20 Future Entrepreneurship Skills You Should Have

Are you an entrepreneur looking for top entrepreneurship skills you should have?

Are you purpose-driven? Do you want to be the best in your field? Then, this article is for you.

In this article, we have put together the top skills an entrepreneur should have. More so, these skills will be relevant for the future.

But before then, we need to understand the meaning of “entrepreneur”.

Who is an Entrepreneur?

The definition of an entrepreneur can be viewed from different perspectives, however, an entrepreneur is a person that is motivated to initiate a unique idea which is based on an exchange of value. Entrepreneurship is primarily the creation of economic value. An entrepreneur is significantly different from the general manager, an entrepreneur is usually the creator, strategy, motivation, and force behind simple or complicated ideas.

Other definitions are listed below:

An entrepreneur is an initiator. An entrepreneur is a starter, a challenger, and a good driver of new ideas. He or she is someone that creates something new and rewarding, either as a business idea, investment, initiative, or company. In some cases, the entrepreneur might not be the primary source of the idea, but he is definitely the one that decides to carry out the idea and make it big or he makes that idea a reality.

As the person in charge, an entrepreneur is someone to look to for leadership. He or she is the one that pushes forward and inspires the team to follow suit. Also, an entrepreneur is always accountable and responsible. He or she is the ultimate person responsible for the continuous improvement of the business or venture. The entrepreneur is the one that has the highest investments in the business.

Types of Entrepreneurship

As we know, entrepreneurship is the creation of one’s mind it is also substantial to know there are various types of entrepreneurship.

• Small business: there are thousands of small businesses that one can creatively join. They are considerably not new initiatives but they vary from daily needs provision to a profession that helps one to cater for dependents or financial needs. Some examples of these small-scale businesses are; grocery stores, hairdressers, fashion designers, travel agents, plumbers, electricians, and so on. They are easy to learn as they do not require any formal education. These businesses essentially for profit-driven, and are not big companies or ventures. Funding comes from the originator or loans from family and friends.
• Scalable startup: the very word ‘scalable’ means growth. One can confidently tell that a scalable startup enterprise is a little bit beyond ideas. It is the confidence of the creator to create a solution (value) from his ideas. According to Jacob M. Smith B. A Marketing and Entrepreneurship, the University of Iowa; any start-up that has a high initial fixed cost for infrastructure, tech development, human capital, or anything else could be considered a scalable startup. Considerably growth on potentials as such is recognized as scalable.
• Large business entrepreneurship or enterprise: these are firms that are already in the position of a structure and market base offering products or services often from scalable startup ideas, which are full-blown. To keep steady and remain large firms, they tend to become innovative by creating other channels or improving on products, mostly constant diversification alternatives are embarked on.
• Social entrepreneurship: these are innovators who focus on creating products and services that solve the social needs and problems of people in their society. Although, unlike scalable startup entrepreneurship, the main goal of social entrepreneurship is to change the world and make it a better place for everyone to live in, not to generate large profits. They are mostly nonprofit, for-profit, or in some cases, hybrid profit.

Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

Successful entrepreneurs imbibe certain traits and characteristics. If you do not possess these qualities already, you need to learn them to thrive. Below are some of the characteristics of an entrepreneur;

• Self Motivation: this is the first and most important stimulus needed to bring one’s idea to life. Self-motivation is an intrinsic factor that keeps one idea going despite the odds. When external motivation isn’t enough, self-motivation will give the entrepreneur the needed drive.
• Risk Taker: taking risks is a powerful characteristic of any successful entrepreneur, risk-taking is an ability that helps one make an alternative decision either to salvage, or promote a business venture. There would not be any real progress if the owner is always rigid or bound by principles of any sought.
• Passion: This is the fuel that fires self-motivation. Being passionate is a drive that brings on the challenge in the first place. It replaces self-motivation when there is a lack.
• Adaptation: Successful businesses sometimes fall on the verge of extinction and irrelevance. This may just be because the owner has unfortunately been unable to adapt to certain changes or evolution. Being flexible to a certain degree is key to the longevity and survival of any enterprise. The ability to tweak and reinvent ideas comes from being flexible and willing to change according to the environment, climate, market, or any other factor that products or services are involved with.
• Knowledge of Basic Finance: This another trait an entrepreneur should have handy. It is pertinent that an entrepreneur should have basic knowledge on money management. Thisis to help properly manage the establishmemt’s finances and take important decisions.

