The main reason most business owners fail (over 90%) is because most people who start a business have no idea how to build and run a successful business. They lack critical skill sets.

So why start businesses? What makes them think they can be successful? Well, what kills most people early on is an assumption that everyone makes. And it is a ‘fatal’ assumption.

Everyone assumes that since they know how to “do” the technical side of business, they will know how to run a business that does that technical job (a famous quote from business guru Michael Gerber).

In other words, they assume that just because they can cook well, it means they can run a successful restaurant. They assume that just because they can teach well, that means they can run a successful learning center. They assume that just because they are great at cutting hair, they can run a successful hair salon.

Could not be farther from the truth. Actually, the chef who knows very little about marketing, branding, management and staff training.

And you probably know even less about operations, cash flow management, accounting, etc. From being excellent at his job as a cook, he becomes totally incompetent and lost as an entrepreneur.

The worst thing is that this Chef will probably spend most of his time in the kitchen doing the operational work of preparing food, cooking, tasting, etc… (because that’s what he knows how to do).

As a result, you won’t be spending essential time on all the other important facets of the business, such as marketing, finance, branding, customer service, and administration.

What I have just described is the typical scenario that happens to most people who were once specialized employees in a particular technical skill (ie cooking, hairdressing, accounting, etc.). They then start a business, only to find that they lack the necessary skills to run the business.

To summarize, there are six business skill sets you must have in addition to the technical skills to build a successful and lasting business.

These are the skills of:

1) creativity and innovation,

2) organizational development,

3) people management and development,

4) sales and marketing,

5) money management and

6) operations and systems development.