Guest Article

Are your walls adorned with the images of Richard Branson, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg? Do you find yourself constantly dreaming about running a small business? Do you love discussing ideas and coming up with something new? Then it wouldn’t be wrong to say that you want to be an entrepreneur and start your own business some day. To fulfill that dream at a young age, it is important to develop entrepreneur skills early.

Here are 8 tips for young entrepreneurs that will help in developing important entrepreneurial skills that will help you navigate through the business world.

Be Open to New Experiences

Nobody achieves anything great by sticking in their comfort zone. As an aspiring entrepreneur, it is important to stretch beyond your comfort zone and keep your mind open to new ideas. Make a habit of seeking new experiences as it will expose you to things, people and ideas that will help you grow as a person.

Dare to Take Risks

One common trait amongst successful entrepreneurs is that they are not afraid of taking risks. They understand that calculated risks often lead to success. Make a move from being an aspiring entrepreneur to actually launching a business will require some calculated leaps. You can’t step into the business world just by dreaming and wishing about it.

Never Stop Learning

The most successful entrepreneurs are those who never stop reading and learning. They never consider themselves as the smartest people in the room and are constantly seeking ways to learn new things and surround themselves with people who are smarter. The more you keep your mind open to learning new things, the more skills you will develop and that will help you develop key entrepreneurial skills such as being a leader, a visionary, and a salesman.

Be Consistent

Young entrepreneurs should understand the importance of being consistent. Running a business is unpredictable, challenging and unlike the regular 9-to-5 job. You have to make a schedule and stick to it. Don’t just become a success overnight, you must create a plan for success. Follow your schedules, create goals and consistently perform the tasks that are required to execute your plan.

Remember that being consistent is not just limited to your professional life. You have to be consistent in your personal life too. If you have chores and homework for school you need to make sure that you get those things done, so that you can work on your business idea.  Do what you have to do, so that you can do what you want to do.

Be Self Motivated

How many times have you heard companies seeking to hire people who are self-starters. This is just a fancy word for those who don’t need constant supervision. If you approach each day enthusiastic about starting your tasks and can stay motivated enough to see through them, you will be a success. You can’t run a business if you lack the drive to do the work or tackle problems. Your leadership skills must guide your business. One day when you have employees they will look to you as the example. It is important to develop this habit while you are young, do not wait to be asked to do your homework or take your dishes off the table. Making it a habit to ask how you can help.  Self-motivated leaders, make the best entrepreneurs.

Be Aware of your Strengths and Weaknesses

If you don’t know your strengths, you can’t take advantage of them and when you aren’t’t aware of your weaknesses, you won’t make an effort to overcome them.  Overlooking either can hindering your progress in like and in business. Successful entrepreneurs know their strengths and weaknesses, and they keep honing their weaknesses and they hire people who are strong where they are weak. They leverage their strengths too, but that is much easier.

Learn to be Emotionally Intelligent

Customer complaints are common in any business, but how you react to it will make the difference in retaining customers or losing them. At the same time, entrepreneurs face a lot of criticism and rejection in various forms, especially in the early years of a business. As an aspiring business owner, you must be emotionally intelligent to learn from every situation without getting dejected, loosing confidence or destroying a relationship. Learn to develop a thick skin and tackle rejection in a calm and reflective manner. Look at criticism as honest feedback which is a gift and an opportunity to improve your skills and move on.

Identify Opportunities

Every successful entrepreneur got their because going they identified an opportunity that no one else noticed or took advantage of. It would be beneficial if you get into the habit of identifying opportunities at a young age itself.

To develop habits of an entrepreneur, you must start young.  Your teen years are the perfect time start molding yourself into an individual who is prepared to take on running a small business later in life and succeed in it.

About the Author:

Dana Jandhyala is the co-founder of MySchoolPage in Bengaluru, India. She specializes in making education simple and easy to comprehend through online tutorials. She writes to help students study better, and to coach parents so they can facilitate the success of their children.