WHAT SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS?

Every year, thousands of ambitious businesses take a kick start. But sadly, only a few survive and thrive for growth. A vast majority of businesses shut within a few years of their inception.  Owing a business appears very appealing but in reality, it requires overcoming tons of challenges. Running a business and turning it into a successful venture demands more than a passion. As a business owner, you need to undertake oodles of tasks every day. You need to become a jack of all trades to develop a firm understanding of all driving aspects of the business. From simply managing daily tasks to keeping finances you need to gain mastery over several key skills. To succeed you need to turn your passion into fundamental skills of business.  If you are wondering, “What skills do I need to need to run a business?” Here is a handpicked list of core skills needed to run a successful business:  

# SKILL 1: Sales and Marketing

No rocket science involved- business is 80 percent sales. Without sales, there is no revenue and without revenue, your business has no existence. Thus, undoubtedly, you need effective sales and marketing skills to run your business. Arguably, it is one of the most important skills on the list that will help money fall back in your pocket. Marketing skills will drive in the customers and sales skills would assist them in coming back again. Establishing strong sales and marketing plans and policies for pricing and advertising will assist in catalyzing your business growth. Moreover, it will help you analyze market trends, competitors, industry scenarios essential for the development of your business strategies.  Drafting and communicating compelling messages using the right tools to the right audience will aid you in building profitable revenue streams for your business. 

# SKILL 2: Strategic Planning

A wrong and unplanned decision could make or break your business. To thrive as a successful entrepreneur make the plan even before your business debuts. Determine your end goals and plan ways to achieve them. Manage your resources effectively and apply strategy in your business to step clear longer-term goals. Doing so will help you achieve long-term objectives rather than just enabling business sustenance. Thus, gaining proficiency in strategic planning skills will help your business go a long way. Additionally, the rare instinct of strategic thinking will lend you a distinguished business experience as you would be able to assess risks, benefits, and profits more realistically.

# SKILL 3: Problem Resolution 

A lot of budding entrepreneurs have a false notion regarding what it’s really like to own a business. The path seems to be very happening and pleasurable but it’s not all about it. Running a business is a daunting task every day you will be exposed to new challenges. Every now and then, unexpectedly, a series of new issues will emerge up and you will be required to resolve them. Therefore, to survive in the rapidly evolving business ecosystem and to establish a successful enterprise, you need to cultivate problem resolving skills. To succeed as an entrepreneur you need to gain trust in your decisions while inspiring the confidence in employees, investors, and customers. The most common problems you are likely to deal with are:

• Finding right financier 
• Hiring qualified staff
• Expanding network
• Developing vendor relationships

# SKILL 4: Financial management

Financial management involves using different techniques for managing money, especially the difference between earnings, expenditures, and risks on investment. Being able to manage finances effectively is very crucial. As it will help you avoid losses while growing your business faster. Moreover, mastering the financial literacy skill will make you capable to forecast sales, cash flow, and business profitability. Thus, there are ample of benefits that the sound financial management skills can accord you.  So, make sure to learn about handling and analyzing business financials before you run out of money without redeeming an opportunity. 

# SKILL 5: Time Management

Setting out to run a successful business will require you to manage time effectively. If you don’t wish to be caught by nasty surprises along the way then plan to use time most productively. Time management is one of the core entrepreneurial skills that a business owner needs to master.  Acquiring this skill will help you achieve goals by streamlining all business activities efficiently. Furthermore, time is one of the biggest assets that a business owner can possess. Managing it wisely will help you spare time for undertaking tasks of higher priority. How you use your time will determine the success of your business in the long run.

# SKILL 6: Communication and negotiation

Being a business owner almost every day you will be required to negotiate either formally or informally. And in order to establish a win-win situation in negotiations, you will be required to communicate effectively. Having powerful communication skills will help you foster good working relationships. Based on how you communicate and negotiate your reputation will be forged in the market. This single skillset will provide a quick overview of your future business viability. Thus, if you can conduct engaging and positive conversations then you can definitely cultivate loyal customers, investors, and employees.

The takeaway

Make no mistake, gain some grounding in the aforementioned skills to sail your business swiftly through all odds. No matter how great your idea is if you do not possess the required business skills your venture is likely to fail. So, if you wish to be enlisted among successful entrepreneurs then gear up and work on honing the necessary business skills. Analyze your weaknesses and learn to turn them into strengths by spending a few hours a day. Definitely, recognizing and working on the areas of improvement will empower your business to run successfully. 

Wish you luck developing your business skills!!

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1 CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME AS A BUSINESS OWNER

2 GST MSME LOAN THE BEST CHOICE FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME AS A BUSINESS OWNER

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