Part III- Working Well With Others

People. Before you launch a business, you need to like them. This is so blatantly obvious that you may feel it need not be said. So why am I saying it? Because I am constantly running into entrepreneurs that do not enjoy people. They started their own business to get away from Soap Opera City that happens by default in Cubicleland. (It does make you want to run.) But becoming an entrepreneur because you want to get away from people makes about as much sense as becoming a teacher when you do not like children. All entrepreneurs eventually have to work with other people–even if, currently, the only other living breathing soul in your office is your dog. Only people buy products. You will have to meet a few people because your dog will never become your customer. Unless you sell pet food.

Are you able to connect with people easily? Are you able to sit down with a complete stranger in a restaurant and start a conversation from scratch? Your ability in the people skills department will have a direct impact on your business life, for better or for worse. I should know. I am the textbook introvert. I lived under my desk for years. (Introverts still like people–it is just that we prefer and recharge in solitude.)

I had owned a business for several years before I had conducted a single sales call or went to a single meeting. Networking was not only something I did not want to do–I went out of my way to avoid it. My thinking went like this: “It is good to delegate the things you cannot do well.” My conclusion was to hire people to talk for me. However, I convinced myself I was not good at networking, when in actuality, it was an excuse.  Then, in one eventful year, both of these persons that I hired found other employment. The only possible presentation-elect was moi. I was forced into the position, and perceived it as a crisis. It was not. Climbing out from under my desk was a necessary step required for my own personal growth, and the health of my business.

Knowing how to network is not an optional skill. Knowing how to make conversation is not only a necessary skill for business but for life. As a business owner, hiring other people to talk for me was not delegation. It was an abdication of responsibility. Business owners must possess the ability to communicate to survive.

Here are three reasons why:

Entrepreneurs must learn how to Yopp. Like the Who down in Whoville, you must let others know you exist. You must build relationships. Do the thing you fear most. Find someone you do not know. Talk to them. Share ideas. Share yourself. Share life with others in your community. Start small. Join your local chamber. Join for the good of the whole, not just for your own benefit. Force yourself to make a new friend. Even if you cannot make conversation easily, take heart. Practice makes perfect. A business is a business, no matter how small.

Entrepreneurs have to be able to promote their product. If you have a good product, you have to be able to tell other people about it in a convincing way. If you have trepidation, you are not 100% convinced that the claims about your product are true. Ramp up your game, and prepare your product, so that you will have complete confidence to tell others about it. If your product is good and can help others live richer lives and help them achieve their goals? Then if you do not tell others, they are losing out. If you tell them, you are helping them. That is what a good sales technique feels like anyway. It feels like  helping.  

Entrepreneurs have to be able to lead. Many entrepreneurs are reluctant leaders. They never planned to be one. They just want to get their heads down and work. But if you grow, your business will require other people to help you. Hire one employee, and you are a leader.  Great leaders know how to inspire others to their best. Great leaders motivate others by sharing the vision of what they wish to achieve. They help other people become more than they knew they could be. If you do not know how to lead, there are countless resources online to help you. Seek them out and step up to the plate. You must lead or be led.

As I said at the beginning of this series, most of what I have learned in business has been learned in the School of Hard Knocks. I have never understood why we humans are compelled to sign up for classes here. It has the highest tuition. The profs are bad. The classes are outrageously difficult. Sometimes there are pop quizzes, making you feel really, really stupid. But we end up learning something. And we learn it so well that we rarely have to retake the test. 

But you do not have to sign up. Take it from me. If you are secretly avoiding people, you are not helping your business. Learn as much as you can about building relationships and about building emotional intelligence. You can learn by practicing. I have been attending Toastmasters for the past two years, (recommended by the way), reading as fast as I can, applying as fast as I can, and networking as much as I can. I am honing my voice in this blog. (How am I doing by the way?)

Your people skills will make or break your business. They will also make or break any opportunity, and improvement in this department can improve your entire life. If your people skills need an upgrade, take heart. If I the quintessential introvert can learn, anyone can.

Before you launch a business, create a vision, a mission, or a trajectory, hone the basic people skills of life. It is a skill more basic than basic. Don’t leave home,  and don’t start business without it.

Stay tuned for Part IV next week: Fitting It All In

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Why do we at etc!graphics inc, a graphic design company, care about the way you manage your business?  Because your graphics will always reflect your internal management. The clearer your vision, the more lucid your marketing, and the better your visual graphics. Join us all this month as we share ways to help your small business sustain and grow in a crowded marketplace. Etc!Graphics is devoted to helping you, the small business owner, think like a marketer.

You can read more articles like this, and read Part 1 and II of this series right here at Thincblog.