20 key Skills you Need to have to create a “successful” Startup

Startup Skills Quotes

“Good skills make you rich, not theories. Get out there & prove your theories by putting them into action. You’ learn what works & what doesn’t. that will develop your skills” Rich Dad, Poor Dad

“Every person I know who is successful at starting a business, got that way by following their Passion and developing their own or adding the Skills of others to have a more complete set – to make it happen. That’s what I look for.” Angel Investor

“My biggest motivation? Just to keep learning new things & challenging myself. I see Business like one long Uni education that I never had — everyday I’m learning something new and putting them skills to use.” – Richard Branson, Virgin Co’s

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. Learn new Skills and they will take you as far as you can imagine & beyond. “When you believe & receive (skills), then you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash

“Outstanding people have one thing in common – An absolute sense of Passion – to learn the Skills needed to accomplish their Vision.” –Zig Ziglar

Startup Skills: Analysis, Bravado, Commu, Persuasion, Confidence, Competitive, Creative, Delegation, and Determination, Leadership, Learning, Negotiation, Opportunities, Passion, Perseverance, Planning, Organizing, Selling, Time Mgt, Work-a-holic?

Which Skills? There are a fundamental set of business skills which every entrepreneur needs in order to increase their chances of running a successful Startup. The sad truth is it is the inability of the Founder to be able to translate their passion into everyday business skills which accounts for why so many new businesses failing. That’s a shame, because many of these skills can be easily learned.

1) strong work ethic, 2) sufficient expertise in your field, 3) passion, 4) leadership, 5) perseverance etc.

Master: You need to master the fundamentals of running a new business. It’s just not good enuff – doing what you are good at. You have to do all those other jobs that need attending, until you can get someone to help you – part or full-time. Your choice is to learn any of the skills which you lack or you have a high risk of failing. Your startup needs to have the following skills alongside those technical ones that you already possess to be successful:

0 Analysis Paralysis

Become more comfortable in your decision-making by instituting a process and mental model. Find a minimum of 3 sources for the info you seek. Don’t do more, unless 1 or more doesn’t have info you can use. Once you have your answer, ask yourself: “How do I feel about this” to make the final decision. This has worked wonders, because it has caused me to act faster on all facets of the business – to avoid the Paralysis of too much Analysis !!!

#2 Bravado

Being a courageous earlier in life does not guarantee that you are going to be a great entrepreneur, though it may help. A person can be fearless & faulty. When you have courage, however, you recognize the risks, but take action regardless – for the rewards. You accept the risk before you start and try to do what is possible to mitigate the risk while moving forward. There is a lot you can be fearful of when starting a business. As an entrepreneur, you need to be able to overcome your fears to ensure they don’t keep you from reaching your full potential. And sometimes even “Fake it, till you Make it”.

#3 Communication & Persuasion

It is an important skill to be able to express an idea in a clear & concise manner – which will motivate the audience to buy in. You should be able to pick out the most important concepts of your ideas and speak about them with clarity. You will also need to understand how the business industry works -in order to be persuasive. If you are talking to a potential Investor and you get asked a hard question, be prepared to be asked an even harder question if you are unable to answer the first question. If you don’t have an answer, it shows a gap in your knowledge. Too many gaps and you are out of a deal. You should also have passion. If you are not passionate about your idea, it is hard to persuade others to believe it is good one.

#4 Confidence . . .

is an important skill to have when starting a business. You should have confidence in your ideas, yourself, team & workers. You have to trust others to do their job and to do it well. No matter how amazing you may think you are, you cannot work everyone else’s job along with your own. If you are confident in the abilities of others, you can allow them to shine. Your ideas are not always the only ideas or the best ideas. By showing confidence in the abilities of others, you allow for new ideas to emerge into the business. People try harder to do a better job when they know the management trusts in their abilities.

#5 Competitive

Many companies are formed because an entrepreneur knows that they can do a job better than another company. (ie, “Better, Faster, Cheaper”) They want to win at the game they play and need to win at the businesses that they create, then highlight their own company’s track record of success to convince others of their “value”.

#6 Creative

One aspect of creativity is being able to make connections between seemingly unrelated events or situations. Entrepreneurs often come up with solutions which are the synthesis of other items. They will enhance or re-purpose products to market them to new industries.

