There are many successful entrepreneurs, but failed entrepreneurs are double in number. 66% of businesses fail within 10 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. When we study closely, all unsuccessful entrepreneurs lack some things that successful entrepreneurs have in common. Skills successful entrepreneur have in common are very apparent.
All successful entrepreneurs have a set of skills by which they handle and grow their businesses efficiently. These are essential for an entrepreneur’s success, but these are hard skills that differ from business to business. Here I compiled a list of 5 soft skills that are common in all successful entrepreneurs. You should, too, develop them to be able to compete with others and achieve success.
Many entrepreneurs overlook these skills, and entrepreneur with these skills beat them. Continue reading to find out these 5 skills.
1. Communication
Communication skills are the ability to understand the message that has been conveyed and convey an understandable message. Non-verbal communication is a big part of it. A good communicator can understand and convey a non-verbal message effectively.
An entrepreneur needs to be an excellent communicator. Whether running a local or international business, he always needs to communicate with his team effectively without transmitting any confusion.
The most important things to businesses and entrepreneurs are customers and stakeholders. An entrepreneur should have a good relationship with these two; he should be able to convey his message effectively to potential stakeholders and customers to make his future bright.
A good communicator is a good leader; sound leadership is essential to an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur should master all forms of communication, whether it is one-on-one communication or communication with an audience.
You may like to read: How to Develop Effective Communication Skills? 4 Areas to Improve.
2. Sales
Sales are the backbone of any business. No sales mean no business. Every entrepreneur wants more and more sales for more and more business success. One of the biggest reason solo entrepreneur fail are they fail to generate sales. The problem is the lack of this skill, sales.
An entrepreneur should be able to sell to anyone. He should be able to sell the business idea to investors and himself to employees.
Sales and communication skills both go hand in hand. If an entrepreneur has good communication skills, he will be better able to harness these sales skills and generate more sales.
Just starting and being low on money, it’s very likely for an entrepreneur to be his business’s first salesperson. He should be ready and prepared to sell his product. Every entrepreneur should have these two essential skills communication and sales.
3. Resilience
The road to entrepreneurship is all jagged. There are many ups and downs in the entrepreneur’s life. Entrepreneurs have to see many despair times in the business no matter what. The skill of an entrepreneur to stay focused on his path instead of getting unhopeful and quitting holds a lot of significance for an entrepreneur’s success.
A significant issue occurs when an entrepreneur loses his emotional control, gets despair, loses his focus on the goal, and decides to get off the path. That’s when an entrepreneur falls and fails.
You don’t take bumps in the road as a symbol that you are headed in the wrong direction. There are requirements for every journey worth taking.
Every entrepreneur should be resilient; no matter what happens, he should focus on his goal. It can also be told as thinking by keeping the end in mind. An entrepreneur focuses on the end goal and pivots his business towards it regardless of bumps in the road.
4. Time Management
Time management is a skill that will help you everywhere, at work or home. It is undoubtedly essential for an entrepreneur too.
Time management is all about planning your available time and controlling your time on a specific task to use it more efficiently and be as productive as possible.
An entrepreneur has a hectic routine. He needs to organize his tasks around the available time efficiently. He should know how to prioritize his tasks to give maximum output.
Having this skill enables you to get more out of the day. It enables you to give more time to 20% of tasks that give 80% of results and less time to 80% of tasks responsible for 20% of results. You can manage your time better by setting daily goals and planning to achieve them. The plan looks like a list of tasks organized by priority.
Learn More: 4 Tips to Improve Time Management at Work.
5. Skill of Learning
The ability to learn something new fast is one of the most vital life skills that can’t be overlooked in entrepreneurship.
The only way to hit the top of the field you are in is by learning. An entrepreneur should always be disciplined to learn what he should learn to be successful.
Learning from the one above you and learning from your failures are excellent ways to learn. You should always look at people above you and ask them about what they learned. Then whatever they say, learn it. It is the most straightforward strategy to succeed for an entrepreneur.
You should strive to learn new skills to help you grow your business. These skills include the hard skills we talked about in the introduction. Do the same with your team; give they opportunities and resources to learn skills good for you and them, and then see the graph go up.
You should read: How to Develop the Skill of Learning Skills Fast(Do These Things).
The Great thing is that you are learning right now while reading this article. You must pick one of the above skills and start learning, developing, and practising it. You will see a positive difference in yourself as an entrepreneur.
PS: What skill do you think you should learn first, which will affect the business most?
