Being a small business owner does not mean you need to know everything there is about business.
While it is true that you will likely be expected to wear several hats and take on an array of responsibilities, you don’t have to be an expert in each area. As a small business owner, you’re continually learning on the job and developing new skills, knowledge, and talent.
The desire and motivation to learn and become better is found in all successful business owners and for a good reason.
Here are the top seven traits that help owners be a successful boss and business owner.
1. Have a love of learning
When business owners are curious and love to learn, they continually try to learn better ways to improve their business. This is usually done in the form of research on the Internet, reading business journals, or just reading a lot of books about running a business. This also means keeping up with innovations in technology so that they have the best tools available for use with their businesses.
2. Be future-oriented
When you are focused on the future, it affects the way you make choices. Never being satisfied with a small-sized business or staying with the same product sets is what sets the successful business owners apart from the rest. This means that new ideas are always coming through to improve products and add products in order to keep the company going long-term.
3. Be able to delegate
While you should never neglect any task completely, it is good to realise that you cannot do everything on your own. Learn what aspects of tasks you can delegate to others and what you have to do yourself. Even better is the ability to inspire employees to work as a team, and just be a strong part of that team.
4. Be determined as all hell
Roadblocks always will pop up, but having the determination to make your business succeed is important. There will always be people who doubt your abilities or try to stand in your way, but if the determination is strong enough, your business can thrive. Keeping the end goal in mind of how you see your company helps you to push past the negative.
5. Be humble as pie
The best leaders and bosses are those who can give credit where it is due, admit when they are wrong, and learn from their mistakes. They can also apologise, if necessary when they are wrong. This trait is so important because as the leader, you set the example and tone of the office. Getting along with other people is a very important thing for someone who is managing a lot of employees, working with distributors, or trying to sell a pitch.
6. Be resilient in the tough times
The economy naturally goes up and down and so do businesses. There will be times of the month, year, or decade where there are times of plenty and times of famine. The trait that makes you the best business owner is that you can work through these times and keep the company going.
7. Get into the detail
Be involved with every aspect of your business, at least to a certain extent. If you know what is going on with your finances, you are much more likely to notice if someone is stealing. Also, you’ll better understand what area of your business needs the most help and attention. Companies all have weak and strong areas and knowing what they are is part of by being detailed and adequately involved with each aspect of the business.
How many traits do you identify with?
