Section Two: Business Skills

Introduction

Starting up and running your own business requires special skills such as careful planning, research, risk assessment, commitment and patience. This section will get you thinking about the business skills you already have and which ones you will need to develop further.

 

Skills Important for Self Employment

The following skills are important for the self-employed business person to possess:

Identifying opportunities
Formulating ideas
Goal setting
Developing the Business Plan
Obtaining technical assistance
Selecting the type of ownership
Planning the marketing strategy
Locating the business
Financing the business
Dealing with legal issues
Managing human resources
Promoting the business
Managing sales efforts
Problem solving

Just like assessing your entrepreneurial skills, taking the time to identify your strengths and weakness when it comes to business skills is equally important.

Click on Worksheet 1.2 (Word Document) and Worksheet 1.3 (Word Document)  to assess your business skills.

 

Reasons for Business Failure

There are many, many reasons for business failure but some of the most frequent ones are:

Lack of experience
Lack of sufficient capital
Poor location
Poor inventory management
Excessive purchase of permanent equipment
Faulty attitude
Poor credit-granting practices
Unwarranted personal expenses
Unplanned expansion
Insufficient cashflow
Inadequate sales
Poor marketing
Lack of stress management

Click on Worksheet 1.4 (Word Document) and complete the exercise to gain a better understanding of how existing entrepreneurs manage their businesses.