7 Essential Skills All Entrepreneurs Need to Master

If your business priority is to become a successful entrepreneur, vision, planning, and branding will certainly move your innovative business concepts forward in a powerful way.

However, focusing on only a few select professional skillsets could be counterintuitive to your customer success goals.

Denis Waitley, the author of The Psychology of Winning says, “Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.” Master multiple skills and your entrepreneurial success will follow.

There are even a few sales position skills great entrepreneurs possess that may surprise you. The desire to put your best entrepreneur foot forward is merely the first of many. In fact, you can “fake it till you make it,” until those entrepreneurial skills are mastered, according to Psychology Today.

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Curiosity, productivity, and the ability to relieve job stress are all entrepreneur skills essential for you to master. Let’s take a closer look at how you can follow in the footsteps of Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk.

1. Curiosity Never Killed the Entrepreneurial Cat

Curiosity may be one of the most important professional skills entrepreneurs utilize daily. Those who ponder the “what if” are the entrepreneurs that succeed. If you simply want to learn what already exists, your whiteboard may stay blank forever.

The dedicated entrepreneurs who really achieve thrive on innovation. They push themselves toward new ideas, methods, and technology. “Risk more than others think is safe,” Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks says. “Dream more than others think is practical.” Curiosity will keep you on the cutting edge, and success will follow.

Your curiosity will lead you on a journey to master other prospecting skills as well. You will become SEO conscious, know how to run A/B tests, and you will find yourself outsourcing less. Remember, curiosity will never kill the entrepreneur cat.

2. Entrepreneurs Need to Heed to Their Personal Vision

Entrepreneurs who possess vision are successful. However, entrepreneurs that heed to their personal vision do extraordinary things. Elon Musk and manned missions to Mars is a prime example of following personal vision.

Having a niche is an excellent place to start. However, don’t become overly focused on one area. Elon Musk says, “What makes innovative thinking happen?… I think it’s really a mindset. You have to decide.”

Take your personal vision to new heights and decide to be innovative, according to Entrepreneur. Take note of what you need to succeed in your market, but never limit yourself to the opportunities that may exist in the future.

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3. Successful Entrepreneurs Communicate with Purpose

The digital era has ushered in new ways to communicate, and face-to-face interaction seems as irrelevant as the Yellow Pages. However, the opposite is true. Entrepreneurs who know how to communicate and those who communicate effectively are more successful, according to Forbes.

If you look at a few of the entrepreneurial greats of the 21st century, you will see very charismatic leaders. Simply emailing or using social media channels in a mediocre way just won’t do if you want to be truly successful.

As an entrepreneur, you need to take advantage of all communication forms. You will certainly need to communicate effectively online, and getting your message across in a clear concise way is essential to your success.

Richard Branson calls communication “an art,” in his Virgin blog, Top 10 Quotes on Communication. You may spend less time across a table from someone, but you still need charismatic and concise communication skills.

4. When You Speak, Make People to Listen

Communication is invaluable, but if you speak and people don’t listen, you have lost the battle. And the keyword is “speaking” and not “talking.” Entrepreneurs who master the art of speaking have the power to persuade.

The art of speaking is so powerful that those who are good at it get paid millions. President-Elect Donald Trump earned in upwards of $1.5 million per speech. Mark Cuban made between $50,000 to $100,000.

You certainly don’t need to be giving a TED Talk any time soon to be a successful entrepreneur. However, having people listen when you speak will allow you to achieve your goals faster. The Harvard Business Review found persuasion to be the top skill for entrepreneurs.

Adam Frankel, former Senior Speechwriter to President Barack Obama says, “By far, the best way to learn how to write speeches is to read the great ones, from Pericles’ Funeral Oration, to Dr. King’s Mountaintop speech, to Faulkner’s Nobel acceptance address.” Speaking deliberately, succinctly, and thoughtfully are a few key aspects to being heard as well.

Deliberate speech will help you say words in slow and intentional way your audience will understand. Succinct speech is all about flow, and more planned out speaking allows you to be persuasive. Speaking thoughtfully will help you formulate your thoughts better as well. This will keep you on track and you avoid stumbling over your own message.

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5. Relieving Stress is an Entrepreneurial Art You Need to Master

For entrepreneurs, job stress is inevitable. And knowing how to relieve stress at work in a healthy way will keep you and your innovative ideas flowing. Your business or startup is like having a newborn, and anyone with a newborn knows about the perils of stress.

You will encounter stress as an entrepreneur, and if you don’t find an outlet of relief, you will burn out. “An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it,” says Roy Ash of Litton Industries.

If you bite off more than you can chew and the stress builds, burn that stress in the gym, at yoga, a relaxing bubble bath, or maybe even a long drive. Deal with your stress and anxiety in a healthy way, and deal with it as it surfaces.

6. Master Business Methods That Keep You Productive

Successful entrepreneurs have mastered methods to stay productive. They find what works for them and they stick to it. Entrepreneurs find ways to be productive in unique ways. You just need to master your own method of staying productive.

“I find that writing things down in a list and crossing them off helps me prioritize so I don’t lose focus,” says David Lai, CEO of Hello Design. “There’s a nice feeling knowing you’re getting stuff done, and that momentum helps me stay productive throughout the day.”

Richard Branson has his notebook and Roman Stanek of YouTube schedules personal days. There are also plenty of apps that can help you master the art of staying productive. This will keep your innovative ideas moving in the right direction.

7. Successful Entrepreneurs Master Sales Negotiation Techniques

Taking your innovative idea and making it a success relies heavily on your ability to negotiate. This is why so many successful entrepreneurs have honed key negotiation skills like listening and planning.

Sales and negotiation skills are often an overlooked part of being a savvy entrepreneur. However, it is an essential piece of the entrepreneurial framework. You will need to negotiate shares of your company with partners that were vital to your growth. Negotiation is involved in hiring employees and coordinating team responsibilities.

As you grow,negotiation will only become a daily occurrence as well. You may need more office space, or you need to contract companies for technical services. Learning to negotiate like a pro will only assist in making your entrepreneurial efforts easier.

Bring your innovative ideas to reality and let your curiosity and vision guide you. Oprah Winfrey says, “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.”

Mastering critical skills entrepreneurs utilize daily to be successful is certainly not going to happen overnight. However, the sooner you begin, the more results you will see down the entrepreneurial road.