#7 Delegation

Ideally, you want the mundane and routine tasks that any business needs doing, to be done by your staff – leaving you free to carry out the essential, creative, high-level work that is necessary for you. There is a balance between satisfactory control and the freedom of the staff member to get on with the job without you micro-managing.

#8 Determination

Entrepreneurs are not discouraged by their defeats. They look at defeat as a challenge on the road to success. They are determined to make all of their endeavors succeed, so will try & try again until it does. Successful entrepreneurs do not believe that something cannot be done. They’re find a way.

#9 Disciplined

These individuals are focused on making their businesses work, and eliminate any obstructions or distractions to their goals. They have ambitious strategies and outline the tactics to accomplish them. Successful entrepreneurs are disciplined enough to take steps every day toward the achievement of their objectives & vision.

#10 Startup Leadership

Startup teams are a totally different beast than a corp environ. You can have many on your Team filling multiple roles, with no clear ladder for advancement, & people who often have to train themselves. The Management Team in startups need to be much more empowered and forward-thinking than in traditional companies. There’s more of a need to work together to accomplish the goal – where everyone is working to help wherever they can

#11 Eagerness to Learn

As an entrepreneur you need to be a quick learner to adapt to changing situations. You have to be willing to learn new skills constantly. I know many successful entrepreneurs who continually set aside time to learn new skills – as a priority. You will need to learn how to gain understanding & find meaning that is deeper than the surface. You must learn to: integrate new knowledge, memorize significant info, gain new relevant skills, & be able to utilize all this knowledge to create new things and make old things more efficient.

#12 Negotiation

We very often negotiate every day of our lives yet we don’t always realize, that we are doing it. You can learn better business negotiation through study, as well as in practice. Experienced negotiators are much more able to know when to concede, how to set out their offer and what to say + when. You obviously want to arrive at the best deal for yourself, but you will only do so, if you always remember to aim for a “Win-Win” result. Otherwise, the other party will walk away and you will end up with nothing.

#13 Opportunity-Minded

Entrepreneurs realize that every event and situation is a possible business opportunity. Ideas are constantly being generated about workflows and efficiency, people skills and potential new businesses. They have the ability to look at everything around them and focus it toward their goals.

#14 Passion

Passion is the #1 most important trait of the successful entrepreneur. They genuinely love their work. They are willing to put in those extra hours to make the business succeed because there is a joy their business gives them – which goes beyond the $$$ they earn. Successful entrepreneurs want to see what the view is like at the top of the mountain.

#15. Perseverance

Being an entrepreneur is about making the effort to create something from nothing. You can learn theories and best practices in a classroom or in a big corp, but you cannot learn the perseverance and dedication it takes to see your Vision to the end. So much of success is in the willingness to invest 100 % of your energy in the face of great uncertainty, and to wake up the next day ready to do it again. The path is not smooth and you will take your challenges & disappointment. Perseverance is about falling down & getting back up, again & again.

#16. Planning & Organizing

These skills – often learned in the normal Business world – directly translate to the Startup world. Knowing how to do the research – to be able to plan & organize a system – that will virtually run itself (or with minimum intervention), is to key to creating an agile & responsive business to be flexible enough to adopt to the changing situations that Startups often face.”

#17. Selling Yourself

“As most Startup Founders would agree, you often spend more time selling yourself than you do your product or service. Being experienced in Leadership, Sales or Negotiation can be been hugely beneficial as an Entrepreneur – from hiring a Management Team & employees to Pitching to Investors.

#18 Strategic Planning

This is the process of deciding how best to use the $$$ and the people for the future direction of the business. You can start with a 1 page Business Plan before you Launch, then expand it as you grow and more situations become stable. Plan step-by-step, establish milestones, short term Goals & a long-term Vision. Review it about once a month and modify it – as needed.

#19 Time Management

There is always too much to be done and not enough time. There is an array of distractions – from social networks to the latest news. Besides avoiding distractions, a great skill is to know how to best use your time, once you have made it available to you. Set your priorities on your To-Do list and go for it !!! Keep yourself focused on those important tasks that add real “value” to your business.

#20 Work-a-holic?

The successful entrepreneur will often be the first person to arrive at the office and the last one to leave. They will come in on their days off to make sure that an outcome meets their expectations. Their mind is constantly on their work, whether they are in or out of the workplace – from the shower to supper. They often work in their dreams too.

20 key Skills that Startup Founders need to have to create a “successful” Startup