“It’s been said that having a great idea is almost nothing. The execution of that idea is what counts, and if you don’t have the necessary skills to bring that idea into reality then it’s as good as dead”.
It takes a lot of motivation and determination to start your own business. This is particularly difficult when you are not sure whether your idea will succeed or not.
Considering that more than 50% of today’s startups fail during the first four years of activity, this issue of uncertainty deserves a bit more attention.
Startup ideas will come and go but they only seem to manifest once you’ve honed your skills in project management, teamwork, leadership, and the specific technical skills required by your startup’s business model. Entrepreneurs’ vision and mindset are their arsenal for a successful journey. Are you ready? Let’s go back to the basics and think about the following list of necessary skills for success:
Resourcefulness to get things done –
Resourcefulness is a key characteristic of successful people. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, being resourceful will help get things done. Resourcefulness doesn’t have to be an innate quality, but rather something you can learn by getting into the habit of always looking for better ways to do things.
If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, you need to embrace resourcefulness. Resourcefulness is the mindset that allows entrepreneurs to stretch their potential and stay in the game.
Effective Communication
Communication is the key to getting your employees engaged; motivated and helping you build your business. Many individuals and groups fail to succeed at their desired goals simply because they don’t know how to communicate in a way that motivates people. Communication is the cornerstone of any successful business or group.
Communicating effectively goes beyond the words you speak; it also focuses on the manner in which you deliver those words to your audience. Everything you say is much more effective if it’s clear, specific, and direct. Effective communication might be the fine line that separates owners from entrepreneurs who can actually build their own business. As entrepreneurs, you have to persuade others to work with us. Recruit new talents and find joint ventures for new business opportunities. Your communication skill also helps your employees to deal with the challenges in life that are different.
Vision (Great sense of foresight)
A visionary entrepreneur is someone who identifies the trends and makes business decisions based on those changes. The trend the founder must observe is related to the market behavior, where that person will look at the market pattern by given data to predict how the business environment will change in future.
A visionary leader possesses a great sense of foresight. Even if the person is new in his position, he was still able to predict his team’s reaction to some problems that may come up in the future.
Leadership and Management Skills
It’s very common for startups to encounter difficulties managing all the responsibilities that they need to handle. The founder, ultimately, is responsible for the success or failure of the startup. It’s crucial to learn how to effectively handle and manage multiple tasks if you want to be successful.
Founders tend to take on tons of responsibilities and wear many different hats. Thus, it’s important to clearly define the roles each founder must assume during the startup stage.
As employees work to complete their tasks, you’ll have to ensure they’re being done correctly. If that means training, mentorship, or written guidelines, you’ll be the one to develop them.
Being a leader isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time and effort, and it affects everyone around you. Employees look to you to guide them and give them the motivation they need to finish their tasks. You’ll be expected to set an example, both for your employees and for anyone outside your company looking at you as a role model.
Grit (Perseverance and passion to achieve long–term goals)
While many tasks may seem daunting, being willing to implement solutions in spite of obstacles is a saving grace for founders. When you’re a founder, you have to be ok with doing whatever it takes to get your startup going. There are always more tasks than free time available. If you don’t go all in and begin the hard work, it’s never going to happen.
The fact that you’ve risked everything on an early-stage startup is reason enough to work hard and push through the tough times.
Grit is a key factor in succeeding in entrepreneurship, no matter your age. The good thing is that grit doesn’t mean you have to be an expert at everything. That’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with people who are better than you in those areas.
Patience and Resilience
Things Aren’t Going So Well? Things Are going well? Don’t sweat it. This is business. If you’re serious about your startup, then you’re in it for the long haul. Change your mindset from short-term to long-term thinking. Yes, you want fast success and instant results, but the fact is, you gotta be patient and be prepared to wait a long time. That means accepting that things could take months or years to develop into something more stable. Long-term thinking doesn’t mean pessimism as much as realism and patience.
When you start a startup, the journey will invariably be full of discouragement. It’s not easy to live in hope when there is little or no feedback. If you are patient with your startup, maybe it’s time to be patient with yourself. Don’t hold yourself up for measuring your startup’s success or failure.
A journey is a long road. It has many twists and turns and can be difficult to navigate. When you make a decision to embark on a journey, know that it will take patience and resilience. You’ll need to keep your head up while marching forward. If you look back when the going gets tough, you’ll think that the reasons for starting out in the first place weren’t really worth it after all. Never look back and have patience.
Openness (Being open to change)
Being open to change, will allow you to be flexible in different situations, keep the tension and creativity, help you become a better person and a more effective individual. As a successful entrepreneur, you have to go through many changes and innovations. What got you to where you are today is not necessarily the same thing to keep you on top.
You will learn to be flexible, motivate yourself and others, improve your problem-solving ability, feel more comfortable with change and life in general. The list goes on but no matter what skills you are developing being open for change can help you in so many ways.
Wrap up –
This list isn’t exhaustive — after all, an entrepreneur has many roles. It’s your job to tackle projects beyond these basics. But you should make sure you nail the following before making any big moves:
