Skills for running a small business

Skills for hemorrhagening a small stage businessSKILLS FOR RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS there ar a postulate out of skills required to run a business. You allow for aim to use the skills you pick up and probably develop wise ones as wellIt is often not workable for one person to induce all the skills, in this case you might consider taking on staff or perhaps a match to fill the gapsWhat kind of skills do you think ar undeniable to run a business?Skills relating to products or serveManagement skillsRecording and checking performance skills interchange skills tribunal skills forward experience, although not a skill bequeath helpThe ability to recognise your own strengths and weaknesses1. Skills relating to products and/or servicesSome products or services require specia number skills to produce or provideEven if you buy your products or services in, the people in your business that deal with customers still need a detailed knowledge of what is on offerYou pass on need to think about these skills for your business, do you have them, ar you planning to develop them, or are you going to employ someone who has them?2. Management skillsHenry Fayol suggested there are 5 primary functions of centering, to be a successful manager you will need to have or develop skills in these areas.PlanningOrganizingLeadingCo-ordinatingControlling (processes, performance etc, NOT people)Some people now think Fayols ideas are a bit old fashioned, however the basic principles of management remain the sameA more modern writer, Katz, identified 3 main components to cosmos a keen managerTechnical skills about the product or serviceHuman skills, interacting with others and leading effectivelyConceptual skills, coming up with new ideas, decision making and problem solving3. Recording and checking performance skillsOne of the main roles of a business owner is to monitor how well the business is doing so that things kindle be changed if needed Performance standards need to b e set, these should relate back to the aims and objectives and be SMART Actual performance is mea for sured, information is collected. What information would your business need to collect? Actual performance is compared to the standards, if they are being met no further action is needed Corrective action is taken where required How good are you at following this kind of process, do you have an eye for detail, are you kindredly to follow up and measure? You will need to make use of your organisational and analytical skills4. Selling skillsAs a small business owner you may need to use personal portion outing to get your potential customers to buyGood communicating skillsPersuasion skillsAn awareness of buying signals from customers (Observational skills)The ability to close a sale (Negotiation Skills)Good listening skillsIdentifying product needs in the customerGood product knowledgeA lot of these skills can be learnt if you dont have them5. Administration skills.Administration ski lls are vital to every business. To be good at administration you need to have a logical approach, be well organised, pay attention to detail and have good communication skillsAccurate organisation of customer files and dataLetter writing, faxing, emails, telephone calls etc (Technological skills)Preparation and dispatch of invoices, paying billsManaging budgets6. Previous experience (although not a skill, this would be useful)If you have already worked in a similar caller-out or related business this will help you. Also if you are basing your idea around a hobby or interest this may also give you some expertiseIf you have worked in a similar business you may have seen problems in that one that help you to avoid them yourself7. Strengths and WeaknessesNo-one is good at everything so you need to be honest about what you can and cant doRecognising your strengths will help you build the business around things you are good atWeaknesses should not be ignored. Once you are aware of them its important to implement a strategy to either eliminate them or prevent them from undermining the businessTraining you could enroll on a course, possibly with a local college. There are also lots of companies around that specialise in training so you might be able to contact one of them. Beware though, sometimes they can be very big-ticket(prenominal), particularly if they are specialisedTake on a partner if they compliment your skills this may be a good idea. There may be no upfront expense associated with this but they will expect a share of the profitsDo some business networking this is where you hang events that attract other business people, you can talk to them, make contacts, get advice and possibly sales leads as well. For most small businesses this is an excellent option. Business Link, put up of Commerce and trade associations are sources that can help with thisEmployees you could always advertise for an employee with particular skills. Specialist employees may e xpect higher salaries so could be expensiveThere are a number of areas that you can get professional help in. It can be really expensive so be sure you know what youre getting into before you commit. What kind of professions do you think can help?Business consultants you can employ experienced business people who will share their expertise and knowledgeAccountants Most small businesses will need to employ a professional accountant, particularly to set up the legal berth of the business and produce the annual accountsSolicitors will advise on any legal matters, contracts and the like with regards to the businessBusiness Link an organisation set up by the government (Department for