As an entrepreneur, you will be expected to wear many hats and assume many roles to ensure you stay successful. Your days will be varied and your ability will be tested regularly so it is vital that you are adaptable and comfortable with the changing motions of modern business.

If you do not have certain skills, you will find it extremely difficult to progress and connect with your customers and other businesses. Taking hold of some vital skills will help you on the way to make new contacts, grow and push yourself to success.

Here are the skills and attributes that executives and business leaders have mastered to get to the position they are in. You might have some of these skills already in your locker, but mastering and using these skills regularly could be the secret to your business growth.

Money management

Probably the most important skill you can have in your business is financial management. If you cannot manage how your cash flows through the company then your business simply won’t grow. While it isn’t necessarily important for you to have exceptional finance and mathematical skills to succeed, you have to have a firm grasp on what the money in your company is doing.

Tip: Make sure you hire people who can help you develop your knowledge of the company finances. Don’t take a back seat when it comes to managing the budget, get involved and learn as much as you can to ensure that the companies goals line up with how much money is being spent.

Self-motivation

When things are going smoothly, it is very easy to get complacent and let things slide. Conversely, it can be hard to find the energy to tackle a mountain of work when the workload seems insurmountable. It can be incredibly tough to motivate yourself and push through those walls which will appear before you on a daily basis.

Possessing the ability to summon up the energy and get the job done productively and efficiently will be one of the most important skills you possess.

Tip: Setting yourself a list of tasks to complete can help you organise your mind and give yourself targets to motivate yourself. Overcoming a tough period of time at work is immensely stressful, but having the ability to critically breakdown the tasks ahead into smaller and more manageable chunks can help you tackle your obstacles.

Remember the face and the name

Making connections and networking is a key part of an entrepreneurs life. Being approachable, friendly and someone that people want to invest in and work with is one of the best ways to garner funding and connections. Having a knack for remembering people you have met and engaging with them regularly can help build networks of friendly contacts to call on that can be vital assets to you further down the line.

It is also beneficial in that you can easily learn valuable lessons from other successful entrepreneurs if you spend enough time around them. According to entrepreneur Jim Rohn, ‘You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.’ So make sure that the five people you chose are valuable people to know.

Tip: When you meet a new contact, try to pick something about their appearance or remember something specific about the conversation you had with them and draw a connection to their name. The next time you meet them, try to draw the connection you made and it will help you remember who they are and where you met. It is also worth getting to know them personally so that next time you can approach them with knowledge of their personal life and instantly gain a connection. People appreciate when they feel appreciated, and remembering them will go a long way to making them like you.

Learn your grammar

Nothing looks more unprofessional than an email littered with grammar and spelling mistakes. Having a strong grasp of the english language is absolutely key for aspiring entrepreneurs as you will be interacting with business partners and customers regularly online.

Tip: Whenever you write something out, let a colleague check through what you have written to make sure that there aren’t any mistakes hidden in there. It is often hard to see the mistakes you make in your own writing and a second pair of eyes is always useful.

Find the enjoyment in your work

Final point. Enjoy what you do and have fun in your work. Take pride in your business and really love what you are doing. Enjoyment is infectious and will make people want to work with you.

At the base of every successful story in business is an entrepreneur who has a passion and drive to make something of themselves. That passion is the key motivation that connects all your skills together. With passion and enjoyment in your work, the job doesn’t seem much like work after all.