Skills Business Owners Possess: Marketing, Negotiation, Management

In part one of this multi-part blog series, we went over some of the primary skills a new business owner will do well to possess. Owning a business means having a diverse range of skills and knowledge across several areas, allowing you to be involved with all the important parts of your company.

At RockRidge Financial Services, we’re proud to offer numerous areas of assistance for those starting a business, from capital raising, obtaining a bank loan, and financial planning to small business accounting, outsourced CFO services and tons of other areas in between. Here are some of the other top skills we tend to see among the best entrepreneurs who work with us, and those you should be evaluating in yourself if you’re considering starting a business.

General Marketing

We went over data analytics in part one of our series, and while they’re completely different areas, some of the same themes apply here with marketing. The biggest one: As a business owner you don’t necessarily have to be a marketing expert, but you absolutely must have a strong baseline of knowledge.

Providing a strong strategy and brand oversight, will allow you to participate fully in marketing and ad campaigns and focus your team on better results. The business owner is often one of the most important people here when it comes to brainstorming broad strategies given their knowledge of the entire business – you’re leaving your marketing department shorthanded if you can’t even take part in these sessions.

Project Management

For many business owners, an easy way to think of their role is as a constant project manager. You’re regularly supervising other people or groups and coordinating projects, resources, budgets and related elements.

For this reason, strong project management skills are another huge plus for business owners. You need to be able to efficiently communicate with employees and collaborate in some settings – this includes taking input from others and being open to it, by the way.

Negotiation Skills

There are also a number of settings where as a business owner, you’ll be negotiating during the course of business. There are several such areas here, from negotiating business financing with investors to negotiating with clients about their pricing and deal terms. There will even be negotiations with employees about salary, raises and responsibilities, plus potentially numerous other areas here.

It pays to have solid, grounded negotiation skills here. This does not mean the same thing as teaching yourself how to overwhelm others in a debate – rather, it means learning how to effectively communicate and compromise within a negotiation without letting your primary goals slip.

For more on the skills a great business owner possesses, or to learn about any of our business financial advising or related services, speak to the staff at RockRidge Financial Services today.