Initially, it must be made clear that not many people can become entrepreneurs: you must know how to identify a business opportunity and organize the necessary resources to start the future company. It sounds simple, but it is not an easy task. You must be a person willing to face challenges, solve your problems and manage your company towards success, taking risks, but always with a positive and cautious attitude.
It is one thing to want to be an entrepreneur or admire some great leader like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, who have achieved fantastic results through entrepreneurship, but it is another thing to have the necessary skills to become a successful entrepreneur. Therefore, if you want to achieve it, we will show you 5 skills necessary to be a successful entrepreneur thanks to a survey carried out on 1,300 former students of the Harvard Business School.
5 skills necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur
1. Identify the opportunities
We know that an entrepreneur knows how to identify opportunities that are presented to them, but according to research, successful entrepreneurs stand out by having the skills and ability to not only identify and seek business opportunities, but also have high potential.
To find out if the opportunity you decide to take has high potential, these 4 questions will help you examine it:
- Does the product solve problems that other companies have failed to solve or have ignored?
- Does the entrepreneur have a passion to make the product work and exceed the standard levels of the market?
- Does the entrepreneurial team have the proper and critical skills to build the product?
- Is the market opportunity big enough?
2. Acquire skills of influence and vision
Entrepreneurs must have a great capacity to influence all those interested in working together and converting a strategy into action and results. So, if you don’t know how to influence and show the people you need in your team how the product will work, take charge and start looking for methods to acquire those skills.
Harvard researchers found that business leaders are more confident in their abilities to provide insight and influence than the average leader; while leaders who work within established companies are rated much lower.
3. Be risky and used to uncertainty
Entrepreneurial leaders are comfortable stepping through the wall of uncertainty and taking maximum risks.
Being risky is a price you must pay to become a successful entrepreneur, remember that great leaders have not always been completely sure of their results.
4. Be able to seek professional help
One of the reasons that entrepreneurs are comfortable with uncertainty is that they are good at gathering the resources that the new company needs, as they can create professional and business networks that will help them realize their vision.
Generally, people do not know how to solve all problems, so the best way to attack them is by seeking professional advice that will significantly help the state of your company.
5. Know how to manage cash flow effectively
Successful entrepreneurs are much more confident in their abilities to manage cash flow and raise capital than unsuccessful entrepreneurs. To do this, it is important to chart the value that the company’s product will bring to customers and the rate at which the company is gaining new customers and retaining old ones who spend more for good products.
conclusion
Many people want to be entrepreneurs; However, it takes effort, time, dedication, and a myriad of other skills to achieve it, not to mention that to be successful it takes a little more than that.
Take a risk, learn to take advantage of the high potential business opportunities that come your way, show the world your vision and influence them to believe in your product as you do, seek professional help to guide you in your steps and above all, get a effective financial management.
References
- Cohan, P. This Survey of 1,300 Harvard Business School Alumni Reveals the 5 Skills You Need to Succeed as an Entrepreneur. For Inc. [Revised January 2019].
