It takes great skills to succeed in business, and it is no small feat to be a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs identify economic or basic problems, create solutions for these problems, manage people and resources to sustain the provision of these solutions, maintain a governable structure or business entity to keep things going, and generate incomes for themselves and staff employed in their endeavours.
No entrepreneurs would go far without proper talents, skills, knowledge, attitudes, and practical dispositions to drive their visions and help them achieve their set objectives. Almost everyone has one form of talent or skill, but these could be better directed and honed with the proper education and use to which they are put.
People have the natural talents of dancing, painting, sportsmanship, speaking, repairing, and others; but these talents could become a skill when they are honed through formal school education and practical job experiences. The more you put efforts into mastering any talent, the more it translates into a skill that could sustain you financially.
To be a successful entrepreneur, you must know how to harness your talents and skills into achieving set business objectives. This may involve hands-on application of technical knowledge and it may also involve managerial knowledge of appropriating resources and managing people.
You need technical expertise and managerial skills to succeed in any entrepreneurial endeavours.
The technical expertise may involve the practical skills of cutting cloths and using a tailoring machine in any fashion business, or it might involve the ability to diagnose what is wrong with a car and get it repaired in an auto-mechanic business, while it might also involve being able to properly allocate resources and manage people to realize their potentials and achieve company goals.
For a successful career in engineering, computing, construction, agriculture, and carpentry among others, you need practical technical skills. These skills will often be acquired after diligent study and years of practical experience with the requirements of the chosen careers. For a great and leading career in business, you need to develop managerial skills that may involve sales and marketing, planning and implementation, costing and record keeping, leadership and organization, and general management among others.
To be a good technical and managerial business entrepreneur, you must develop the following skills of managing people around you –
- Consistency of purpose
- Fairness and honesty with staff and customers
- Ability to inspire confidence and infuse enthusiasm
- Encourage self-expressions and constructive criticisms
- Be open to all with an attentive ear to people
- Understand people and what they are going through
- Be a leader capable of setting positive examples
Need we talk of the bad attributes of a business leader? Well, here they are: overly demanding, critical of people, bad-mouthed, autocratic and unreasonable, argumentative and deaf to suggestions, lacking ideas and ideal visions, wasteful and lacking in initiatives.