What is one of the most important skill for an entrepreneur?

What is one of the most important skill for an entrepreneur?

There are plenty of inventors in the world, one of the prominent one's being Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. Did you know that other than the incandescent light bulb, some of his other contributions to the world were the phonograph, the kinetoscope (motion picture device), the electric pen ( for duplicating hand-written documents in offices), the vitascope (a film projector), the tasimeter (a device to measure infrared radiation), and the electric power distribution system (to carry power from transmission system to individual consumers).

Nikola Tesla, who is another amazing inventor of the alternative current supply system, was the mind behind inventions such as the remote control (which you use to control things wirelessly), the violet ray (a therapeutic medical device), the induction motor (yes the very same which Raju Rastogi in 3 idiots talked about), the neon lamp, the wireless telegraphy ( transmission of telegraph signals by radio waves) and the list goes on.

But why am I talking about these 2 inventors?

Let me finish your curiosity. Thomas Edison during his life accumulated more than 12 million dollars by the year 1931 and passed on the same to his family after he left the world. On the contrary, Nikola Tesla died very poor in 1943 and his estate was sold to pay some part of his debt. What was the difference between these 2 inventors? And, let me tell you that there was a time when Tesla worked for Edison to help improve Edison's inventions, however, the two parted ways because of a conflicting business-scientific relationship.

The difference between the two was that Edison was a better businessman than Tesla. Edison made millions by selling his inventions and had people like Edwin Barnes on his side to focus on the selling aspect as well. On the other hand, Tesla sold most of his patents to Westinghouse and spent almost every penny to invent more but eventually he ran out of money because many of his inventions didn't workout well. This is where I remember the saying of Napoleon Hill, you should have a "master mind group" of yours who could manage things for you because ultimately a single man can't handle thousands of things, delegation is important. The "master mind group" as mentioned in the book Think and Grow Rich is your dream team who works for enabling growth in your wealth. Whether Edison knew it or nor, having Edwin Barnes on his side, one of the best salesman in the world who sold millions of Edison's inventions, was a very cool strategy because that way he could focus on inventing and not on managing the cashflow sustenance. It was Barnes who did it for him.

So what is the most important skill for an entrepreneur?

It is delegation of your work to your team or "the master mind group". If you start a business and there is a need for your constant presence at the place of business, then it is not a scalable business. Look around yourself and notice those big brands who have their outlets in each and every mall and city in your country. If a brand has 500 stores, then how can the owner be present at every store. It is important to know that you need to hire and train people in such way that they are able to manage the store on their own and a proper control system is established to check the efficiency of each store, and more focus can be put on stores which do not meet the efficiency standards. 

Did you know that Henry Ford never went to college and didn't even complete his education, still he was the owner of the most successful automobile company on earth. What smartness did Ford have? He told a group of his hired engineers to develop the V-8 engine by casting the crankcase and the cylinders in a single unit. He paid them for years to come to the workshop, and try to build the same. With his strong belief, one day magically after years of work, the V-8 engine was developed and then we all know where Ford company has reached today. Think about it though he was not well-educated but he was smart to delegate the work to people more educated than him (his master mind group). His delegation skills made him huge fortune. That is why, whenever you plan to start a business, look for how easily delegation can be accomplished in the business, so that you can scale the business faster and reach your desired goals. I hope you found this article helpful.

Thanks for reading!

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