Running a small business or start-up is a constant game of prioritisation. What should you do first, what’s most important, what will you ask others to do, and which activities will drive the most profit? All of this while keeping a close eye on your cash flow.
To grow your business, you’ve got to be able to look at the big picture and think about what’s most important for its longer-term success. There’s no way that you can, or should, try to do everything, so this article won’t tell you that you need to be an expert in AI, UX, blockchain development, and coding because unless that’s where your skills already lie or it’s the industry that you’re in, this doesn’t make good business sense.
That said, it is so easy to teach yourself anything these days - to upgrade your hard and soft skills with self-taught, self-paced online courses from expert teachers that you can do on your phone while on the train. This, mixed with learning by doing and then sharing your knowledge with others, is the quickest way to master anything.
So, what profitable skills could change the game for you? Here are five essential skills that all business owners should learn to maximise profitability and the experts you can learn from in 2023.
1. Social and conversational sales
With so much going on when you’re running a business, you can too often overlook the fundamentals on a daily basis. Don’t let yourself be distracted from the most crucial aspect of running a sustainable organisation - sales. Some people are amazing at it, and it scares others silly, but whether it’s selling products to customers or ideas to your team members, having the confidence to be able to sell is crucial - if you don’t look like you believe in it - no one else will.
If selling doesn’t come naturally to you, remember, you’re not trying to trick people into doing something they don’t want to; if you genuinely think you have an excellent product or service, then you need to tell people about it, and you are helping them by letting them find out about it. Selling in 2023 is about being social and conversational. Being great at sales largely comes down to being positive, assured and good relationship-building. When you look at it like that, there’s nothing to fear. If you feel very personally attached to your business and hear yourself saying, ‘I don’t like selling myself,’ it’s time to create some separation in your mind between yourself and the business for your own well-being. Create goals for the business that are separate from your personal goals. If the business is named after you, maybe you want to consider creating another brand for it.
2. Community-building
In 2023, it’s not about growing a customer base or an audience but about building a community or real fans that will rave about you. The more niche your community is the better and the more likely it is to work. Community-building shouldn’t be taken lightly and you shouldn’t simply start calling your customers or followers ‘your community’. Put thought into what people absolutely love about your brand and how you can help them - build the community values around this. You also need ways to connect the members within the community to each other with communication channels and events (or it’s not a community).