80% of start-ups in Nigeria fail in their first year but the probability of failure reduces with each year they make it through.
Every tech startup is almost like every other startup as relating to the kind of skills that would be required by the founders. We all know that starting a business especially in this economic climax is no mean feat and would require a lot of skills to be able to pull off on building your startup from the ground up and managing it in a sustainable manner such that it can thrive in the economic space for a long time while also delivering innovative products and services. As a tech entrepreneur, you are first an entrepreneur before a tech expert and you must act like one to be effective and successful. I will be sharing with you some necessary skills to learn and adapt as a tech entrepreneur that would help you grow a sustainable business.
1. Sales
As an entrepreneur, you wear many hats and come into many functions especially as a start-up. You are the CEO, the sales manager, head of the advertising department, human resource etc. Of the different hats, you will wear, that of the sales manager is one of the most important. This is because an idea does not get converted to a product without some form of sales, this could be in the form of networking at meetings to sell your idea and your ability to deliver, pitching to venture capitalist to get your idea funded and even selling to consumers and end users of your products and services. You need to learn the art of selling, communicating as brief and succinctly as possible while convincing others to put their bet on you.
2. Communication
Many times we think communication is being able to speak and hear a particular language, but it goes beyond that. Communicating is the ability to expressly send off an idea or opinion about something in a manner that the audience would be able to understand and respond positively. This may require a lot of reading, listening and research to be able to sharpen these skills. As a tech entrepreneur, you will be involved in a lot of writing both formal and informal, letters and memos to organizations and to your team members. Never underestimate this skill; you must learn the art of communicating your ideas to your client and team members and get feedback.
3. Time management
Time is the one thing we all have as humans equally; what you do with your time will determine to a large extent the outcome of your life and business. As a tech entrepreneur, many things will vie for your time and attention and you must wisely choose which is important and necessary, which is important but you can delegate and which does not require your time, what meetings to attend and which to move online without the stress of a physical meetup. You will keep making choices and decisions on your time and you must choose well in order to get the best of each day.
4. Persistence
Great businesses do not come on a platter of gold, nor are they built in the ease of a beach chair. They are built through hard work and tenacity, the will the keep going and keep pushing the idea you believe in even when it looks like all the doors are shut. It is creating a way to make solutions available to problems even when the road gets rough and the going gets tough. As a tech entrepreneur, you will need to get a thick skin and a strong will to keep working things out until it works.
5. Desire to learn
Masters or experts of a field do not attain such position without constantly exposing themselves to learning. You much choose to keep learning, learning about business, your customers, other businesses that have failed and thrived, learning from your own mistakes and successes, about your industry. Attend conferences related to your field and entrepreneurship, read news and blogs, read books and expose yourself to knowledge in every way.
These are only some of the necessary skills to adopt as a tech entrepreneur before or after learning about all the technical aspects of your business. Starting a business may be hard but with the right information and exposure, you can make it through the multitudes that fail each year.
SOURCE:
Under 30 CEO’s
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