Entrepreneurship is not a journey for the faint-hearted. It is a challenging yet a rewarding journey. To be a successful entrepreneur, you should have diverse set of skill sets to navigate through the business world and remain evergreen on the entrepreneurship ladder.
In this article, we will explore the top 7 soft skills every entrepreneur must possess to thrive in today’s complex business world.
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Who is an entrepreneur?
- What are soft skills?
- 7 soft skills every entrepreneur must possess
WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?
According to, Prachi Juneja (Management Business Guide), an entrepreneur is someone who develops a business model, acquires the necessary physical and human capital to start a new venture, and operationalizes it and is responsible for its success or failure.
Every entrepreneur is a risk-taker. An entrepreneur must be innovative and should be able to scale up his/her idea in the market place.
This is a key difference between the small business owner and an entrepreneur. A small business owner simply replicates what already exists. This is more like the copy and paste method. Entrepreneurship is founded on innovative idea which can be scaled exponentially.
WHAT ARE SOFT SKILLS?
Soft skills are personal attributes, social attitudes and interpersonal skills that enable individuals work effectively with others in a work place.
TOP SEVEN SOFT SKILLS FOR ENTREPRENEURS TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS
- LEADERSHIP SKILLS
- NEGOTIATION SKILLS
- CREATIVITY
- NETWORKING SKILLS
- COMMUNICATION SKILLS
- PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
- TIME MANAGEMENT
1. LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Leadership skill is a must-have for an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, you should lead by example. Leadership is not about passing order but showing others what to do by taking the lead. You should be able to influence other people’s decision to achieve a given goal.
2. NEGOTIATION SKILLS
Negotiation is simply a conversation aimed at reaching an agreement.
Negotiation is a skill every entrepreneur must possess. For some, it comes naturally while for others, it has to be learnt. Without sales, there is no business. As an entrepreneur, each time you converse with a prospect, you should be able to convince them and get what you want while meeting their need.
In negotiation, your body language and tone communicates more to the prospect than what you say. You should master your body language and learn to show confidence while negotiating.
3. CREATIVITY
Building a business from scratch as an entrepreneur demands a level of creativity. As a creative entrepreneur, you should be able to manage the limited resources available to get maximum result.
4. NETWORKING SKILLS
Networking simply means connecting with prospects, partners, investors and other entrepreneurs. The way you present yourself, start a conversation or end a conversation with a potential client or investor matters a lot. It can determine if you will hear from the person again or not.
As an entrepreneur, you should look out for networking opportunities. You can get this by attending both physical and virtual conferences.
You never can tell who you have seated next to you till you network.
5. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Effective communication is a fundamental skill for every entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, you should be able to convey the content of your product or idea to your investors, team members, customers, other companies and partners. You should consider creating an enabling environment for open communication.
6. PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS
Entrepreneurs should develop the right mindset towards problems. Challenges are bound to come but how you view it matters. As an entrepreneur, you must learn to see problem as an opportunity to learn and grow. You must learn to be creative in solving problems.
7. TIME MANAGEMENT
One of the best way to prevent burning-out as an entrepreneur is by prioritizing your task and effectively managing your time.
Effective time management will help you have a healthy work-life balance, meet deadlines and helps you to be productive.
For this to be achieved, consider outsourcing some task especially basic task that can be handled by others while you focus more on important task.
Finally
Every outstanding business you see today has its unique story. It looks beautiful on the outside, but does not show the sacrifices made by the owners.
As an entrepreneur, it’s important you build up yourself with these soft skills to ensure success in your entrepreneurship journey.