Skillset required to start a business

[ctrlbrk]

You have a lot to learn.

You're absolutely right.

But I bet it's not from you.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

I sometimes think there's not a lot of common sense out there, seems in short supply a lot lately.

Agreed; Common sense seems to be increasingly uncommon generally.

As we move towards an increasingly wealthy population, largely devoid of common sense, there must be some kind of commercial opportunity there!

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Per the OP, seeing a requirement, having the insight, resources etc to fulfill that requirement, and making a profit whilst doing so, must be pretty fundamental.

 

[The Byre]

This thread is interesting and quite amusing!

OK - here's the skinny -

1. You need to be lucky.
2. You need to KNOW when you got lucky
3. You need to know how to hang on to that luck and make your luck grow.

Example - me! Waaay back around 49BC when I still had hair, I was in the music biz and I got a call from some publisher about a new magazine they were launching and would I write an article for them about the German pro-audio scene. I did. I did one article every month and after a few months, their sister publication called and wanted a series of features - so I obliged. And at £100 for 1,000 words (that I found absurdly easy to knock out) it was lucrative.

Then another mag wanted articles about pro-video and broadcasting. To cut a long story short - I got lucky and I began to realise that I got lucky. The next step was to develop that luck by asking others who were interested in other trade-magazine-style subjects if they wanted to chip in.

Over the next 12 years, I became a news agency that sold articles about German industry to UK and US trade mags in the technology sector. Anything and everything from articles for Flight International to European Plastics News. Hydraulics, automotive manufacture, digital display tech, building and structural engineering trades and all sorts of strange stuff in between. We upped our rates to those of the US publications (60 cents per word) and so it was pretty lucrative. There was a real hunger for information about German industry in the US and the UK.

But the writing was on the wall and by 1997 I could see that print was going to be swamped by the Interweb, so I sold out over the next two-to-three years to our largest customer (who didn't take the Interweb seriously!)

There are other factors as well such as being a good people person. Knowing how to say 'No!' Knowing how to judge other people. Understanding the market you are in. Being able to adapt and change. Learning which boxes to tick and which boxes you can ignore. Being able to delegate - or ad David Ogilvy put it: "Hire people who are better than you and let them get on with it!"

 

[fisicx]

Being able to delegate - or ad David Ogilvy put it: "Hire people who are better than you and let them get on with it!"

This is key. You don't need the skills or knowledge to do anything - you just need to know the right people. They will either do it for you or teach you what you need to know.

To start a business you need to be in the right place at the right time - as @The Byre said: be lucky. No specfic skills required other than those you use daily.

you didn't know how to set up your limited company online by osmosis did you, you either asked someone like your accountant, or on here, or read a book or article, or put a question into a search engine and read something.

Yes but this isn't a must have skill to start a business. It the sort of thing you do all the time.

 

[WaveJumper]

Agreed; Common sense seems to be increasingly uncommon generally.

As we move towards an increasingly wealthy population, largely devoid of common sense, there must be some kind of commercial opportunity there!

The carpenters, plumbers and the builders I think are already having a hay day

 

[Ozzy]

Love this thread, and throwing my 2pc worth in.

Looking around at some of the people I consider the most successful (not necessarily the financially richest as I measure success differently), the skills they all appear to have in common.

- The skill to listen and learn.
- People skills to motivate and get the best out of the people around them.

Traits, that's a different thing but to add some of those in;
- Determination
- Vision
- Persistence

I kinda believe people create their own luck. I know that's a bit throw away, and no doubt someone can give examples of luck impossible to create, but as a general rule I don't give "luck" any scope to influence my life - I feel it's a dangerous thing to hope for.

 

[fisicx]

- People skills to motivate and get the best out of the people around them.

But it's not really a must have to start a business. This would come later when you need those people. The blokes who clean my windows, cut the hedges or fixes the gutters work on their own, no need to motivate anyone.

Starting a business isn't the same as running a business or even being successful. You don't need much to get started. Sometimes an idea is enough.

 

[Ozzy]

You don't need much to get started. Sometimes an idea is enough.

