The essential life skills you need to succeed in business

Basic life skills are essential to survive in any society. However, to be successful in business an enhanced set of life skills are required.

These skills are either a gift of nature or a result of nurturing in a social environment during formative years; nature or nurture discussions will keep the gang at a BBQ going well into the main course.

Meanwhile, let’s look at a few key life skills of successful business people.

Confidence

Some have it in bucket loads and others have to fake it. Either way to be successful you will need to be confident enough to get by. The more confident you are in presenting your ideas the more likely success will be yours when proposing them.

Remember, if you can’t make it, take a deep breath and fake it.

Curiosity

The very fact that you are reading this article confirms that you are inquisitive enough to look for answers about business success. Odd though it may sound, I think curiosity is a vital skill to being successful. Continue your curiosity into asking and looking for any business opportunities.

Financial management

Cashflow, cashflow, cashflow is all you need to know to stay in business. "Cash is king" is the cry from crass investors whilst the same sentiment is known as financial management in more polite circles. No matter how you get there, investors – be they yourself, your friends or maybe even your family – will sooner or later demand a return on their investment.

The reality is that when this time comes it will take all the charm of a successful business person plus some cold, hard cash to pay the dividend. Hence, the less required for your business venture the better.

And when all the return on investment figures are done, multiply the time required by two just for a measure of reality.

Networking

"You have to get out more!" is the common mantra from folks who are whizzes at networking. They love the process. However, hard it is to be charming at gatherings it’s logical that the more people in business that you meet the more you will learn about business and the more business you will generate. Once the rewards start to flow you may find that you hear yourself say, "you should get out more!"

Personal presentation

Every call is a sales call. Selling the product or cause starts with selling yourself. If you are disrespectful of or disinterested in yourself and your appearance, then you and the product or cause that you represent, is also disrespected.

Every business group has personal presentation expectations. If the norm is business attire or smart casual. the more you fit in the better. As they say, "If it looks like a duck, talks like a duck and walks like a duck… it is a duck!" you will be judged by how you look.

Ruthlessness

Not a popular topic in polite company but the truth is that nice folk run last. To be successful means to want to be a winner. To join those in the winner’s circle requires a different attitude to the majority.

The people who become aware of a less tolerant attitude will be yourself followed by your immediate associates. Harshly described as self-centred and egotistical, the ruthless achiever will always have friends. After all, winners are grinners.

You get nothing for nothing. If you want to be successful in business, you will need to either inherit the skills or hone them to near perfection. After all, when you decide to be successful you will find lots of other equally talented people who wish to push you aside to make room for them to succeed.