Today's successful entrepreneurs have mastered these 5 soft skills

Problem-solving, adaptability, resilience, communication, and confidence set the foundation for successfully managing and growing a business. By investing time in understanding and practicing these skills, you can navigate challenges and build your legacy. 

The ability to identify issues, develop solutions, and solve problems can help move your business forward. There are several problem-solving strategies business owners use, such as mind mapping, the Five-Step Problem-Solving Model, and the Six Thinking Hats method. While it's important to think strategically, there will also be times when you need to make quick decisions and act on your feet. For example, in healthcare practice ownership, clinical expertise becomes more important as exposure to more complex cases increases. Delegating non-clinical tasks and hands-on duties can free up time, reduce stress, and improve mental clarity, enabling more efficient problem-solving when navigating complex challenges.

Provide Advisory Network member Dr. Benjamin Taylor, DMD has owned Dunwoody Dental Care for nearly three years. He emphasizes that delegation and trust in his team allow for proactive problem-solving. He highlights the value of learning from others’ experiences. Joining owner groups – in-person or online – can provide insights into challenges and strategies others have used to overcome them.

Embracing flexibility in the face of shifting markets, customer demands, and unexpected obstacles can help when owning and running a business. When facing challenges like cancellations, no-shows, and slow customer traffic, staying calm and embracing the unexpected can help strike a balance between maintaining strong customer relations and implementing effective policies.

By keeping things in perspective, you can be more agile and creative, allowing for adaptability in any situation. Dr. Taylor draws from his time in the Iraq desert as a combat dentist for the U.S. Army, making a little office drama seem minor in comparison. By seeing challenges in perspective, you can navigate obstacles with greater ease.

As a business owner, challenges and setbacks are inevitable. Maintaining mental flexibility and staying calm and hopeful when faced with uncertainty can instill confidence in yourself, as well as your team, customers, and partners. Resilience helps you learn from your failures and bounce back stronger.

To help build resilience, develop habits that enhance your mental discipline and flexibility. For Dr. Taylor, exercising at 5 a.m. every weekday helps keep him disciplined and motivated. 

“You can read a manual all day, but eventually, you have to fly the plane. As an owner, you need repetition to build the habit, and over time, this builds resilience,” said Dr. Taylor.

Mastering effective communication benefits both you and your team, particularly in healthcare, where unclear instructions can result in serious errors. It’s important to ensure your message is not only heard but understood, and knowing your audience – your customers, team, vendors, and partners – can make all the difference.  

Dr. Taylor fosters open communication by holding a daily morning huddle with his team. This gives them a chance to discuss the day’s plan and address any issues from the prior day. “Just like a football team needs a huddle before a play, proper preparation in business is key,” said Dr. Taylor.

Self-confidence allows you to believe in yourself while navigating the complex challenges of owning a business. Confidence is a learned skill that can be passed on to others, and by taking the risk of pursuing ownership, you demonstrate growing confidence; by continuing to trust your abilities and decisions, you can take the necessary risks to move your business forward.

  

“It’s been a wild two-and-a-half years, but growing collections by nearly 49% in that time is something I am proud of. If I could talk to myself back in 2020, I’d tell myself to relax a little,” said Dr. Taylor.

Dr. Taylor notes that his growing confidence in leadership, business management, and customer care is a natural result of his experience. He reminds himself that maintaining customer care should always be the top priority.