Top 20 Entrepreneurship Skills You Should Have and Why They are Necessary

Below are 20 top future entrepreneurship skills you should acquire and reasons why they are essential;

1. Networking

This is fast becoming one of the topmost skills needed by an entrepreneur. It is dependent on the readiness to grow faster and smarter. A wise saying goes ‘One man can walk faster alone, but two or more men would walk longer’. This is not to condemn a sole proprietorship but to also acknowledge and see a bigger picture in partnerships. Any entrepreneur willing to succeed should learn how to maximize networking by attending programmes, conferences and others. This will give you the opportunity to meet like-minded people. It helps to facilitate the growth of your business if done in an appropriate way.

2. Time management

Proper time management translates to effectiveness and better output. Time is of the essence and very essential too. Thorough planning, formulating milestones, and iteration cycles up till implementation will be effective when proper time management is put into practice. There are different work methodologies which means it is an important skill one should arm themselves with. When you learn how to properly manage time, the execution of tasks will be easy and it will drive results.

3. Communication

Effective communication is important when it comes to the proper management of a business. Clear and concise communication is a daily function that is used either with customers, colleagues, superiors, or partners. Transfer of information clearly and briefly, especially with clients, is an important aspect of the business. Communication isn’t also complete until the listener understands what the speaker is saying and gives the appropriate response. Communication is necessary for our day-to-day interactions, therefore it is one of the necessary future skills every entrepreneur should possess.

4. Sales Conversion

Business is about creating an avenue for the exchange of value and getting money in return. Also, getting financial value is important in business, and this means that effective sales conversion is necessary. Being open to finding different sales channels, creating new avenues and developing them by investing heavily are all part of a salesman prospect.

5. Branding

Branding is a digital way of creating awareness for the right target audience. It is a great method to move your business forward and get your intended customers. It is indeed a large scope. Hence, investing in personal branding is the market orientation in existence because there is a lot of competition out there.

6. Finance

This is another core of every business venture. Every idea requires finances in order to generate results. You need to know how to collate account books straight, from fixed capital to investments, compare the return on investments (ROI) to initial investments and so on. Finance is a rudimentary skill that is essential for an entrepreneur to have for the growth of his or her business.

7. Resilience

This is simply the readiness to keep pushing and growing no matter the setbacks, frustrations, or hindrances you may experience through the journey. Resilience is an important skill that is necessary in building a startup and the determination needed in making it a scalable enterprise in the long run.

8. Productivity

Productivity is the efficiency to progressively multi-task at some level or switch spontaneously and still make the same effective impact on a daily basis. It is a special trait for some people but an entrepreneur should learn this skill, and endeavour to master it as well. It is a rewarding managerial ability that is vital for the growth of your business or enterprise.

9. Innovation

Usually, this is the epitome of large businesses, but it is solely dependent on the entrepreneur. It demands the creativity to look inwards or step outward beyond the original area of business and find problems that require solutions, this may be a revelation of new outreach and potential opportunity to either expand or diversify in one’s business.

10. Strategic Thinking

The skill required in making the best decision possible for your business. It is the ability to be able to access your weaknesses and strength due to the limitation of imperfection hence you will be able to make the best hiring process to fill voids of a weak suit.

11. Research

This is a skill that has its cost as well. Launching research sometimes is quite expensive but takes an adequate skill set to acquire desirable results. Every business needs to research areas like market scope, target audience, product study, etc. It actually helps to initiate businesses and even operate businesses.

12. Writing

This is another rudimentary top skill set to acquire. Written communication is persuasive in any form, be it a blog post, copywriting or email marketing. It is a highly competitive skill and is required to complement the digitalized world.

