what are skills required to begin your own business?

[Rashad Mahmood]

Happy new year everybody.

I’ve been thinking about having some sort of financial freedom for a number of years, perhaps starting a business is not the always the best way to achieve this - however there is a satisfying feeling of being your own boss.
I come from a technical background in software development and whenever I’ve needed to learn something, Ive picked up a book, done an online course or ask my colleagues questions.

I don’t have the expertise in business development, however I’m willing to learn so this leads me to the question - What skills are required to successfully run and understand your business?

(I’ve always remembered watching on Dragon Dens, how some of the candidates never understood their numbers)

I'm currently researching for an idea, and find myself researching around niche based products, - e-commerce does interest me.

tia.

 

[AstEver]

Some claim that those who start a business are not good at running it. If that is true, the required skills may be different depending even on the business life cycle.?

 

[japancool]

A thick skin, for a start.

 

[fisicx]

Marketing. Doesn’t matter if you sell products or services if you can’t do marketing you will almost always fail. There are a few exceptions but they are rare as hens teeth.

 

[japancool]

And some basic understanding of maths. See:

Are VAT costs corporate tax deductible?

Hi everyone, I just set up a new company and I have applied for VAT voluntary registration and I am waiting. It works out better for me in terms of profit margins to be VAT registered, in order to reclaim the VAT, as the VAT eats into profit margins if I am not registered mainly when...

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

Know your costs and how to work out your profit. Plenty of sellers have absolutely no idea how to work this out, especially in the bulk, low-margin end of the business and don't factor in costs like fulfilment. You might be losing 10p per item, but multiply that by 100,000 items sold, and you might as well put it on red or black.

 

[Rashad Mahmood]

Marketing. Doesn’t matter if you sell products or services if you can’t do marketing you will almost always fail. There are a few exceptions but they are rare as hens teeth.

Thanks the responses -
Historically in the past when I've looked at marketing, they seem to be based for the US market, perhaps things have since changed.

I take it this comes down to:

Site optimisation (desktop v mobile)
social media
SEO v PPC
Content

Can you point in the right direction e.g online courses, basics etc.

 

[Rashad Mahmood]

And some basic understanding of maths. See:

Are VAT costs corporate tax deductible?

Hi everyone, I just set up a new company and I have applied for VAT voluntary registration and I am waiting. It works out better for me in terms of profit margins to be VAT registered, in order to reclaim the VAT, as the VAT eats into profit margins if I am not registered mainly when...

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

Know your costs and how to work out your profit. Plenty of sellers have absolutely no idea how to work this out, especially in the bulk, low-margin end of the business and don't factor in costs like fulfilment. You might be losing 10p per item, but multiply that by 100,000 items sold, and you might as well put it on red or black.

This sounds like the narrative used in Dragons den - what would a be a good starting point into acquiring these skills, obviously experience comes in time - are thee any guides on what to look into?

 

[ctrlbrk]

What skills are required to successfully run and understand your business?

Hi Rashad, happy New Year


Some relevant discussions here

Skillset required to start a business

What do you think are the must-have skills* for anyone considering starting a business? Is there a minimum set of skills (must-have), and is there an ideal one? Interested to get a wide range of views, given opinions will vary. *My question applies to both hard and soft skills.

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

 

[Alan]

Breaking it down there really is only 3 parts to business

- Sales - without selling something there is no business , marketing is part of the sales process in this breakdown
- Operations - without the ability resource, source, deliver products or services there is no business
- Risk Management - without managing risk then your business may just blow up - for this breakdown I include accounting, insurance, compliance, legal etc all as risk management

Others may quite rightly break it down in different ways, but roughly if you cover all these bases you have a good grasp of your business

 

[fisicx]

I take it this comes down to:

Site optimisation (desktop v mobile)
social media
SEO v PPC
Content

It all depends on your business, your marketing plan and your target customer.

You may not even need a website.

 

[japancool]

Thanks the responses -
Historically in the past when I've looked at marketing, they seem to be based for the US market, perhaps things have since changed.

I take it this comes down to:

Site optimisation (desktop v mobile)
social media
SEO v PPC
Content

Can you point in the right direction e.g online courses, basics etc.

Nah. Marketing is about a lot more than the technical stuff on your website.

