By Rosana Beechum
Running a small business can be a liberating, exhilarating and rewarding activity, but it can also at times be extremely challenging. The business world today is ever more competitive, which is why entrepreneurs who have graduated from a top-ranked online MBA program can stand out from the field and get ahead of their competitors. Here are three business skills that every small business owner should possess, and how they can gain or improve them.
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Many entrepreneurs start by launching a business based purely upon what they can do by themselves: they’re solopreneurs. If you want to become a real success, however, there will come a time when you have to grow and expand, and the only way to do this is to take on extra staff and turn your solo venture into a small business. At that point, management skills become essential, as you’ll have to be able to motivate your staff, ensure that you get the optimal amount of high-quality work from them, and resolve any disputes that may arise. Remember that as the business owner, you have the final say-so on everything, so be prepared to act decisively, yet fairly.
Marketing skills
At the heart of your business should be a product or service that meets a consumer need, and ideally one that offers a new and unique solution. Even with this in place, however, you won’t achieve success if you don’t have the right marketing in place. The world of marketing, and how consumers interact with brands, is changing rapidly, especially with the advent of social media. Old methods of marketing, such as the use of flyers and newspaper or radio adverts, can be much less effective than they once were, so it’s essential that you understand the modern marketing methods that now exist and are able to evaluate which is best for your small business. Even if you outsource your marketing and public relations work, you still need to have a strong knowledge so you can judge the skills of the freelancers or agencies you are considering hiring.
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One way to boost your presence online is to have an effective brand that catches the eye and the imagination, which is why design is so important. You may well hire professional graphic designers to design your website, logos and letterheads, but as always, the lead must come from you. The brand must reflect what the business, and the person at the head of it, really stands for, which is why a good knowledge of design factors that can convey this message is a must.
How to develop these skills
The good news for small business owners and start-up entrepreneurs is that all these skills can be learned and developed, and an online MBA can be the perfect place to do this. They teach you marketing, design, management and decision making, accounting and financial management and much more, and the online MBA benefits can last a lifetime.
Completing an online MBA can significantly boost your chances of achieving sustainable growth for your small business, and by taking an online Master of Business Administration degree, you can fit your studying around business and family commitments. In a crowded market, having the three essential skills we looked at above can be the difference between success and failure.
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Rosana Beechum is a business and marketing undergraduate from Nottingham Trent University from the UK who is attempting to share her knowledge through written articles for small business owners.
