When you own a small business, you’re usually the one who runs the show. Even if you have a small staff, you still need to be on top of daily operations to ensure everything goes smoothly. This means understanding the best way to micromanage multiple tasks without missing a beat. So, what skills are most important? Aside from basic knowledge of how to run a business, there are a few non-negotiable skills you need to master to thrive as a small business owner.
Delegate work
Part of being a boss is knowing how to delegate work fairly. It’s not uncommon for higher ups to rely on employees who perform the best. Specifically, they may delegate more work to these top performers because they know they can get the job done. While this is considered normal, other members of your staff might think it’s favouritism. In fact, the same top performers might also think they you’re taking advantage of them. If you have a small fleet, you might put your best driver in charge of others.
The thing is, they might not see your admiration for a job well done like you do. They may feel overloaded having to perform their duties and monitor others as well. Instead of laying more responsibilities on your staff, you can use vehicle tracking for small businesses. If you’re not familiar with it, you can review a guide about how to utilize it to cut costs and improve delivery times overall.
Critical thinking
You also need to learn how to think on your feet. Owning a business means knowing how to quickly put out fires and de-escalate issues with vendors and between colleagues. If you’re more of a wing-it-as-you-go type of person, you might want to brush up on your critical thinking skills. Read books about problem solving in real-life situations and learn how you can apply those same solutions into your business strategy.
Communication
If there’s one skill you must master, it’s communication. Effective communication is not the same as just having a conversation with a friend. As a leader, you need to build emotional competencies and understand the logistics of empathetic speaking, know how to get your point across without being condescending or rude and be able to present information in a clear and concise manner. In situations where you and the other party don’t agree, your goal needs to be solving conflict, not creating more tension.
Keep in mind that being able to communicate effectively isn’t always easy. Even when you think you’ve been clear, the other person might not completely understand. That’s why it’s important to create an outline, even if it’s only in your mind, of the most significant points. This will also help to reduce unnecessary fluff when trying to get your point across.
Empathetic leadership
Being a leader isn’t synonymous with being someone your employees fear. In fact, leading with an iron fist is the fastest way to lose top performers in your company. As someone your staff looks to for guidance, you need to approach the role with an open mind and empathetic way of thinking. If a long-term employee makes a mistake that you know they shouldn’t have, how will you address the situation? Will you berate and scold, or will you speak to them privately and ask what they think went wrong?
How you approach sensitive matters sets the stage for the end result. To lead with empathy, you need to put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. Think about how you would want to be spoken to and how you would respond if they came to you with anger and unpleasantries.
Emotional intelligence
Going hand in hand with how you lead is your level of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a combination of self-awareness, your social skills and again, empathy. When you’re self-aware, you’re in touch with how you really feel. You don’t pretend to be happy when you’re not and vice versa. You also know how to regulate your emotions and defuse situations that can quickly turn unpleasant.
Creative problem-solving
Every business has problems, even ones that are super successful. But the way you go about solving these roadblocks makes a big difference. Creative problem solving skills allows you to think on your feet and find viable solutions that are best for you and your team. You need to be secure with the decisions you make and be able to justify the reasons behind it.
Dependability
As a leader, you have both internal and external stakeholders relying on you. They expect you to fulfill your responsibilities to not only yourself, but them as well. Dependability is not something you can throw by the wayside when you own a business. How you manage your business says a lot about you, so if you’re always someone who retracts what they say, doesn’t meet deadlines or doesn’t stay to true to their word, you’ll probably lose customers and potentially lucrative partnerships.