A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about becoming self-employed and turn yourself into an entrepreneur. I received a couple of questions about my opinion on what skills one would need to have or develop to become successful. Of course there is no unified way towards being a successful entrepreneur, however I would like to share a couple of my findings and experiences. In order to build your entrepreneurial skills and reach toward success, you’ll need to push your boundaries and take action right now. You can start slow, or you can dive right in, but these tips will help you move past your fears quickly and help you gain experience feeling successful

Organize an Event

Whether it’s an in-person event or an online event, you should set a date and organize an event. If you are nervous,

Skill Development

you can start with a local meet-up using Meetup.com to help. The actions of organizing and planning an event will teach you a lot about planning, negotiating, and deadline setting. You can do the same thing with an online webinar, the only difference is you may need to learn new technology while you’re also learning to plan, negotiate and set deadlines.

Get Involved With Others

You can do this via volunteering for a cause you care about. While you don’t want to volunteer with an objective in mind, there is nothing wrong with choosing an event or charity to volunteer with that matches your skill set so there will be a lot of things for you to do that prove your worth and help you improve your skills.

Improve Your Communication Skills

One of the most important parts of being an entrepreneur is being able to communicate. One way to improve your communication skills is to learn to give speeches and talk to people. You can join a local public speaking club to help you get better at your communication skills or really hire someone to help you improve that skill.

Become the Expert

One way to develop your entrepreneurial mindset is to become an expert in your niche. Write blog posts, contribute guest articles, and write a book, host webinars, host local events and more. The more you do to develop your expertise, the more confidence you’ll have and the more successful you’ll become.

Learn Something New Regularly

If you just devote one hour a day to learning something new, then move on to something else when you master the first thing, you’ll be able to keep your skills topnotch and develop them even better than you can without a plan of action.

Go To Networking Events

Don’t network with only people you’re comfortable with. Instead find events to attend that consist of your ideal clients / customers / audience or are competition so that you can learn more from them. Then, network smartly and keep your ears open and listen more than you talk.

Keep Abreast of Industry News

Take some time every day to read about industry news. You can set up a Google Alert for terms that are important in your industry so that you can learn what is happening at all times.

Learn to Delegate

No smart leader does everything on their own and that is true for an entrepreneur too. Whether you have a very small home business or a larger business, you’ll likely need to learn to delegate something. Even if it’s just letting someone else do your groceries…

Improving your skills as an entrepreneur is not an overnight task and you’ll never be finished. Your journey as an entrepreneur is ever evolving and changing. You may be surprised that what you’re doing today is very different from what you’ll be doing tomorrow. But, that’s how an entrepreneur stays successful. They adapt to change, and develop the skills they need to stay competitive.

Have a conscious day!

Filip De Pessemier