In Part 1 of the succeeding with a Start-up series we focused on your story. In Part 2 we discuss your financial capacity. In our final section in this series we focus on learning to deal with people.
Relationships
Almost every business has to deal with people one way or another. As an entrepreneur, one of the things you will have to do is to master the art of dealing with people. This not only applies to customers but with people who are involved in your daily operations. While I know there are those who will just say “I’m not a people person”, you need to know that your ability on how to deal with people can make or break your business.
Dealing with people effectively builds relationships that are usually vital to your success. This affects you, the owner, primarily in 3 ways.
3 ways relationships affect a business owner
First is Customer Management. Knowing how to handle your customers will enable you to build loyalty as well as make you aware of things that you can do to improve your business that will make your current customers happier. Keep in mind that a happy customer is customer who can potentially refer people towards your business.
Second, you have Talent Management. One of the most important parts of a start-up is its people. You could have a great product / service but, if the people who run it are uninspired and become mediocre, they can overshadow all of the positives. On the flip side, if your people are motivated and happy, they can drive your business all the way to greatness.
Third is Partner Management. Most businesses will be dealing with partners to their business such as suppliers, investors, etc. Proper management of these people can give you preferential treatment, preferential rates, and second chances for times when you make mistakes or when the business encounters some unfavourable conditions (i.e. being late for payments to suppliers due to liquidity issues).
These 3 factors are all dependent on how you deal with the people you encounter in your business so if you’re saying that you need to improve on your people skills then you’d best start to learn how to do so right now. Building relationships is the key to survival in any business. Once you’re confident in your “people skills”, you can rest assured that you have another thing in your business that’s working towards your success.
About Brightblue Transition Solutions
Located on Vancouver’s North Shore we are the premier business broker in the lower mainland, contact us if you need any help buying or selling a business in the greater Vancouver or lower mainland areas.
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