4. The most valuable skill: learning how to learn
When hiring sales reps at my start-ups I always looked for doers. People who didn’t need to be given a manual or playbook to know what to do. Rather, those with the desire and ability to blaze the trail. To acquire the skills needed to build the bridge as they walked across it. The same thing applies when starting your own business. You need to wear many hats and do many things. While over time you may decide to outsource certain responsibilities, having the ability to acquire new skills will help you get going quickly.
Whether it’s building a website, publishing content, editing videos, organizing events, or even operational tasks like billing and invoicing, if you crave a high degree of visibility and control in the early stages of your business, the number one skill that’s required is learning how to learn.
Note: if you ever run into my kids, ask them which skill their Dad tells them they’ll need in order to be successful in the future. They’ll say this!
5. Make time to read and get smarter
With all the things you need to do to get your business austria telegram data off the ground, it can be tough to carve out time to do something as sedentary as reading. But you need to! I’m a huge proponent of the power of reading and the impact it can have on rising to the top of the sales profession, but when it comes to starting your own business, regularly consuming relevant subject matter is critical for two reasons.
First, you simply have fewer peers to learn from on a daily basis. Reading exposes you to the insights and knowledge you need to learn and grow personally and professionally. Secondly, being in business is all about helping your customers solve their problems. Problems they can’t solve on their own. Problems you wake up every day crafting and refining solutions to. If you’re not constantly expanding your sphere of knowledge in the area of those problems, their causes, and solutions to them, you will never be able to bring the future to your customers.
Note: if you’re looking for a list of my favorite sales reads you can find them here.
Sometimes being an entrepreneur is like spending summers in Northern Alaska. There’s always something you could be doing and with 80 days of uninterrupted sunlight, if you’re not careful you could end up working around the clock! Unfortunately, if excess stress causes you to be sick, unfocused, or off your game, the business doesn’t move forward (especially if you’re a solopreneur). Protect your physical and mental well-being and develop routines to ensure you stay focused, healthy, and sharp. Work is important (and I work a ton) but so is exercise, family time, and sleep.