Kathy Ennis, LittlePiggy
I can say – hand on heart and based on personal as well as client experience – to run a successful business as a solopreneur, freelancer or side hustler you need so much more than an idea, passion and vision.
There are a whole host of practical, applicable skills – as well as soft skills – that will give your business a boost and contribute to your ongoing success.
I’m going to share five skills that may not spring to mind when you think about running a successful business or being a successful entrepreneur – but I believe every business owner should develop these skills if they want to thrive, rather than just survive.
Skill 1: Critical Thinking
When you:
- question assumptions, claims, and viewpoints
- understand rhetoric, bias and sound bites
- consider pros, cons and risks
That’s critical thinking.
So why do we need critical thinking in business?
We are being bombarded with information (at least 185% more than our grandparents), social media content and ‘fake’ news.
As business owners we have to develop our ability to question what’s real and what isn’t, to reason logically and to be aware of a world wider than the confines of our business and our immediate locality.
We also need to take as much time to think about what could go wrong, as what could go right, in our business.
Why?
Because of the pace of change, ready access to information and the massive amount of choice consumers have.
Critical thinking will allow us to be responsive to the impact external influences have on our business as well as the changing wants and needs of our customers.
Skill 2: Focus and Discipline
What do you do when your phone rings? Does your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile make a sound when you receive an email, a message or a social media notification?
Do you look – read – respond?
And what happens to what you were doing before that interruption – however minor the interruption seems?
After a few texts, emails and Facebook notifications is half the day gone but all the work remains?
Focus and discipline have always been essential to success. These days, managing distraction has become harder for even the most disciplined among us. And it’s likely to get harder, not easier. So, now is the time to bite the bullet and come up with strategies that will shut out the ‘noise’, without shutting yourself off.
A few things I have found that work:
- Identify specific times of the day to deal with emails, for example, the first half an hour of your working day, half an hour before or after lunch, a half an hour before you finish for the day.
- Turn your phone to silent and turn off notification noised and symbols on any desktop or tablet devices.
- Turn your phone screen-side down so you can’t see notification symbols
You may think these techniques are difficult, or that you will lose business as a result.
Hmmmm, maybe…
I’ve had my phone on silent for two years. I always leave my phone screen side down and I have my email management times.
In the past two years, I have had more business.
Go figure…?
Skill 3: Being Human
Just be you.
Ther’s the old saying “Be yourself, because everyone else is taken”, but if you look online you could be forgiven for believing that the world is made up of indistinguishable lemmings.
Everyone wants the same thing, everyone wants to do the same thing, everyone wants to achieve the same outcomes. Copyists and pale imitations abound.
The most unique thing in your business is you!
So make sure you share that uniqueness.
What does the ‘About’ section on your website say about you? Is it bland? Is it anonymous? Or does it tell people who you are, what you do, how you do it and why you do it?
Does it communicate your values and where you, as an individual, draw a line in the sand? Do you allow people to see your vulnerability?
When you network offline do you see it as an opportunity to sell your products and services or as a method for building relationships for mutual, beneficial personal and business support?
When you network online how ‘real’ is your online persona. Is it a numbers game or, again, an opportunity to meet and engage with a group of people that you want to support – and who should want to support you back?
I tried an experiment on LinkedIn last year. In January 2019, I decided to send a direct message to everyone who sent me a standardised ‘join my network’ request. I asked them what, about me and about my profile, prompted them to request to connect. This is what happened to the 50+ requests I received. 10 people responded with really lovely messages, about 35 never responded – and about 5 told me to “f**k off” (their words, not mine).
What did the 40 or so people who didn’t respond (or who told me to F-off) actually want? Engagement with a human being or another notch on their Contacts numbers? Well, it wasn’t the former.
Life’s too short not to be yourself. OK, maybe some people will not like what they see. Their loss.
Be Marmite : Be Human
Skill 4: Getting Things Done
If you:
- don’t develop focus and discipline (see Skill 2 above)
- procrastinate which, in my book, includes the myth of perfectionism (procrastination by another word)
- set yourself unachievable targets and don’t create and implement accountable action plans
You won’t get things done.
And, when things don’t get done, there is little likelihood of success.
I want to distinguish here the difference between having a well-defined, action-based business plan that leaves you with lots and lots to do and the “I’m so creative and have so many ideas I just can’t seem to get everything done that needs to get done”.
The first scenario can be rectified with some well-placed outsourced activities such as virtual administration assistance or social media management.
The second scenario needs a combination of focus and discipline. Help to create plans and working methods that suit that individual’s personality and a Business Mentor to keep them on track and accountable.
I have heard people say that all it takes for an ultra small business to be successful is ideas and passion.
Sorry, I disagree with that 100%
Everyone has ideas. Everyone has something they are passionate about.
What you really need for a successful business are systems, processes and automations. You need a business owner who develops an action plan that will make things happen – and gets on with doing it.
Skill 5: Competitive Spirit
The explosion of the micro and side-hustle businesses has opened the floodgates to customer choice. This means, as business owners, we are in an unprecedented era of competition.
Whatever we do, there will be many other businesses doing it also. And, because of the increasingly easy access to goods and services online, our competitors can be hundreds, if not thousands of miles away.
Competition is not a bad thing.
We have to be competitive.
The first step is to know who our competitors are. The second is to understand what sets us apart from them.
It’s only by knowing who and what we are up against and the differentiation point we have over them, that we can truly offer the unique ‘thing’ that our customers are searching for.
Competition doesn’t have to be cut-throat. It doesn’t have to be ugly, and it can really easily morph into something greater than the sum of its parts. Collaboration.
If you would like to talk with me about your business – book yourself a complimentary, half-hour Breakthrough Session
