• Feature
• Learning
• Start Up

7 Essential Skills Every Small Business Owner Must Possess

by Kemi Ogunkoya

September 21, 2020 1

Growing a business requires more than just having something to sell. Many small business owners, easily swayed by the need to deliver the optimum service to their target audience, believe that all they need for success is to offer excellent products. However, success is a consequence of an intersection of factors, some of which are more than what your business or brand sells.

Regardless of the industry within which your business operates, there are certain pivotal skills every small business owner should look to possess. Beyond that, as you run the day-to-day operations, you would find running your business less daunting than it is presumed to be.

A Clear Vision: Nothing beats having your “why” stated in the clearest of terms. Not charisma, not drive, not passion, not commitment. Perhaps the most important ingredient for any startup is understanding your reason for the idea to determine the direction your business is headed for. Why have you chosen to operate in your niche? Why are you looking at serving your target audience? Why are you engaging the methods you currently are towards pitching your product, marketing your brand, and reaching the customers who need what you sell? Vision fills you with a strong sense of knowing. Each day brims with ideas, opportunities, and needs to be met. By highlighting your purpose for operating within your start-up’s market, you position yourself as a trustworthy brand. Clients can trust you with their needs because they are convinced you know why you do what you do. And your team, fully immersed in the vision, is eager to switch into work-mode when there is a project.

Willingness to Learn: In your journey, you will make mistakes. What business quickly teaches is that the trajectory is much more intricate than the theories judge it to be. The difference between those who go on to succeed and those who relegate into the background is the readiness to return to the strategy room. What could have been handled more efficiently? What signs were ignored? Did your brand ignore key processes at any point? Likewise, you must be prepared to thrive despite the failure. As Winston Churchill observed, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Your start-up leans heavily on what people do, more than what your products do. And people – staff, volunteer, collaborators, customers –  make mistakes. It is in revisiting the red flags that you learn and develop systems to navigate through such in subsequent seasons.

Ambition: An ambitious business is a growing business. Small business owners who coordinate their affairs on their toes tend to recognise opportunities quicker and seize them faster. With a burning ambition comes preparedness to seize moments and to make smart choices that benefit your brainchild on the long and short run. Your desire to succeed will direct your reception of openings for growth, for collaborations, for partnerships. You will want to put in the work, as you are convinced about the different stages your small business will reach.

Communication: How do you execute communication within your team? Businesses that endure the test of seasons have defined communication pathways. By pathways, I mean an in-depth system that includes one-on-one discussions, team talks, and lots more. Beyond those, coaches who specialise in team-building agree that no one can read minds. However hard you try, you cannot decipher your neighbour’s thoughts. Communication is a two-way channel that requires you to speak and to listen. How receptive are you of feedbacks? Do you listen to the nuances your workmates communicate? Does your business allow for customer/client review? People are willing to share when the environment is conducive for their expression. If you desire your business to grow, then keep communication transparent, simple, and crucial.

Time Management: You need to understand the selling points for your business. What type of products do you sell, and what time do people respond to them? At every moment, a dozen things call for your attention – a social media notification, an email requiring a response, a debriefing with a client. Group your tasks into quarters, hours, and timeframes. Once you complete a task, switch from it and focus on the next task. Leaders have found that working with to-do lists lends clarity to work rate. Typically, you can make notes of plans for each day, each week, and just how long you have to achieve each.

Consistency: While ambition gives you a reason to show up, consistency determines your frequency of showing up. There are no rainy days. Knowing that the slightest sniff of something amiss would trigger criticism keeps you alert. Beyond showing up each sunrise with burning goals, consistency cuts across your services, your team’s attitude, your disposition towards change, towards risks. Your business begins to fit into a unique space when consistency influences everything you do.

Persuasion and Tenacity: Ideas are abundant, but your team would not run with an idea if you do not depict a doggedness to transform that idea into a product, a service, a start-up. How easily can you convince customers to trust what you’re selling? When your brand requires scaling up, how do you invite partners to commit resources? With persuasion, you can gather people to line up with your vision. With tenacity, you can prepare yourself for the ups and downs, the lazy mornings and the bubbly afternoons. Tenacity allows for hard work, for resilience, for a relentless nature that seeks to get things done. Every day is game day.

Indeed, you can make your business work, but you must do what successful businesses do to achieve the results they do. While you are thrilled to have something to sell, you must acquire the skills to take your business from a small-scale to a household name.