5 Skills to Become a Successful Entrepreneur - Money Tip Tuesday

Are you ready to pursue an entrepreneurial venture, but you’re worried you won’t be successful? If you’re preparing to start and run a business, there are effective skills you can develop to give yourself the best possible chance of success.

• Check out the SBA or SCORE for resources on writing a business plan
• Learn more about Triangle's business banking tools
• Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
• Learn more about business cash flow: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/business-cash-flow

Like what you heard? Go ahead and share on your social media! Visit trianglecu.org to learn more about how we can serve you and don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Transcript:

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast. 

When it comes to starting your business, you’re probably excited but a little intimidated by the many steps and decisions involved with getting started. Starting a business is a noble venture, one with great sacrifice, but also great reward. 

You’ve probably thought many times over about the type of business you want to run and have a clear image of your product or service, your business space layout and your role in the entire process. But you might also be facing some apprehension or intimidation that comes with taking on such a big project. You may think, what if it doesn’t work? What if no one wants my product? What if I fail and look like a fool?  

Don’t despair because you’re not alone. There are many people who have gone before you and successfully started ventures that have changed the world. It wasn’t impossible for them and it’s not impossible for you either. With a little focus, discipline, and strategy you can make your business vision a reality.   

Here are some of the skills entrepreneurs develop that you too can work on to give yourself the best chance of starting and running a successful business. 

1. Do your market research and draw up a business plan. Market research will give you an idea of how your business will perform in the market and whether it’s a saturated or unsaturated market. Research is lengthy and involved so focus on specific questions like, who is your ideal customer? What is the size of the target market? What sets your product apart from the competition?  
   
   After your research, you’ll want to write a business plan. This is an important step of the process because it lays out the structure of your business and forces you to formulate more specific ideas about your business. Answer questions like: What problem am I solving? What is my target market? What expenses can I anticipate? Use resources online from the SBA or SCORE to help you get a business plan started. Don’t skip this step because starting with a solid plan sets up a strong foundation that’s more likely to lead to success. Use this quote as a mental guide, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
   
   
2. Understand and organize your cash flow. It’s critical you understand your cash flow. Keep track of all your money coming in and going out and keep it organized. Money coming in would be cash from sales or any borrowing you’ve done. Money going out refers to your expenses, payroll, and rent/operation costs. There's also something called a cash flow cycle. Get familiar with your business’ cash flow cycle to get a good idea of how much money cycles in and out of your business regularly. 
   
   You may not know this right away if your business is just starting out but as your business keeps running, it’ll be easier to identify. Paying attention to your business cash flow will keep your balance sheet organized so you’re not wasting precious time sifting through receipts, organizing bills and hunting for missing cash.
   
   
3. Make sure you set goals. If you don’t set goals for your business, you won’t have a clear vision to work towards. Start with setting up goals for your 1-year plan and then set up a 5-year plan. This will give you clear, actionable steps to follow that will propel you towards your final vision. Even if your business is an experiment to start, you’re more likely to succeed if you have goals to achieve rather than running aimlessly. Tony Robbins, author, speaker and philanthropist, said, “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”
   
   
4. Stay on top of Time Management. Managing your time is just as important as managing your cash flow. Starting and running a business requires a lot of attention and discipline. If you’re not managing your time wisely, things will start to get out of hand. Make sure you section off your time to focus on specific business stuff. It will keep you productive, help you work more efficiently, and ultimately lower your stress.
   
   Running a business can take a lot of your attention, so make sure when you’re setting aside time for your business, that you’re also setting aside time for your personal life or else you could suffer from burnout.
   
   
5. Don’t give up – persistence is key. You’ve heard the phrase, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” A huge reason many entrepreneurial efforts fizzle out is that obstacles and challenges become so great, the entrepreneur decides the vision is no longer worth the pursuit. There may be times when you feel like giving up and throwing in the towel, but if you keep pressing on, and don’t give up, you’re more likely to reach success.
   
   Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, writes about how important persistence is to success. He studied hundreds of successful businessmen, most notably, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie and others to figure out what strategies they used to grow wealth. In his chapter on persistence, he writes: “Without persistence, you will be defeated even before you start. With persistence you will win.” 

Starting a business takes a lot of preparation, discipline and hard work, but take the time to develop some of the skills mentioned here, focus on your goals, don’t give up and you’ll be on the path to real business success.  

If there are any other tips or topics you’d like us to cover, let us know at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org and don't forget to like and follow our Making Money Personal FB page and look for our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union on Instagram and LinkedIn to share your thoughts.  

Thanks for listening to today’s Money Tip Tuesday and be sure to check out our other tips and episodes on the Making Money Personal podcast.  

Have a great day!