Five unexpected must-have qualities you need to become a stellar entrepreneur

The world is full of business courses, but entrepreneurs regularly tell SmartCompanyand StartupSmart that it’s the school of experience, rather than a top tier university, that has secured them the best chance at business success.

Beyond skills in planning, strategy and presentations, business founders say cultivating qualities that help them deal with people has been invaluable to their company’s growth.

Research into leadership potential supports the idea that softer skills like this have as much, if not more, importance than the ability to read a spreadsheet.

For example, the directors of the organisational training consultancy, the Potential Project, outlined earlier this month that their research into leadership reveals it’s self-awareness, rather than strong strategic insight, which helps leaders get the best outcomes for their businesses.

Closer to home, our Smart50 cohort from 2017 reported that building the right team and keeping them happy was often more important than coming up with a great idea in the first place.

With this in mind, what qualities should you be working on today to ensure your business benefits in the future? Read more

Emma Koehn - Smart Company - 19 Jan 2018