Business Skills: 11 Points to Success

1. Be Persistent

A persistent drive is an asset; it will help you get through tough times and slumps. Practice being persistent. It pays off!

2. Learn to Easily Adapt to Change

The business world, among other things, is in constant fluctuation. You have to be able to adapt to change quickly, without modifying your main goal or mission. You may need to change the way you do things or adapt to changes in the market. Adapting to change is a positive for you and your business.

3. Assess Risks

The better you are at assessing risk, the better your outcome. You'll be able to make intelligent decisions, and you'll avoid making decisions that could put you out of business and this will allow you to easily pick up good opportunities.

4. Continue to Learn

Learning is an ongoing process in all aspects of life, whether or not you're aware of it. Since you're learning anyway, you might as well put into your mind positive thoughts that you can use as much as possible.

5. Learn to Welcome Responsibility

When you avoid your responsibilities, you're breaking down your self-esteem, slowly and silently telling yourself that you can't handle it. When you welcome your responsibilities, you're building your self-esteem and becoming a stronger person.

6. Be Creative

In business, being creative in the right places can give you the edge you need to stand out and offer something special. Practice creativity in small steps. Ask questions like: What can I do to improve this?  Try our brainstorming exercise to help you come up with remarkable ideas.

7. Take Charge

Successful business people take charge and hit the pavement running. Move ahead FEELING powerful, FEELING you can do it and move ahead doing what you do best! Note: This is not to say that you should move blindly and ignore common sense. It's a mere comparison of moving ahead by walking on a tightrope as opposed to walking on a sidewalk.

8. Know Your Numbers

Numbers and business go hand in hand if you don't know much about numbers, you're going to need to. You don't need become a financial wizard, knowing the ins and outs of multinational companies and how they operate, nor do you need to become an accountant, but you need to know the basics.

You need to know if you're profitable, how to manage money, how to hold onto your money, etc. Even if you hire an accountant/bookkeeper, you still need to know what's going on in your business. You can find out more about this from your accountant/bookkeeper, from your banker, online, or at your library.

9. You Must Market Your Business

Whatever business you're in, without marketing, you won't have much of a business. You need to develop skills in marketing. This can be as simple as placing ads, creating promotions, creating enticing signs, etc. anything that gets the right people to know about your business and do business with you is a form of marketing. It must be done. It's the lifeline of the business.

10. You Must Avoid Procrastination

If you're a seasoned procrastinator, then you're going to have a hard time finding success. You may be doing okay, but it takes so much longer to become the success you really want. You're just moving along slowly, and you're probably missing out on a lot of opportunities. Get things done quickly. Don't start something else, something new, until you complete all you can with the current task. 

11. Become Self-Reliant

When you're on your own, you have no one pushing you, no one telling you what needs to be done, and it's hard to stay on track. It's essential that you keep yourself on track. The first step is knowing what to do, then you may want to create a list in priority order of what needs to be done and how to do each step. 

You may want to simply follow the list or have someone check up on you to see how you're doing. For some there is hope and an acquired sense of achievement to know your dreams and pursue them vigorously through self-improvement. For others well.... No one is hopeless in my book. Then again, yeah, some of us are. Whether you fall in the first of second category, any steps taken to improve your business or personal acumen can do everything to advance you aspirations and very little to hinder them. A little diligence now can make all the difference for the future. Do it....