Introduction

Let’s start with a simple question. What do you need to establish a business in 2021? You might respond by saying, “a great idea and sufficient funds.” It seems logical enough but let’s look at some hard facts. There are more than 500 million startups in the world right now. Sadly, most of these businesses won’t even survive a year. Around one-third of these small companies will stay in business for a decade. In the United States alone (before 2008), 627k startups came into being each year, but 595k also closed. Many of these organizations had both an idea and loads of money. So, where did they go wrong? They lacked the skills we’re going to tell you about next. A lack of these critical skills made these startups fail.

Skills to make you a successful entrepreneur

1. Become more curious:

Curiosity can be deadly for your kittens, but a successful entrepreneur needs to be curious. It’s a sign of a creative mind, and only a creative mind can seek new ideas. Innovation makes you a successful businessperson by bringing out your adventurous and risk-taking personality. It’s impossible to take over the market while insisting on staying inside your comfort zone. Find new niche opportunities and challenge yourself. Inquire about better marketing options to attract a larger audience.

2. Sharpen your networking:

Your networking and relation-building capabilities promise you evergreen business prospects. Your connections and associations bring you closer to fresh opportunities in the market. Then you can find reliable contractors and hire hard-working employees. Honing your networking skills also allows you to communicate effectively with your clients and partners. These relationships often prove valuable when your business requires external support to survive financial misfortunes. 

3. Get some decent education:

You’ve probably heard a lot on Facebook that college education isn’t beneficial anymore. Some millennials are prone to talk about how Gates and Zuckerberg became wealthy without finishing formal education. But not every college dropout is a success story. And this is a hard fact some entrepreneurs realize when it’s too late. So, continue your education and avail online learning opportunities if you do not want to attend university. Research more regarding MBA vs MACC and their respective qualities. An MBA program makes you better understand general business management while MACC studies bolster your data-analytics know-how.

4. Enhance your efficiency:

The business etiquettes have changed in the 21^st century. Owning a flourishing company doesn’t just mean relaxing and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle nowadays. A CEO’s job gets filled with an exhausting work routine. That’s why an entrepreneur must polish his/her efficiency and become as productive as an employee. But that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice your sleep pattern for your work. Elon Musk supervises Tesla and SpaceX but still sleeps 6 hours every night. Bezos goes to bed at 10, finishes his 7-hour-long slumber, and wakes up early in the morning. Maintaining a healthy rest schedule makes you more productive and conscious about your work.

5. Rolling with the punches:

Let’s get back to Musk, shall we? He’s the world’s richest guy right now. And Tesla made him immensely profitable during a pandemic that paused the world economy! But do you know that he had tried to get rid of Tesla by selling it to Apple? Resilience and determination make you successful. That’s a lesson you should never forget. Entrepreneurs must develop the ability to get kicked in the face but never give up. Learn from your mistakes, though never let them abandon your dreams.

6. The ability to say “no”:

Suppose there’s one thing we learn from Facebook’s founder. In that case, it’s the importance of saying “no.” business is a complex industry to thrive in, and you can’t trust what you haven’t ratified yet. You haven’t established a startup to offer favors to your friends and family. You can and should say “no” when the other party has proposed something financially improper. Remember that your refusal is non-negotiable. Uttering the word “no” before the team may seem complicated, but it’ll be the right thing to say.

7. Manage your finances:

We’ve mentioned how you’d think an idea and money were the primary requirements of founding your company. Having initial funds isn’t enough if you can’t manage your finances properly. It is what we call “educating one’s pockets”! Not every tech genius is a financial wunderkind. You should hire someone with the required financial expertise to look after your expenditures. Negligence, in this case, often leads to startups failing and businesses crumbling to the ground. Financial analysts make sure that your company has enough funds to pay the workers, create more products, and cover the rent. That’s why financial awareness is an important skill every entrepreneur needs.

8. Keeping up with the technology:

It seems needless to say, but your startup can’t survive the competition by neglecting technology. We live in a digital age where businesses must adapt to the latest technological trends to flourish. Marketing automation, artificial intelligence, and online payment are services that can improve your business operations. You must invest in hiring employees familiar with tech. Information systems experts come equipped with the business and technical skills necessary for your company. So, learn about what is an MIS degree and how these professionals benefit your business. MIS graduates can serve as network managers or database administrators.

9. Time management:

The route to prime efficiency is time management. Becoming a well-known CEO of a world-famous company means more meetings with your counterparts and political figureheads. It also means spending a significant amount of time glued to your phone screen reading your emails. But don’t become overwhelmed by your monstrous responsibilities and never let them make your life seem cluttered. Manage your daily calendar, and don’t try multitasking as it tanks a person’s productivity.

10. Inspire everyone around you:

In the end, it should be clear that your role as a CEO is that of a leader. And a true leader inspires people. Remember that a modern leader doesn’t just give orders; instead empowers his/her workers to become more functional. That’s how you convince people to work for you and make employees show up at work. A leader who motivates can make people better at communication. A company where everyone speaks their mind frankly has more chances to survive and progress.

Conclusion

A World Economic Forum report suggested a catalog of skills for the workforce in 2015. The “critical thinking skill” didn’t even make the top three while “creativity” ended up tenth. But experts predicted that these two skills would become the most wanted qualities by 2020 and “problem-solving.” Since almost one-third of skills considered significant in the past have changed drastically, you can’t thrive in the fourth industrial revolution without developing these capabilities. A successful entrepreneur must be excellent at people management and decision-making. Curiosity and resilience make you almost invincible in front of challenges. Meanwhile, effective communication and strategic thinking allow you to discover fresh opportunities and leverage them in your favor. Technological changes will continue transforming our lives. Some jobs will disappear, and new positions will get invented. These critical skills help modern startups survive in the 21^st century.