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ENTREPRENEUR SKILL
By: Intervention Date: July 27, 2015, 5:24 pm
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What makes someone a successful entrepreneur? It certainly helps
to have strong technology skills or expertise in a key area, but
these are not defining characteristics of entrepreneurship.
Instead, the key qualities are traits such as creativity, the
ability to keep going in the face of hardship, and the social
skills needed to build great teams.
If you want to start a business, it's essential to learn the
specific skills that underpin these qualities. It's also
important to develop entrepreneurial skills if you're in a job
role where you're expected to develop a business, or "take
things forward" more generally.
In this article, we'll look at the skills you need to be a
successful entrepreneur, and we'll explore resources that you
can use to develop the traits needed for success.
Defining Entrepreneurship
Some experts think of entrepreneurs as people who are willing to
take risks that other people are not. Others define them as
people who start and build successful businesses.
Thinking about the first of these definitions, entrepreneurship
doesn't necessarily involve starting your own business. Many
people who don't work for themselves are recognized as
entrepreneurs within their organizations.
Regardless of how you define an "entrepreneur," one thing is
certain: becoming a successful entrepreneur isn't easy.
So, how does one person successfully take advantage of an
opportunity, while another, equally knowledgeable person does
not? Do entrepreneurs have a different genetic makeup? Or do
they operate from a different vantage point, that somehow
directs their decisions for them?
Though many researchers have studied the subject, there are no
definitive answers. What we do know is that successful
entrepreneurs seem to have certain traits in common.
We've gathered these traits into four categories:
Personal characteristics.
Interpersonal skills.
Critical and creative thinking skills.
Practical skills.
We'll now examine each category in more detail, and look at some
of the questions you will need to ask yourself if you want to
become a successful entrepreneur.
Personal Characteristics
First, examine your personal characteristics, values, and
beliefs. Do you have the mindset that's typical of successful
entrepreneurs?
Optimism: Are you an optimistic thinker? Add to My Personal
Learning Plan Optimism is truly an asset, and it will help get
you through the tough times that many entrepreneurs experience
as they find a business model that works for them.
Vision: Can you easily see where things can be improved? Can you
quickly grasp the "big picture," and explain this to others? And
can you create a compelling vision of the future, and then
inspire other people Add to My Personal Learning Plan to engage
with that vision?
Initiative: Do you have initiative Add to My Personal Learning
Plan , and instinctively start problem-solving or business
improvement projects?
Desire for Control: Do you enjoy being in charge and making
decisions? Are you motivated to lead Add to My Personal
Learning Plan others?
Drive and Persistence: Are you self-motivated Add to My
Personal Learning Plan 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 risks, and make decisions
Add to My Personal Learning Plan when facts are uncertain?
Resilience: Are you resilient Add to My Personal Learning Plan
, so that you can pick yourself up when things don't go as
planned? And do you learn and grow from your mistakes and
failures? (If you avoid taking action because you're afraid of
failing, our article on Overcoming Fear of Failure Add to My
Personal Learning Plan can help you face your fears and move
forward.)
Interpersonal Skills
As a successful entrepreneur, you'll have to work closely with
people – this is where it is critical to be able to build great
relationships Add to My Personal Learning Plan with your team,
customers, suppliers, shareholders, investors, and more.
Some people are more gifted in this area than others, but,
fortunately, you can learn and improve these skills. The types
of interpersonal skills you'll need include:
Leadership and Motivation: Can you lead Add to My Personal
Learning Plan and motivate others Add to My Personal Learning
Plan to follow you and deliver your vision? And are you able to
delegate Add to My Personal Learning Plan work to others? As a
successful entrepreneur, you'll have to depend on others to get
beyond a very early stage in your business – there's just too
much to do all on your own!
Communication Skills: Are you competent with all types of
communication Add to My Personal Learning Plan ? You need to be
able to communicate well to sell your vision of the future to
investors, potential clients, team members, and more.
Listening: Do you hear what others are telling you? Your ability
to listen can make or break you as an entrepreneur. Make sure
that you're skilled at active listening Add to My Personal
Learning Plan and empathetic listening Add to My Personal
Learning Plan .
Personal Relations: Are you emotionally intelligent Add to My
Personal Learning Plan ? The higher your EI, the easier it will
be for you to work with others. The good news is that you can
improve your emotional intelligence!
Negotiation: Are you a good negotiator Add to My Personal
Learning Plan ? Not only do you need to negotiate keen prices,
you also need to be able to resolve differences between people
in a positive, mutually beneficial way.
Ethics: Do you deal with people based on respect, integrity Add
to My Personal Learning Plan , fairness, and truthfulness? Can
you lead ethically Add to My Personal Learning Plan ? You'll
find it hard to build a happy, committed team if you deal with
people – staff, customers or suppliers – in a shabby way.
Tip:
You can improve your people skills further by taking our How
Good Are Your People Skills? Add to My Personal Learning Plan
self-test.
Critical and Creative Thinking Skills
As an entrepreneur, you also 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. However, creativity is a skill that you can develop if you
invest the time and effort.
Creative Thinking: Are you able to see situations from a variety
of perspectives and come up with original ideas? (There are many
creativity tools Add to My Personal Learning Plan that will
help you do this.)
Problem Solving: How good are you at coming up with sound
solutions to the problems you're facing? Tools such as Cause &
Effect Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan , the 5 Whys
Add to My Personal Learning Plan Technique, and CATWOE Add to
My Personal Learning Plan are just some of the problem-solving
tools that you'll need to be familiar with.
Recognizing Opportunities: Do you recognize opportunities Add
to My Personal Learning Plan when they present themselves? Can
you spot a trend Add to My Personal Learning Plan ? And are you
able to create a plan to take advantage of the opportunities you
identify?
Practical Skills
You also need the practical skills and knowledge needed to
produce goods or services effectively, and run a company.
Goal Setting: Do you regularly set goals Add to My Personal
Learning Plan , create a plan to achieve them, and then carry
out that plan?
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? (Here,
effective project management skills Add to My Personal Learning
Plan are important, as are basic organization skills Add to My
Personal Learning Plan .) And do you know how to develop a
coherent, well thought-through business plan Add to My Personal
Learning Plan , including developing and learning from
appropriate financial forecasts Add to My Personal Learning
Plan ?
Decision Making: How good are you at making decisions? Add to
My Personal Learning Plan Do you make them based on relevant
information and by weighing the potential consequences? And are
you confident in the decisions that you make?
Core decision-making tools include Decision Tree Analysis Add
to My Personal Learning Plan , Grid
Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan , and Six Thinking
Hats Add to My Personal Learning Plan .
You need knowledge in several areas when starting or running a
business. For instance:
Business knowledge: Do you have a good general knowledge of the
main functional areas of a business (sales, marketing, finance,
and operations), and are you able to operate or manage others in
these areas with a reasonable degree of competence?
Entrepreneurial knowledge: Do you understand how entrepreneurs
raise capital? And do you understand the sheer amount of
experimentation and hard work that may be needed to find a
business model that works for you?
Opportunity-specific knowledge: Do you understand the market
you're attempting to enter, and do you know what you need to do
to bring your product or service to market?
Venture-specific knowledge: Do you know what you need to do to
make this type of business successful? And do you understand the
specifics of the business that you want to start? (This is where
it's often useful to work for a short time in a similar
business.)
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