"Key for Success Monday" UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF BUSINESS

Your Key Business Skills

Running a small business often requires that you become a jack-of-all-trades.  It is therefore important to know early on the skills that you have and those that you will either have to learn or delegate to others.  The key business skills to consider include:

• Strategic Management. Creating a business and strategic plan for your business and making sure you keep to it.
• Basic Accounting. Which records to keep, how to keep them and how to file them.
• Financial Management. Where to find financing and how to manage it once you’ve sourced it.
• People Management. Hiring your first employee and how to manage them.
• Marketing. How to market your business through traditional channels, web and social media.
• Sales. How to complete a sale and look after your customers.
• Operations Management. Choosing and managing your suppliers. 

When considering the skills that you lack there are three avenues you can take: you can hire employees who are strong in those specific areas, you can engage professional business advisors, or you can take the time to learn these key skills yourself.