Transferable skills are a great way to ensure the success of your business. These are skills that you have acquired or developed elsewhere and you can put them to use in another way. Good thing if you have worked in an office setting and now you are venturing in entrepreneurship, then you stand better chances of transferring skills. Lucky for most of us we have worked in an office workplace before venturing out so we have some skills that we bring over. If you had not had the opportunity of working in an office before, you also have some transferable skills you have acquired in life only that you do not know them. So here are some of the best transferable skills for an entrepreneur.
This is the ability to communicate effectively with your colleagues, staff, and superiors. There is a wide range of skills that fall into this category; listening, confidence, empathy, respect, feedback, nonverbal communication are some of them. The importance of these skills for an entrepreneur is immeasurable. You will transfer these skills to your new business when it comes to communicating with your employees, suppliers, and clients. Since you had already mastered the skill you will not encounter problems relating to people.
If you were at a management level in your previous workplace then you are in luck. Managing your new employees will come to your naturally. Most of us, however, need to get trained on how to lead. According to Western Governor’s University, many business people are pursuing management degrees online in their spare time, as this allows them to invest in their education while continuing to advance their career.
Management skills entail much more than just telling employees what to do. It entails planning, delegating, organizing, directing, oversight, coordinating, conflict management, decision making to mention but a few. You will need these skills more since the success of your business will rely on your mastery of these skills. It is important to distinguish between management skills and leadership skills. Although they might sound somewhat related there is a difference between them.
These are acquired through learning and application. These skills are also important when running your business. A time will come when you will be required to handle a technical aspect of your new business. Technical skills include; troubleshooting to identify problems, system and programs installation on computers, basic use of the internet, and constructing a business web presence. Having these as transferable skills will save you money and time. You will not need to consult a technician when your computers need a software upgrade or using computer packages and applications.
These are skills that you acquired in your previous workplace and you can still apply them in your business. People skills entail the ability to motivate others, offer constructive criticism, receive and offer feedback, offer counseling and guidance, mentoring, and selling. Since you will be in charge of a team possessing personal skills will be an added advantage over entrepreneurs who do not. You will motivate, offer guidance, mentor young employees and practically align them towards goals of your business. Remember as an entrepreneur you will be working towards actualizing your dreams you will need to combine the best of these skills to achieve the best results.
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Transferable skills are crucial towards business success. You will need to borrow a few of every category when need be. Since these are skills you already possess as opposed to learning as you go, they should come out naturally without any difficulties at all. Using them optimally you should not struggle with your business. You have a competitive advantage over people who do not have say, management skills or technical skills. While at it do not forget to share and pass some of these skills to your team if your business is to succeed; they will need to learn them from you since you are a natural at these skills.