This is so true, ridiculously true, and maybe shouldn't be so easy to do.

I realise I went off topic a bit from starting a business into running a business, but I do feel you shouldn't start a business without considering how you will need to run the business...and you should always think about how to run the business successfully.
Too often, and we do see it sometimes in UKBF, people start a business without thinking further ahead than just starting.

 

[simon2shula]

The greatest skill set is the ability to learn, and learn fast..

 

[fisicx]

I do feel you shouldn't start a business without considering how you will need to run the business...and you should always think about how to run the business successfully.

Yes you should. But the skills to do so aren’t ‘must haves’ when starting out. You develop these as you go along. For example, you may want to run a stall at a farmers market at some point. You don’t need to know how to do this while you are still learning how to make jam.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

1. You need to be lucky.
2. You need to KNOW when you got lucky
3. You need to know how to hang on to that luck and make your luck grow.

Luck comes to those who know how to set an alarm clock.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

You're absolutely right.

But I bet it's not from you.

Bet away.

Here's another for you. A few years ago the boss of a large pharma company had difficulty getting good people to head up various divisions within the company. He then stumbled on an answer. He hired lazy people with absorbing hobbies. He found they were the best at giving clear instructions and delegating.

 

[ctrlbrk]

I realise I went off topic a bit from starting a business into running a business, but I do feel you shouldn't start a business without considering how you will need to run the business...and you should always think about how to run the business successfully.

I'll put my hands up and say: perhaps my question in the OP was too vague.

But the implication of the question was about what the requirements are to start and run what's expected to be a successful business. And yes, I agree, success can be measured in different ways.

Start and run a business should go hand in hand, surely?

Clearly we are not suggesting that there are people out there starting a business with the intent to fail, are we?


Of course anyone with 12 pounds can sign up to Companies House and become a director of a limited company with no other requirement whatsoever. That alone doesn't make them suitable to run anything. So that's not what we're talking about.

 

[fisicx]

Ok, @ctrlbrk - what’s your list of must haves?

And many people start a business to test viability. If so then they see if it will become successful.

 

[ctrlbrk]

And many people start a business to test viability. If so then they see if it will become successful.

Point taken - for the purpose of this thread I'd like to keep it simple.

Ok, @ctrlbrk - what’s your list of must haves?

I agree with those that suggest an open mind, ability to learn, etc. - I am surprised that so far nobody has mentioned planning skills.

Determination (or perseverance, or grit or whatever you want to call it) is key as well, as @Ozzy and others mentioned.

I know you disagree about whether some of these are skills at all but I won't let semantics stand in our way.

Communication is another skill that is hugely overlooked.

I also agree that you don't need certain skills right away - for example if you start and are on your own you don't really need people management skills. But you will have customers. And there may be an overlap between some people skills required for customer service and people management skills.

As @Fagin2021 said, some at least basic appreciation of psychology in all its forms is hugely advantageous. This is valid both for yourself (your own psychological make-up) and who you interface with (clients, suppliers, etc.)

 

[japancool]

Usually, the ability to read and do simple maths is pretty important when starting a business.

 

[Mitch3473]

Usually, the ability to read and do simple maths is pretty important when starting a business.

Followed swiftly by the ability to provide your customers with what they want when they want it and to keep doing it.

 

[DontAsk]

What do you think are the must-have skills* for anyone considering starting a business?

Get on and do it, rather than asking stupid questions on the internet.

 

[Ozzy]

Get on and do it, rather than asking stupid questions on the internet.

I've heard people say - the only stupid question is an unasked question.

 

[Mr D]

I've found sales skills useful in business. Not just to sell - though of course handy there - but to present the goods, to market, to talk to reps and so on.

Biggest skill though is belief. If you don't believe in yourself then why expect others to? However belief in your business can take you past problems that would otherwise cause you to stop.

 

[WMD]

I believe it is important to be realistic. It is good to dream, but a practical plan should be spelled out.

It is also important to be creative and have the ability to assess the risk in taking a particular course of action.

 

[SEODEV#338055]

• Planning
• Goal setting
• Time management
• Decision making
  
• Persistence