the study.
Market attractions
Where do you actually enjoy being? It might be you have a fascination with the supply chain and logistics and you want to understand more about how distribution companies or good airports operate. If you are more of a technical persuasion, you may be interested in the software that helps individuals with accessibility issues or companies that have to handle high levels of flow. Getting plugged into different markets that attract you helps develop your entrepreneurial eye.
Understand customer value
Can you put yourself into the position of a customer and understand what it is they want and, critically, what it is they will pay for and what it is they will pay? Market testing of price-to-value will help you understand the market. Go to the market and research it to understand more about what’s going on.
Network and connections
Your best method of finding out stuff is through people that you know or people that you know introducing you to people that you want or need to know. Never underestimate the power of your connections and their ability to leverage you into interesting opportunities. Entrepreneurs who stay connected in this way feed their entrepreneurial skills and development.
Choose who you work with
As an entrepreneur it is critical that you find the right people. Your entrepreneurism provides huge strengths in certain areas and you need to identify what other kind of strengths you need around you. Similarly with people you work with externally, whether they be international lawyers or banks or accountants, you must have the right professional relationships to feed you excellent advice.
KNOW WHEN TO FOLD
Entrepreneurs have a natural gift for knowing where value is and knowing when to take equity over a cash payment, for example. They know there is an endgame, like a potential change of control in three, five or 10 years’ time. They are able to initiate, at the point of start up, a plan that will enable them to stay until they know when to leave.
COMMERCIAL BUSINESS KNOW HOW
Entrepreneurs are not naturally the type of people who are going to want a long list of credentials that prove someone’s ability to do something, such as degrees and diplomas. They’re much more practical, hands-on learning types and want to roll their sleeves up, get dirty and prove stuff. Entrepreneurs do fail and it’s failures that they learn from. Where they want to be learning is from what has worked commercially.
How to Develop your Entrepreneurial skillsHow do you develop your entrepreneurial skills? What activities can you engage in to improve your entrepreneurial skills? Well, i advice you read on to find out. If a friend walks up to you and ask for advice on how he or she could improve his/her entrepreneurial skill, what will you say to this friend of yours? Today, i want to share with you some iron clad entrepreneurial skills development strategies. If you seek to develop or improve your entrepreneurial skills, then sit back, read and digest the tips i am to dish out below.How to Develop or Improve your Entrepreneurial Skills
- Start a small business: This is usually the first step i recommend to anyone who wants to develop or improve his/her entrepreneurial skills. One thing i love about entrepreneurship is the fact that it can’t be learned within the four walls of school. Real entrepreneurial skills are picked up on the streets. It’s a kind of practical thing. A small business can be a great source of information and practical experience with respect to running a business and improving your business skills. The main reason i emphasize you start a small business is this; mistakes can be made and corrected quickly in a small business. I wrote an article tagged “The magic of starting a small business.” I will advice you read it.
- Read business, industrial and technological magazines: Another way to improve your entrepreneurial skills is by reading business, industrial and technological publications. This will keep you on edge and very well informed. Reading these publications will help you spot upcoming trends and innovations. It will also help you keep track of your industry leaders.
- Read books on business and entrepreneurship: The next way to develop your entrepreneurial skills is by reading books on business, entrepreneurship and any book worth reading. Like i said in previous articles, entrepreneurs are generalist and must know a little of everything and one way to achieve this is by reading. Entrepreneurial skills development is all about continuous learning.
- Attend seminars: Attending seminars is a sure way to develop your entrepreneurial skills. Good seminars are usually tough and straight to the point. Just like a mentor of mine says “Schools are for employees, seminars are for street smart entrepreneurs.”
- Read autobiographies and biographies of successful entrepreneurs: When you read the autobiographies and biographies of successful entrepreneurs, you gain insights into their entrepreneurial lifestyle.
- Join organizations such as toastmasters: I hope you know that entrepreneurial skills comprise of communication skills, people skills, leadership skills, negotiation skills and so on. Joining organizations such as Toastmasters will help you develop the communication aspect of your entrepreneurial skills. Before becoming an entrepreneur, you need to work on your charisma, confidence and self esteem. Without communication skills and other skills, forget about being an entrepreneur.
- Network with other entrepreneurs: An adage says “iron sharpens iron.” When you network with other employees, you gain new ideas and information. Joining an entrepreneurial network is a sure way to develop your entrepreneurial skills because in such networks, you tend to discover your strengths and weaknesses.
- Find a mentor: The last step to developing your entrepreneurial skills is to find a mentor. Now who is a mentor? A mentor is a person who has passed through a given field and has decided to nurture you through that same field. Having a mentor will help you avoid certain mistakes new startups make. A mentor can also be a great source of leverage for you and your business. In all, i always advise entrepreneurs to use every opportunity they have to learn something new and improve their business skills. Good luck.
STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS – WHAT IT TAKES
It can be really exciting to start your own business – but how does one go about it to ensure that it will be successful? What does it take to make a business really work and what are the key challenges and considerations for each of us to make?
Here we have put together 6 top tips on how to create a business from scratch:
Understand What You Are Creating and Who it’s For
It’s great if you have a business idea and if you feel ready to start building a business around it – but before you start it’s essential to know why you’re doing, what it is that you want to create and who your customers are. Research the market and establish where there really is one for what you want to offer them, or not.
Get Help
It is no small task to create a business from scratch, but there is no reason why you need to do it alone. If you’re comfortable doing this yourself – that’s absolutely fine, but if not there are many places where you can go for help and also many forms of help that you can seek.
Consider whether you want a business partner or not. There are advantages and disadvantages to having a business partner alongside you when creating a new venture. Think about what you believe will work best for you and for what you are trying to take to market.
Think about who else you may want and need to get involved as well. Do you need a business start-up mentor for instance? Who will manage your accounts? What skills are required in getting this business off the ground? Who can help with this?
Have a Clear Vision.
Know where it is that you want to go and establish what your vision is for yourself and for this business. This can be a key driver and motivator for you. It will also help you to create some focus for your journey going forwards.
Investment.
In order to get your business going, you may need some capital. That’s usually going to be in the form of cash. Some people are going to say they don’t need any cash in the beginning because they’re going to work for nothing. Yes, but there is still the investment you’ve made due to you drawing on savings or getting a personal loan. No business can get going without a level of investment of some type. Therefore in the early weeks and months of the development of your idea, you’re going to be taking the business to market and you’re going to be drinking lots of cappuccinos in cafes as you talk to various potential investors.
Think About Your Work Environment
Where are you going to work and what do you need in order to operate efficiently? You may need an office space or you might decide to work from home. There are several options to consider here but make sure that you think it through. There will be core equipment that you will need to make sure you have too – like a business phone line, computer, office address and so on. It can also be useful to understand what environments are best for you vs. best for your potential clients.
Making sure you are disciplined in whatever work environment you have set up will be really important. For some of us who have left a structured work environment, making this shift into being your own boss will take time and some adjustment. Be patient and think about what you need specifically in order to be the most effective that you can be in this new way of working.
Have Patience & Know that Mistakes are OK
Building a business takes time, commitment and a lot of energy and perseverance. Some days will be very hard but if you want it to work you have to be patient and to keep at it. You may also make some pretty major mistakes but that is absolutely normal. There are bound to be some hiccups along the way and these are all good learning platforms for you to build upon. Remember that mistakes are all part of the business building process and you will succeed.
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