Trade and Industry), they offer services similar to business consultants but because they are government funded they are cheaper. You may have to wait for them, they are generally very busyYou are now ready to do a skills audit. You need to perform an objective and accurate assessment of your suitabili ty and the skills you have to run the business you have chosen. You need to appraise your own skills and abilities honestly and identify any gapsFor the first part you need to compile a list of the skills needed to run your business and a realistic assessment of whether or not you have them at the moment.You now need to put an outline short letter description together that describes the skills needed to run your business.Skills relating to products or servicesA keen interest in the product sold by my business shal be a necessity n the working of the company, Also a ability to know the whole of the procut along with its functionality shall also be required. It would also be needed that a ability to answer customer demands in regards to a product, to run the business smoothly. Obvioulsy therefore in light of this a ability to use and shew the product shall be required along with a ability to market the product as well as the business enteprie itself.Management skillsTeam management shall be needed when running my business, especially in the field of marketing. Whereby groups of ndividuals shall market the product outside the company, and therefore good management technique shall need to be drawn upon. Furthermore to this senior management shall be needed to direct the company and its product as the business gros and develops. This ability to lead the business shal undoubtably be a massive requirement in regards to moving th company forward in the future.Recording and checking performance skillsRecording and checking the companies performance shall be a necessity as in any other eneterprise. Particularly in the business of a new innovative product, market analysis and checking shll be a hugely needed requirement. Furthermore a ability to check company financial performance shall be needed to ensure the company is hitting communicate performance targets as a whole.Selling skillsA strong ability to sell the product of which we sell shall be needed in spite of a ppearance my business, for It continued success. A ability to sell the product in bulk orders would be preferable and also to sel the product in a friendly manner too. Also when sales are disjointed an ability to record and suggest how the sale went wrong shall also b e a required skillset.Administration skillsAdministration skills as in any business shall be critically important. In order to run my business successfully a srong administration skillset shall be needed. This shall allow for all paperwork and smaller tasks within the business to all be completed to a standard that ensures the company in kept up-to-date in all its work and legality documents.Previous experience, although not a skill will be usefulInternal auditStrengthsWeaknessesExternal auditOpportunitiesThreatsSkills AssessmentTeam Member (Anonymous)SkillAdministrationSkillManagementSkillSellingSkillProduct KnowledgeSkillOperationsSkillCustomer Service1332353244224335312524322341TallyPriorityRating Scale 1-5 (1=Good , 5=Poor)Statement 1Your selling skills within your business at the momen its its greatest quality. However its clear that the area of operations can greatly do with goodStatement 2Operations is a poor area of your business to date, in terms of how everything works and things fit together however management like selling is a better quality existing.Statement 3Your customer service at the moment is good, however a better knowledge of the products you shall would be of greater use and further help your customer service.Statement 4Your management skills however currently good theres a great amount of manner for improvement in this skillset. This can be achieved by leading your employees more effectively of which shall also cross over and improve your results for the operations section of your business.Skills I need to run my businessDo I currently have theseEvidenceSelling Skills in regards to the productGood Customer ServiceI feel that currently my selling skills are of a good stand ard however would greatly need improvement in the future. In order to run my product based business to a successful level. It key therefore that this skill is worked upon and developed.Along with a ability to sell, with my business being around a product good customer service shall be essential. It shall be preferred that I develop a good level of customer service skills that are used throughout my business.Selling products within young enterprise group.Speaking to customers of young enterprise and helping with order placements.Skills I need to develop invention for developmentHow will I achieve thisBy WhenNeed to develop operations skillsTo improve my ability to work a business. And to get it functioning towards a objective. Allowing for the business to run smoothly and operate successfully. This shall be key in ensuring my business is of a good working level and leads to a strong company as a whole.I shall achieve this by working on the area of operations within a business. I shal l therefore take roles relating to operations more frequently and work in those areas with great care in order to improve within that particular area.I aim to achieve this particular goal by February 2010.Target round off point 1 February 2010Date achievedEvidenceIf not achieved how can you achieve them in the futureTargetReview point 1 April 2010Date achievedEvidenceIf not achieved how can you achieve them in the future