13. People Management

Another managerial skill set that is necessary for a startup entrepreneur to have. This is a combination of emotional intelligence and direction expertly operated to achieve a strategic organizational goal.

14. Service Orientation

This is a leadership skill and mindset that have to be in place to make a hierarchical organization work better. It is a ‘servant leader’ mindset, the business owners are to care for their employees making them grow and flourish while they still deliver their tasks.

15. Negotiation

Powerful negotiation is a positive and strong skill set a leader can have. It is to either meet at an agreement or compromise but is driven by mutual benefit, fairness, and good relationship.

16. Raising Funds or Capital

Raising capital is another basic setup. One would have to learn what kind of fundraiser will be compatible with the business type, it may be an angel investor, crowd-sourcing platforms, or savings.

17. Balancing Priorities

In retrospect to high school or secondary school days, the economics lesson taught us how to write a scale of preference. Since there are lots of tasks that have priorities, balancing them according to high and low priorities is a skill to acquire.

18. Web Design

Recognizing the digital age makes websites come in handy. Learning a few things about web design to create a website or manage an existing website is a useful skill it helps to cut costs depending on resources available. It is crucial to own a website because not owning one is like a step to hindering one’s progress.

19. Relaxation

Relaxation is an important part of an entrepreneur’s life. All work and no play as we all know will lead to burnout which is unhealthy. So taking a vacation or engaging in activities that don’t have to relate to work, will help the mind and body a great deal.

20. Open to Learning

It is a constantly evolving digital world, so it is more of a skill to be eager and open to learning new things and trends, especially about competitors and ways of being on top of your game.

How Technology Has Enabled Entrepreneurs

The emergence of new software and technological tools is of great help to entrepreneurs. Through the use of technology, the various barriers associated with the entry levels of an entrepreneur have been lowered to a bearable minimum. There are more opportunities and chances made available now to start a business than ever before.

Entrepreneurs can now run businesses without a designated office in the comfort of their homes. They now can even go as far as hiring employees online without physical contact. Some of the ways in which technology has enables entrepreneurs are:

• Quickbooks: enables entrepreneurs and business owners to make their accounting more accessible. QuickBooks enhances structure for small businesses and ventures. It enables them to keep track of their daily or monthly transactions without the need for a physical accounting book or accountant.
• Alibaba: is an online shopping mall or marketplace where buyers and sellers meet toget what they want without the normal market hassles.
• Shopify: is an online website or shop where various business owners can put up their goods and services and make connections and also make sales. Shopify has made it easier to start and run a business selling whatever you have online without knowing to meet your buyers physically.
• Jumia: is also an online marketplace just like the Alibaba website where sellers meet potential buyers who want to purchase their goods. Delivery is another good thing here because the buyers do not have to meet with the sellers but after making the orders can relax and get their goods in the comfort of their homes.
• Dropbox: enables file sharing for better and more secure collaboration between entrepreneurs.
• Kickstarter: is made for crowdfunding where your ideas are developed for a mainstream concept, reducing the financial barrier for execution.
• Buffer: enables entrepreneurs streamline the way they schedule social media content across multiple profiles online.
• Fiverr: This is an online website or marketplace where people from different works of life render their services ranging from content creation, graphics design, social media management, and so on for potential buyers who pay them per hour or article depending on the listing. It is a marketplace where talent and human resources exchange service for money.
• Zapier: was made where integrating technology is made possible without a developer in order to automate workflows.
• Canva: is an online website that has made it possible for anyone to design the visual assets they need themselves maybe in creating their blog or website without hiring help.
• Kit: is an online virtual employee site that offers help to people who are in need of it to run their businesses effectively.

In conclusion, there are more skill sets to acquire or traits to form but these listed here are mostly the basic and necessary traits any entrepreneur who wants to succeed should have and practice on. It should be part of the focal point that the idea of a product or service is to satisfy and benefit a consumer and society at large. Technology has been a great help to entrepreneurs over time and it continues to get better as time goes by. Businesses can start and operate without the need for physical office space and still be productive with the help of the necessary skills and entrepreneurs’ websites.