5 Skills Every Newbie Entrepreneur Needs to Stay Relevant

Running a business requires various skills for proper management of available and
limited resources. As a newbie entrepreneur who desires to have a successful business,
you need to be proficient in business management skills to achieve desired results.

This is critical because studies have found that a common reason small businesses fail
involves the lack of business acumen held by a management team or business owner.
Here are 5 skills every newbie entrepreneur should have to remain relevant;

1. Strategic Planning

He who fails to plan, plans to fail says Winston Churchill. As important as oxygen is to
life, so is a well-written plan for any business. No matter how good your idea or business
is, if you don’t have a well-written plan on how to achieve it, it's still but a dream. You
need to develop a long-term and short-term plan which will guide you in every phase of
the business.

Every business has a vision which can be realized by setting and achieving small
goals. Hence, a newbie should hone skills in evaluating business plan, market analysis,
feasibility analysis, decision making, strong leadership skills and problem solving skills.

A good plan can only produce a positive result only when it is backed-up with a well-
articulated strategy. The market is quite big, busy and competitive, and only those with
strong strategic planning skills can survive it.

2. Financial Management

For any business to survive its first five years, there must be a proper and effective
handling of its finances. Hiring an accountant to handle issues related to numbers and
balancing of the account books is necessary but yet, you need to have a basic
understanding of how money works, profit, loss, expenditures, funding and cash flow.
This will save you from spending too much when you can optimize.
You need to be frugal in your spending. Don’t incur expenditure because you have
surplus, but seek for opportunities where you can spend less. Engage in market research
to explore the benefits of outsourcing, cheap online sales, promo codes and discount
sales, cheap car insurance and more.

Ensure your spending is within the budget. Reduce cost as much as possible and avoid
excess spending to remain in business.

3. Communication

As a newbie entrepreneur, there is need to have the skill of communicating in multiple

languages. Most newbie entrepreneurs might not really understand the importance of
communication in business. It is essential that as a new entrepreneur, you learn
multiple languages, especially those languages linked to the market you’re trying to
capture.

When business demands growth and expansion to different geographical locations,

there is need for an effective communication skill to enable you interact with clients,
customers and partners from different backgrounds.

Great entrepreneurs speak up to two to three languages and that gives them an edge
over their competitors. For example, Mark Zuckerberg and Billy Bauer speak English
and Mandarin. The list goes on. Following this path will help boost your negotiation
skills and improve business relationships.

4. Loan Management

Loan management is crucial and it is instrumental in ensuring the success or failure of

any startup, except you have the required financial resources. In reality, many of us
have little option but to borrow to meet our short term and long term goals.

Newbie needs to have adequate information and skills to manage loan in order to make
informed decision before they sign loan contracts. Such info include types of loans,
interest rates, fines and penalties, purpose for taking loan and its suitability.
Interest rates should be carefully examined when taking loans. Recent data by Paydayr
indicates that many consumers would have little to no access to short term credit, apart
from bank overdrafts—at an interest rate that’s more than 50 times greater than that of
a typical payday loan. Without the right info, you may end up paying heavily on interest
rate.

5. Marketing

You are not in business if you are not selling your products or rendering services. The
business world have transcended to digital technology as far as business marketing is
concern. A newbie have to be knowledgeable in digital advertising, social media
marketing, email and content marketing, video marketing, mobile marketing and more.

This skill is very essential because the popularity of your brand and sales are hinged on
the extent to which your products and services reaches prospective customers all over
the world. These skills and more are very important. Don’t jump into starting a business
without proper knowledge and skill set.