Marketing is about making yourselves known to customers and potential customers, and giving them a reason to buy from you, rather than someone else.

When I first started my site, our main advertising channel was Facebook. But just as importantly, we tailored our product base to appeal to our target customer base, which meant compromising on some of the things we got into stock. And our customer service, where we tried to offer "Japanese levels of customer service" was all part of our marketing strategy.

We also did magazine advertising and attended exhibitions, and did our own convention once. All of this was part of a wider marketing strategy, built on the weaknesses of our competition.

We made plenty of mistakes along the way, one of which was to not abandon things that were not making a return quickly enough.

 

[Socio South West]

I’ve been thinking about having some sort of financial freedom for a number of years.....

It's a mistake to think that starting a business will bring you financial freedom, especially in the early stages. A fledgling business will cause you plenty of heartache and sleepless nights, and you will make mistakes and misjudgements that will cause financial losses along the way

There is a reason that Sales are always at the top of any set of accounts.... and without Sales a business is doomed to failure, so while you need prudent management of all aspects of a business, it will be nothing without Sales, so your marketing and sales is the no 1 area that your business needs to have on board, either through your own efforts or bought into the business.

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Hi Rashad,

My colleagues have given you some pointers but I would like to clarify some entreprenuerial and marketing points.

Entrepreneurs are good at coming up with visible ideas and getting businesses going, but as @AstEver pointed out they are not always good at running them. Passion, self belief and ability to tap resources are among their skills.

You do not need to be an expert in Marketing or Finance but you need to have an understanding of it and you could just get a good academic book from Amazon on an Introduction to Marketing. Seth Gordon or Philip Kotler are very good. Likewise with finance. If you get the idea going you can always use agencies to provide you with expertise.

One of my students was on Dragons Den but failed because she did not understand her costs and finance. However she has still made a million after a lot of learning and hassle on the job.

With your background you could probably identify a gap in the market and then you need to develop it. Use these books to identify a market and work out your costs and create a business plan. Then you need to get the finance and motivation to get going.

 

[Rashad Mahmood]

Thank you for the valuable feedback, it has helped.

 

[fisicx]

The thing is @Rashad Mahmood, success is not about the prpducts or services themselves. It about how well you market those products and services.

As a developer you know how to create applications and whatever. But if knowbody knows they exist and they don't solve an existing problem your business will fail. But if you are a brilliant salesman you can succeed without a single product. You build anticiaption, generate leads and lists and once you have sufficient interest you pay someone to develop the product.

 

[Alan]

What skills are required to successfully run and understand your business?

Whilst every one is pushing the 'Sales' aspect and for good reason, the real answer is not 'Sales' as an essential skill, but the essential skill is understanding that 'Sales' is an essential requirement.

There is no need to know anything more about Sales & Marketing than you need to hire a great Sales & Marketing manager who then can hire a great team for you.

Of course the dynamics change if indeed you are thinking solo-preneur as your business model - in which case you need to be a jack or jill of all trades and a master ( or at least good at ) Sales & Marketting

 

[ctrlbrk]

The thing is @Rashad Mahmood, success is not about the prpducts or services themselves. It about how well you market those products and services.

Well... it is a bit about the products or services.

 

[MBE2017]

FWIW, to add to the sales aspect, the number one important thing to remember regarding sales, is a sale is only a sale once you have been paid.

Regarding your business, you need to fulfill a need, be better, faster, cheaper, have it in stock etc, plus as assumed provide excellent service. If you feel yourself lacking in any areas, I would recommend concentrating on the money side above all else, the person who controls the money controls the company more often than not. You can recruit for other people to fill in the gaps in your knowledge.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

what are skills required to begin your own business?​

None! As the many posts on this forum prove.

What skills are required to successfully run and understand your business?

Totally different question. In my experience success comes to those who are curious enough to learn all aspects of a business.

 

[Rashad Mahmood]

The thing is @Rashad Mahmood, success is not about the prpducts or services themselves. It about how well you market those products and services.

As a developer you know how to create applications and whatever. But if knowbody knows they exist and they don't solve an existing problem your business will fail. But if you are a brilliant salesman you can succeed without a single product. You build anticiaption, generate leads and lists and once you have sufficient interest you pay someone to develop the product.

