Top 6 skills every entrepreneur needs in 2021

By James Lloyd-Townshend, CEO at Tenth Revolution Group

Setting up your own business isn’t for the faint hearted—you need to brew big ideas, take many decisions as well as several risks and be willing and able to learn from any mistakes you make along the way. So it’s only natural for anyone who aspires to take this route to wonder which are the skills every entrepreneur needs to be successful. The bad news is that regardless of whether you already possess these skills, or are still learning, the ride to entrepreneurship is not easy. However, the good news is that the right mix of hard and soft skills road can definitely make the ride a little smoother.

Communication

Doing business goes hand in hand with communication. As an entrepreneur, you’re likely to be involved in plenty of discussions and meetings—and considering the stakes involved, you’ll likely want to be prepared to get your message across effectively, and at the same time, listen to what others have to say—whether that’s potential clients, investors or staff members. Being well-versed in all forms of communication—such as one-on-ones, group meetings, written correspondence and presentations—will make it easier to sell your ideas to an audience, which is decisive for a business’s success at all stages.  Effective communication is at the heart of great leadership. Mastering this skill from the very start will inspire trust and resilience amongst your workforce, and ensure your everyone is on the same page and working towards the same visions and goals.

Networking

Building a strong network remains indispensable in any professional setting, more so in entrepreneurship. Your business’s success will highly depend on your ability to create the right network around it. This is one common way of bringing in leads, possible clients or investors—making it crucial for entrepreneurs to promote their business within professional settings. Not only that, but investing time and effort into building and growing your network will also help you develop and improve your skills professionally, as well keep abreast with the latest trends in your industry. As well as getting your foot in the door more naturally with others in similar positions around you, networking with motivated and driven individuals tends to keep you determined and striving for excellence yourself.

Sales

Regardless of what business you’re in, as an entrepreneur you’ll probably need to sell it to a wide choice of audiences—whether you’re pitching the idea to a potential investor, or presenting your business to potential clients or staff members. The art of negotiation, persuasion and finally, the ability to close a sale are a make or break for a business’s success, making sale skills indispensable for any aspiring entrepreneur. It perhaps comes as no surprise that one of the top tips aspiring entrepreneurs receive is to work in sales before setting up their own business so they can learn all the tricks of the trade and know what will really catch people’s attention.

Planning

Being prepared is half the battle—particularly when it comes to doing business. A common mistake entrepreneurs make, particularly at the start of their professional path is overlooking the importance of having a plan and instead focus on the execution of their business, assuming there’ll be a natural flow in the order of things—which is almost never the case. Knowing how to lay plans is essential so that entrepreneurs have the time, and capacity to focus on the implementation, rather than wonder what should happen next. Naturally, this will also come in handy when planning your venture’s finances and budgeting. Not to mention the wonders it’ll do for achieving a healthy work-life balance—helping you set your boundaries and schedule in personal time to rest and recharge, which is just as essential for success as the daily grind.

Aptitude for learning

One thing you should always keep in mind as an entrepreneur is that you’ll never know enough. Curiosity and a hunger for knowledge must become your fuel—that’ll keep you running on fresh ideas, and strengthen your knowledge as well as your passion. Being a business owner in the 21^st century means you’re doing so at a time in which most industries are evolving at rapid pace—especially through the digital acceleration taking place during the pandemic. So whether your fuel of choice is reading books, blogs, podcasts, or even short online courses—keeping up to speed with the latest developments in your industry and any relevant to your business will work wonders for success—directly, as you might spot new opportunities or useful tools for your business, but also indirectly. Being actively interested in different fields and open-minded is likely to make you someone people want to sit next to at a dinner party—making it easier to strike conversation with potential clients, stakeholders or investors. Plus, knowing more will teach you more about yourself, and as a result, you’ll start to understand where your professional limits stand. This is essential to know when, how and who to delegate with any parts of your businesses that might stand outside of these limits.

Resilience

As ideal as it can sound—the truth is that pursuing your dreams is going to be tough. These days, we’re often bombarded with success stories from entrepreneurs who made it from 0 to Fortune 500, but if you look at how they managed to get there, the most common thread will be their resilience—their ability to bounce back after failure and rejection, and coming out stronger and wiser. The road to entrepreneurship is full of failure and rejection, moments in which your will to give up will be stronger than your determination to go forward. This is where being resilient and determined will prove to be pivotal to success. After all, if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.

Mastering entrepreneurial skills

There’s a lot aspiring entrepreneurs can do to hone these skills, if they’re set on this career choice. There’s an abundance of resources out there. Platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Skillshare and Coursera are a good starting point to learn the theory behind entrepreneurship, while books, blogs, and podcasts will help expand your business knowledge, and help you address any weak points or gaps in your knowledge.

One other effective way of improving your skills is by finding a business mentor. Whether that’s someone you’ve previously worked with, or a successful member of your network, mentors are likely to have years of experience behind them, providing them a wealth of knowledge and lessons often learned the hard way. The guidance they can provide you with are priceless, and are likely to assist you in the right direction towards successful entrepreneurship.