Five Skills Worth Upgrading to Help Grow a Small Business

Launching your own business, whether it’s an online vintage shop or a freelance photography career, is an act that allows you to make the most of your existing skill set. As you start brainstorming business ideas, you’ll do best if you think about skills, talents, and interests you already have and how you can eventually monetize them. Yet as you prepare to get your business up off the ground, there are additional skills that are beneficial to any entrepreneur, great or small. If you’re rusty in any of the following areas, it might be worth thinking about taking a refresher course.

1. Financial Planning

You may not have a “head for numbers,” but you need to be able to understand the basic principles of bookkeeping, profit and loss, and budgeting in order to succeed with your own business. You can always leave the more specific tasks in the hands of an accountant, but you’ll still need to be able to provide that accountant with basic figures. Financial planning can make a huge difference in your chances of success, so that you can work out a budget in advance and understand how business models work.

2. Communication

Communication is vital in the business world, and the most successful business owners are those who take the time to learn what their clients want through interpersonal skills. Communication is a broad subject, and could include everything from negotiation to presentation skills. As you’re starting out, you’ll need to be able to present your ideas to investors, suppliers, and potential employees. You’ll need to be able to listen and learn from clients to fine-tune your business to best meet their needs. Online courses in subjects like counselling, public speaking, and non-verbal communication can all help you sharpen your skills in this area so that you can get your message across most effectively.

3. Project Management

Organizational skills are also important. You may need to be able to manage budgets, create employee timetables, manage stock levels, or deal with mailing out packages to customers. Whether it’s organizing your own calendar or sifting through deadlines and purchase orders, strong project management skills can help you work out an organizational system that best works for you.

4. IT

You don’t need to become an expert in coding, but some basic grasp of computer skills will help you immensely no matter what your industry. Learning more about website building, design, and HTML can help you design your own website and update it using a content management system. It’s also helpful to brush up on your knowledge of spreadsheet software like Excel to help you with your budgeting and accounting at a basic level. Online marketing is also important nowadays, so that you can promote your business more effectively using tools like blogging and social media.

5. Personal Accountability

Successful entrepreneurs are able to look at obstacles as part of the learning process, and are willing to admit when they’ve made mistakes. Rather than wallowing in obstacles or past mistakes, personal accountability allows you to learn from the situation and move on towards the end goal. No matter what your industry of choice is, it’s helpful to look at your business as a learning process. Take any opportunity to build your skill set, whether it’s through seminars, conferences, online courses, or simply picking up a good book. Knowledge is power in the world of business, and you’ll make yourself a well-rounded entrepreneur while having fun at the same time!

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