Keep Honing those Critical Skills!

You’re nearly ready to start your entrepreneurial journey! With a score like this, you’re the kind of person who will thrive as an entrepreneur—a natural leader, curious, hungry for new projects, eager to make a difference, and so much more. The fact that you’re so comfortable in common leadership scenarios like embracing uncertainty, motivating people, being self-directed, and unafraid in the face of failure means that you’re already farther down the entrepreneurial path than you think. 

However, no matter how well your personality fits the work, any venture you start will struggle unless you’ve come to the table prepared with the right skills to complement your demeanor. To many physicians, business can seem like the purview of professionals from another planet. While you might have a great idea and the drive to do what it takes to succeed, you MUST be sure of the technical skills and know-how of running a business. Ask yourself if you have a firm grasp on the following:

• Structuring your business
• Setting the right goals
• Lean operating processes
• Identifying your buyers
• Crafting a business plan
• Money management
• Building a productive company culture
• Measuring and interpreting the right metrics
• Marketing your business

If you answer “no” to any of the above, you still have work to do—and that’s okay! Staying committed to learning and improving yourself is as much a part of being an entrepreneur as leading your team. As you work through that list, make an honest self-assessment, and re-order those skills in order from which you are weakest to which you are strongest. This will help you focus on the right areas of special attention. You might only have a few areas that you need to refine before taking off on your journey. 

Whatever work you have left, you can rest assured that these skills are attainable with the help of insights from Entrepreneur Rx. While the entrepreneurial life can be one of radical independence, that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. The fact is, you are the stuff entrepreneurs are made of, and that puts you ahead of most physicians considering such a career move. Now it’s just time to do the work.

For an overview of some of the issues facing today’s entrepreneurs, take a look inside my book, Entrepreneur Rx: A Physician’s Guide to Starting a Business. To get your copy now, click here. If you like what you see and want to discuss what your next steps are, reach out today.

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John Shufeldt is helping physicians bridge the gap between their medical expertise and entrepreneurial dreams. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.