Being a founder of a startup is difficult. Numerous abilities are required to create and develop a startup.
A startup’s founder must do more than just create it; he or she must also sustain it and drive its growth. The success of a startup’s founder is determined by the company’s growth and major milestones, such as when it goes public.
In the early stages of a company, the founders are responsible for assembling a formidable team to ensure the company’s long-term survival. The team members should possess skills that complement one another so that they can easily solve any problems that may arise.
Let’s now delve deeper into the necessary skills for a startup founder.
Also read: What is Startup Founder?
1. Have an open mind
The only certainty in the technology industry is that it is in a constant state of change. The same holds true for the startup sector of the technology industry.
Consequently, startups will perpetually experience change. These changes could be caused by a shift in the industry or by external factors such as economic crises, pandemics, market shifts, or a change in consumer preferences.
Founders must maintain an open mind in order to adapt to changes and unpredictability and to find opportunities in each obstacle they face. Accepting changes and constructive criticism from others will be easier for founders with an open mind.
Keeping an open mind will also make founders more adaptable and unafraid to make changes necessary to achieve the company’s objectives.
2. Leadership
Skills That Every Startup Founders Required (source: freepik)
Every founder must also possess leadership skills. Founders cannot build a business on their own. To build the foundation of the company, they need a strong group.
It is impossible to build a cohesive, supportive team in the absence of strong leadership abilities. The team may fail to collaborate, and startup objectives will also fail.
During this phase, the team will also expand. Not only the founder and co-founder’s initial team, but also the employees. In addition to team building, leadership skills are required when a startup begins to develop.
Also read: Advantages of the Transformational Leadership Style in Startups
Having a large number of employees from diverse backgrounds is challenging. Especially given that the founders are responsible for guiding the employees toward the company’s goals and vision, founders with adequate leadership skills can direct employees to walk together toward the goals.
By embracing those closest to them, founders can begin to develop their leadership skills.
With this ability, a founder can easily determine the types of team members required to build and develop the startup.
Also read: The Difference Between CEO and Director in A Startup
3. Decision making
Because founders are frequently faced with two or more difficult decisions, decision-making skills are crucial.
If founders are unable to make quick and accurate decisions, they risk missing out on many advantageous opportunities. Therefore, in order to make a decision, founders must develop the ability to rapidly and precisely weigh risks and potential outcomes.
A founder’s decision will determine the startup’s course of action.
4. Creativity
Today’s business owners must add value to each product or service they sell in order to remain competitive.
Consequently, startup founders must be able to identify creative and innovative opportunities. They must continually cultivate their creative abilities to ensure innovation consistency.
If a founder lacks creativity, it is simple for a rival with innovative products or services to surpass them.
5. Communication
Communication is a necessary skill for every entrepreneur. They must be able to clearly convey their intentions to the company’s internal team and the general public.
A good communicator does more than just say what they want to say; they also have the ability to read a situation and respond appropriately. They are aware that speaking with founders, directors, managers, and security services will necessitate distinct communication styles.
A founder with strong communication skills can converse with anyone with ease. Therefore, this ability is essential for networking and getting along with others, whether they are employees, people from outside the company, or people from other companies.
In addition, founders with strong communication skills will be able to build a professional network that will play a significant role in their professional development and the growth of their company.
Also read: Successful Young Indonesian Entrepreneurs Starting a Business from Scratch
6. Management
Founders must also be skilled at management. This skill enables the founder to organize many aspects of the business, including finances, business risks, and time management.
In the startup industry, the adage “time is money” holds true. Therefore, the founder must know how to maximize their time management skills. They must make efficient use of their time, but also know when to stop and rest.
Time and financial management are crucial for the development and growth of a startup.
In addition, a founder must also have human management skills. This is needed to create a good corporate culture for employees. Check out employee management and company culture tips by downloading ASEAN’s Growth & Scale Talent Playbook.
7. Understanding of SEO/Digital Marketing
The aforementioned skills are predominantly soft. Now, we will discuss one of the most essential technical or hard skills a founder must possess. To increase sales, search engine optimization (SEO) is essential knowledge for anyone pursuing a career in the digital world.
SEO is a technique for optimizing keywords for search engines. By getting good at SEO, the product or service we sell will have a better chance of showing up on the first page of a search engine. This will make it more likely that we will get visitors and make sales. There are numerous SEO techniques, including meta tags, alt tags, images, and keyword placement.
Even though there are numerous SEO specialists, it would be advantageous for the founder to have at least fundamental SEO knowledge. This skill would be particularly useful for startup founders with limited funds.
8. Automation system creation
Skills That Every Startup Founders Required (source: freepik)
An automated system will provide your business with convenience. Consequently, founders should ideally know how to create an automated system so that the business can operate automatically.
For instance, a founder may be required to develop a flowchart and conversion-enhancing marketing automation processes. They may request the developer’s assistance in providing the system’s framework.
Using the proper framework, founders can construct a functional system and automate it with relative ease.
Also read: Important Positions in Startup Organizational Structure
9. Technical language
In the startup industry, the IT division and non-IT divisions, such as the marketing division, communicate differently. These two departments have distinct communication styles and patterns.
To communicate with employees in the IT division, the founder must understand technical terminology. They do not need to master every skill as long as they understand the fundamentals of the business. This comprehension facilitates communication between founders and the development team.
It will be easier for the technical and non-technical teams to share the same perspective if they possess technical language skills.
10. Analytic Thinking
A founder or businessman in general must possess this ability. In almost every aspect of business, such as team building, funding, and business planning, the ability to think analytically is crucial.
With proper analysis, the business may generate greater profits and maintain its viability.
These ten abilities are the fundamentals that every founder of a startup must possess. Certainly, it is a great deal, and not all founders can acquire the aforementioned 10 skills.
Nonetheless, a founder can always find a co-founder with complementary skills. The co-founder can compensate for the founder’s shortcomings.
So, do you think you have what it takes to start a business?