I agree 100% there, going to spend sometime reading up about marketing - this is spot on - thank you.

 

[Rashad Mahmood]

what are skills required to begin your own business?​

None! As the many posts on this forum prove.

What skills are required to successfully run and understand your business?

Totally different question. In my experience success comes to those who are curious enough to learn all aspects of a business.

I should have worded the question to "What skill's are required to understand your business"

 

[Spur Support Services]

Can you point in the right direction e.g online courses, basics etc.

Helen Pritchard is running a free 5 Day Challenge next week, which may get you started on considering social media marketiing. Look her up on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Google.

You may also want to consider referral marketing, which is the more traditional networking format. In our area we have Evo Business Networking and BNI (I'm a member of both). Evo is free form networking. BNI Membership offers access to a massive amount of networking training material.

Both areas are about making yourself visible, making your services/product visible and building relationships.

Both areas may take 3 to 6 months for your visibility to change relationships to the "Know, Like, Trust" status where people are happy to use or recommend you. So the sooner you start, the better

 

[Catapulta]

What about a university degree? Is this necessary?

 

[japancool]

What about a university degree? Is this necessary?

Short answer, no.

Long answer, nooooooooooooo.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Work hard probably very long hours
Your business will probably become a way of life and not just something you do in the day
I will speak to a customer at anytime of the day . Anytime of the day !

Always be willing to change and make adjustments at short notice !
Never get too comfortable

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

What about a university degree? Is this necessary?

No but I would be a lot happier if I had one

 

[Paul Norman]

To being, none.


To succeed

1. Finance
2. Marketing
3. Sales
4. Customer Handling skills
5. People skills
6. A lot of business acumen.
7. Others I have forgotten.

But you can learn these. Or you can buy them in.

Don't read the long posts trying to get into the detail of all these here. Just decide if you are ready to learn, ready to listen, ready to take a routine kicking, ready to put in the hard yards, ready to press on when its really tough.

 

[Mark T Jones]

What about a university degree? Is this necessary?

No formal qualification is necessary.

However the knowledge and skills acquired in gaining those qualifications might be of value.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

No but I would be a lot happier if I had one

Really? What subject would you study?

 

[japancool]

Beer, I suspect.

 

[Paul Norman]

Beer, I suspect.

Then it would, at least, be of demonstrable value.

 

[Paul Norman]

Short answer, no.

Long answer, nooooooooooooo.

Also, to expand, no.

 

[MrHarryPotter]

Happy new year everybody.

I’ve been thinking about having some sort of financial freedom for a number of years, perhaps starting a business is not the always the best way to achieve this - however there is a satisfying feeling of being your own boss.
I come from a technical background in software development and whenever I’ve needed to learn something, Ive picked up a book, done an online course or ask my colleagues questions.

I don’t have the expertise in business development, however I’m willing to learn so this leads me to the question - What skills are required to successfully run and understand your business?

(I’ve always remembered watching on Dragon Dens, how some of the candidates never understood their numbers)

I'm currently researching for an idea, and find myself researching around niche based products, - e-commerce does interest me.

tia.

Risk-taking, its the most necessary skill for a successful entrepreneur.

 

[MarkOnline]

What about a university degree? Is this necessary?

I will say in many cases its a positive hinderance.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I will say in many cases its a positive hinderance.

To be fair, having education or qualifications is never a hinderance.

The attitude that goes with it can be.

 

[facebook_mario_support]

Any business will take a lot of responsibility, patience and effort and to be successful you have to know that its not that easy there will be a time that you will loose it first and from that experienced you will learn something the best of it and take it as an inspiration .Mostly love what you are doing.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

@Rashad Mahmood The first requirement is an understanding of the core business area you want to go into.

Things like marketing, accounts, sales etc can be learnt.

However, sadly, many people who start a business are just simply not cut out for it!

 

[BustersDogs]

Marketing isn't just on the computer, it's also networking with other businesses, and standing out in the cold at dog shows and doing events.

That last one might just be me though.

 

[Rashad Mahmood]

@Rashad Mahmood The first requirement is an understanding of the core business area you want to go into.

Things like marketing, accounts, sales etc can be learnt.

However, sadly, many people who start a business are just simply not cut out for it!

I share your sentiments, its a tough world!