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Each and every year, many new businesses pop up in various places across the country. While many of them will be able to develop into successful enterprises, a great many will also be forced to shut their doors before their first year is even completed.
There are many things that can come up that would result in a new business going under – some are uncontrollable and unavoidable. However, new entrepreneurs should put all of their efforts into laying as solid a foundation as possible for their businesses.
One aspect involved in making sure that your new business gets off to a solid start involves ensuring that you are personally equipped with the skills and knowledge that you need to guide your business in the right direction. A failing on your part in this area can result in you making the wrong call or scrambling to find help with certain aspects of running your company.
While there are several skills that you might need in order to properly run your new business (which are determined by the industry in which you work), there are others that most entrepreneurs would do well to master. Here are six such skills that you should look to learn before starting your own business.
1. Bookkeeping
No matter what sort of business you run, your goal is going to be to find financial stability as soon as possible. This process is going to be the one that occupies the majority of your thoughts and that causes you the most stress as you work to get your business off the ground. Learning bookkeeping is something that can help you as you strive to accomplish this goal.
Even though you will likely consult or even hire an accountant to help with certain matters, there are a few bookkeeping tasks that you should try to master yourself. From knowing how payroll works to having a firm understanding about your debts and loans, knowledge about bookkeeping will help you as you start your own business.
2. Communication
As a new entrepreneur, you won’t be able to get very far in establishing your business without excellent communication skills. Not only do you need to be able to have the ability to explain what you want and need from your employees efficiently and effectively, but you also need to be able to listen to your team as well.
There are many ways in which you will be communicating with relevant parties throughout your time as an entrepreneur. You will be sending emails and messages, speaking on the phone, and speaking with people in person. Make sure that you have the communication skills necessary to communicate effectively on all fronts.
3. Customer Service
As a new business, you won’t be able to make much progress at all unless you are focused on providing your customers with the very best service. A bad review from new customers can cause you a great many issues in the immediate future.
As members of the public hear about your business and actively seek out more information about what you offer, they will come across online reviews. They might even ask their friends and neighbors about their personal experiences doing business with you. Bad word of mouth can sink you before you even really get going.
Take some time to brush up on your own customer service skills. You should then make sure that you are properly training your employees in this area to ensure that any and all customers that you have in those early days go away happy and pleased with the products and services they purchased from you.
4. Teamwork
Even though you are going to be at the helm of your company, you can’t forget that it takes a team to build a successful business from the ground up. While you will be making all of the major decisions, you should do so on the basis of trusted and reliable advice from members of your team.
Becoming good at teamwork involves aspects of communication. It is important to be just as good at listening to members of your team as you are at communicating your ideas and thoughts to them. When you are able to communicate with your team, you will be able to understand one another and work together to bring about the best possible outcome.
5. Planning Skills
If there is one lesson about business that you will learn early on, it is that you can’t possibly plan for every eventuality. That being said, having the ability to plan and stay as organized as possible is an essential skill for all entrepreneurs.
Make sure that you have all of the tools and resources that you need in order to get organized right from the start. Then, do what you can to plan your progress and look ahead to the future. Making sound plans for your business and then working to see them through is an essential part of starting a company.
6. Time Management
As a new entrepreneur, you will most likely find yourself wondering where all of your time goes. The simple truth is that you are going to be pulled in multiple directions each and every day. Your attention will be split at times, and you might feel as though you just don’t have enough attention to dedicate to every task that needs doing.
This is where your time management skills will really come in handy. Understanding how long certain tasks take, creating a realistic schedule for yourself, and knowing your limits when it comes to how much time you have in the day will all help you to become better at time management.
Make sure that you learn how to delegate as well. Knowing what tasks to delegate to others and the tasks that only you can do will help you with your efforts to master time management. In the end, you will be able to dedicate more time to those jobs that fall under the umbrella of your responsibly.