Business skills for entrepreneurship
Essential business skills
These business skills are essential
Financial management
Being able to effectively manage your finances is critical. You will need to be able to forecast your cash flow and sales, as well as, monitor your profit and loss. You will also need to declare your income to the concernTax Office.
Having sound financial management skills will help you to run your business profitably and protect your financial investment.
Find out more about managing your financials.
Marketing, sales and customer service
It is important to be able to promote your products or services effectively. Providing good customer service and having a marketing strategy in place will help you to generate sales.
Find out more about marketing.
Communication and negotiation
You will need to communicate and negotiate with your suppliers, potential investors, customers and employees. Having effective written and verbal communication skills will help you to build good working relationships. Every communication should reflect the image you are trying to project.
Leadership
If you employ people, leadership will be a key skill. You must be able to motivate your staff in order to get the best out of them and improve productivity. Allocate time to mentor and coach your employees.
Find out more about employing staff.
Project management and planning
Starting a business means you will have to manage a range of projects, such as setting up a website, arranging the fit-out of your premises and developing a range of policies and procedures. Knowing how to effectively manage your resources, including time, money and staff will help you to achieve your goals.
Delegation and time management
Failure to delegate is a trap many business owners fall into usually because they are reluctant to let go of control. Managing your time effectively may mean delegating responsibility to someone else in the business or outsourcing. Identifying who you can delegate tasks to, allows you to concentrate on those tasks that generate revenue.
Problem solving
However much you plan, you will encounter problems in your business. This means you need to be able to make good decisions, sometimes under pressure.
Networking
Building good relationships through networking will help you to grow your business and give you the support you’ll need.
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