Entrepreneurship

What is an Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is seen as an individual who sets up a business, or even a number of businesses, with the aim of making a profit. It involves financial risk but can have significant rewards if the entrepreneur uses their skills and knowledge to lead their venture to success.

For future business owners, ensuring that you have entrepreneurial skills is vital. Without them, business owners turn the risks involved with setting up a business into even bigger risks - and could end up losing a lot of money. Even entrepreneurs with a fantastic business idea or product face disaster if they don’t have the right knowledge, attitude, or skill set.

However, it’s becoming increasingly more common to utilize skills associated with entrepreneurship throughout every level of a business - even if that business is well-established.

Often, entrepreneurs are hard-working, respected, and innovative. They’re highly creative and great at saving money, solving problems, and adapting to challenges and change. Each of these characteristics of an entrepreneur is what your business undoubtedly seeks in your employees. A workforce filled with employees who have an entrepreneurial mindset is more likely to thrive than a team that lacks engagement.

What skills are needed to be a great entrepreneur?

The skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur don’t necessarily come naturally. However, they can be learned, which means you can develop your employees to have these characteristics.

Of course, depending on the industry your organization is in, specific hard skills are needed. There are also plenty of soft skills that entrepreneurs possess which are transferable regardless of industry or the role employees hold.

• Strategic thinking - planning, organizing, and utilizing strategies is an effective way to work towards long-term success.
• Adaptability - things rarely go right in business, and being open to change and able to adapt where necessary is vital.
• Communication - entrepreneurs spend a lot of time communicating with others, both in-person and through writing. This also helps with networking and building relationships.
• Sales - entrepreneurs do a lot of selling, whether it’s their products, their services, or themselves. Being a strong salesperson, including having exceptional negotiation skills, is key.
• Creativity - entrepreneurs need to use their creativity when thinking about new ideas, solving problems, and seeking opportunities.
• Leadership - while not necessarily leading a team, effective teamwork requires leadership skills to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards common goals.
• Resilience - no entrepreneur got everything right the first time, and resilience ensures employees don’t let failure or setbacks stop them from pursuing their goals.
• Time management - entrepreneurs have a lot to juggle, and time management involves prioritizing and meeting deadlines consistently.
• Budget management - every business is driven by money, and being conscious and respectful of budgets is important.

Should your business train your employees to be entrepreneurs?

Offering your employees the opportunity to develop into entrepreneurs may be a difficult barrier to overcome. After all, you want to retain your employees and not teach them how to set up a rival business. However, encouraging your employees to become entrepreneurs is about teaching them the necessary skills and knowledge they need to be successful, well-rounded employees. Many of the skills needed to be an entrepreneur are shared by top talent at every business, regardless of role or level of seniority.

Of course, it’s not in your business’ best interest to provide training to staff with the intent of them starting their own business. However, teaching your employees to become entrepreneurs isn’t about giving them this specific knowledge - for example, you wouldn’t teach them how to set up or run a business. Instead, you’re helping them adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, so they can perform well in their roles and help drive your business to success.

Employees who want to start their own venture will leave and do so whether they receive training at your organization or not. However, the advantages of offering this training far outweigh the potential risks.

The advantages of an entrepreneurial mindset

As we’ve already highlighted, becoming an entrepreneur can be about setting up a business, however, it can also be far more than that. Adopting an entrepreneurial mindset has plenty of advantages for your employees, and this also has many advantages for your business.

The benefits to your business

The advantages to your business include:

• Entrepreneurs face problems every day, and entrepreneurial skills allow employees to find new, unique, and creative solutions to issues and challenges.
• Resources are often limited, and resourcefulness ensures employees find innovative ways to get around those limitations.
• Like every other business, yours will undoubtedly be hit by setbacks. An entrepreneurial mindset will ensure your employees have the determination, adaptability, and resilience to overcome any failures.
• The last thing your management team needs is to micromanage, and an entrepreneurial mindset helps employees to learn to use and trust their initiative and drive.
• Entrepreneurs have a customer-focused attitude, forming strong relationships built on trust.

When your employees excel in these skills it increases their efficiency and productivity, which ensures the work they produce is consistently high-quality, on budget, and on time. This means you’ll have satisfied clients and customers, and develop a reputation as an employer that values the growth of its people. Also, not only will this help your business retain staff by reducing turnover, but when the time comes to recruit you’ll attract the top talent in your industry.

The benefits to your employees

The above benefits to your business are also advantages to your employees, as they will give them the confidence they need to shine, which in turn will increase their engagement, motivation, and job satisfaction.

When employees are given the tools and resources needed to grow it also increases morale and ensures they feel valued. This means they’re more likely to stay at your organization and it allows your business more opportunities to offer promotions and career progression.

What skills should your employees develop?

We’ve already discussed the skills your employees need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset, but how should the development of these skills be prioritized? This will depend on the personal development strategy of each employee, but below are just a few key skills that can be learned through courses on entrepreneurship.

• Communication - both written and verbal communication are used constantly in the majority of roles regardless of industry
• Taking risks - taking calculated, data-driven risks can lead to innovation and growth 
• Adaptability - being open to and embracing change ensures operations aren’t disrupted
• Customer focus - focusing on the customer creates a strong customer experience and builds loyalty
• Decision-making - making confident, well-researched decisions is important across the business
• Leadership - it’s important that your management team are seen as leaders and not bosses

Can you take entrepreneurship courses online?

Yes, online entrepreneurship courses are a great way to learn skills and develop your workforce. eLearning courses are convenient and flexible, which means they can be accessed whenever and wherever, and using any device. Because online courses are self-directed, employees can learn when they have downtime or dedicated development sessions, so learning doesn’t get in the way of other responsibilities or add stress or pressure. And because course materials use a variety of teaching methods, it helps with engagement and retention.

eLearning is also cost-effective and can be easily scaled, so you can offer training to an individual employee or your entire workforce. Courses cover a variety of topics, from an in-depth entrepreneurial masterclass to specific soft skills such as communication.

What are some of the best entrepreneurship courses to take online?

As we’ve already highlighted, there’s a wide and varied range of entrepreneurship training courses you can access right now. Some of the best courses include:

• Entrepreneur Masterclass
• Entrepreneurial Skills
• Effective Leadership
• Entrepreneur Skills – Interactive
• Entrepreneur Skills - Insights and Strategies Series
• Unstoppable: Inner Power For Entrepreneurs
• Interpersonal Skills: More Important Than Ever
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management - Lecture 1: Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneurship Creativity

There are also plenty of other courses employees can take to focus on developing specific entrepreneurial soft skills, such as decision-making, customer focus, and adaptability. 

Teach your employees about entrepreneurship with Go1

Ready to provide your employees with entrepreneurship courses to give them the skills they need to progress in their roles? At Go1, we have a wide range of eLearning courses that can be accessed instantly. For more information on how Go1 can support your learning and development strategy, schedule a demo with a member of our team today.