Written By: Celine Duenas
Are you wondering how to become successful in your business? There are certain qualities, traits and values that most successful entrepreneurs share. Besides the expected communication and management skills, there are other distinct qualities that set entrepreneurs apart from others. If you need guidance into the entrepreneurial world, we’ve rounded up the top 5 essential skills you need to excel in as an entrepreneur.
- Resilience
Entrepreneurs face all sorts of challenges and difficulties in their career. It’s easy to quit and give up when things get tough, however, what makes a resilient entrepreneur is the willingness to stick it out during these tough situations. Being able to face obstacles head on is a commonality amongst successful entrepreneurs. This is because resilience allows you to recover quickly from setbacks and take “failures” as learning opportunities to overcome obstacles with the right attitude and the right mindset.
That’s resilience.
- Problem-Solving
The first step in building any start up is understanding the problem you want to solve and providing that solution from your organization to your consumers. This is crucial for the operations and success of your business. But the entrepreneurial journey is peppered with daily challenges and you must also be able to adapt to different and complex situations, where problem solving is a key skill. Knowing how to evaluate each situation and analyze for solutions makes you a great problem solver which allows your business to thrive in the long run.
- Creativity
Entrepreneurship is rooted from creating and exploring new ideas. Having creativity as a skill helps you develop opportunities for enhancing your existing products, services, or simply making your organization better. Be the entrepreneur that can be innovative and generate new ideas for unique and useful solutions. It’s good to think outside the box, and not shy away from wild ideas, so be prepared to brainstorm and get creative.
- Active Listening and Empathy
Empathy is defined as the ability to “understand and share another person’s feelings and emotions and to demonstrate that understanding.” Active listening is similar to empathy, where the main goal is to pay attention, focus on the other person, and ensure that you understand without interrupting or being impatient. These two similar skills are important to have as an entrepreneur as it helps strengthen your interpersonal relationships with your team, customers, stakeholders, and more. As an entrepreneur, these two skills can help you in many kinds of situations like improving your teams’ performance and understanding your competition.
- Willingness to Learn and Grow
The last but most important skill to have as an entrepreneur is the willingness to learn and grow. There are endless possibilities for you to explore as an entrepreneur in an eager and evolving economy. Not all successful entrepreneurs are born with the greatest skills in the world, entrepreneurs learn and deepen their knowledge throughout their long journey. In order to grow as a knowledgeable entrepreneur, you must keep an open mind to learn, grow, and evolve. Seek out opportunities by reading books, taking classes, attending seminars, participating in case competitions, and more! You can join LOI’s Summer Campto validate your ideas and pitch your business venture to industry known leaders and investors in the Impact Innovation Challenge!
A great way to test your knowledge and entrepreneurial skills is by signing up for our Impact Innovation Challenge. With exposure to other entrepreneurs, industry leading investors, and useful resources, you will be able to build and accelerate your business while enhancing your network and entrepreneurial skills. You will be able to challenge yourself by pitching your startup and business ideas for a chance to win cash, mentorship, legal support and coaching to boost your business. Apply here so you don’t miss your chance to submit your impact idea and be part of the Impact Innovation Challenge 2021.
