To develop a small business into a successful enterprise demands more than the passion that you may have for your business. Fortunately, or unfortunately, facts speak for themselves! Over half of new businesses fail because the entrepreneur is unable to translate his passion into practical business skills. Running a small business requires that you become a “jack-of-all-skills.”

Having solid business strategies are valuable, but without a set of fundamental business skills to implement them, the strategies remain dormant. It is important to assess the skills that you have, the skills that you will need to learn, or simply the skills that you will need to improve.

Success in your business demands more than hard work, expertise in your field, and resilience. Success demands the use of fundamental business skills: General Management Skills, Analytical Skills, Financial Skills, Communication Skills, Sales and Marketing Skills, and Strategic Planning Skills.

No one is more determined to reveal the secrets of business success than Jim Collins. Jim Collins is the author of two best-selling business books–Built to Last and Good to Great. Both of his highly acclaimed books address the question: Why do some companies become great, while others flounder? Bo Burlingham, an editor-at-large of Inc. Magazine, recently interviewed Mr. Collins. I found his article to be very interesting. Here is just a snippet of the article.

Bo asks Mr. Collins, “Have you noticed any significant change/changes in the business of building great companies over the last 30 years? Jim Collins replied, “I would say that the basic principles of building a company have remained the same to a great degree, but it’s the skills that are always changing! The skills . . . You need to be continually learning new skills.”

There is a great need for a wide range of business skills because each task requires a different skill. For instance, the skills that you need to hatch a business concept, identify a market, develop a product or service, or assemble the resources and operations to bring it to market are not the same skills that you need “to shepherd” a company into the future. That’s why it is important to first assess your skills so that you can accurately identify the voids in your skill set, and then take the necessary steps to fill those voids and improve your critical business skill set. Your goal should be “to get to the top of your game,” or “to remain at the top of your game,”, or both!

It is highly unlikely or unrealistic for one business owner to have all of the necessary skills to effectively manage and control a business. A business owner may be proficient in several of the required disciplines—sales, marketing, management, organizational control, financials, logistics—but may not be proficient in all of the disciplines. The business owner must now develop a proactive approach by surrounding himself with individuals who have greater expertise in the areas where he lacks experience or “know how.”

Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computer, is a good example of a business owner who realized his own shortcomings in certain areas. Mr. Dell has said, on more than one occasion, that he realized early on in his career that he needed to surround himself with a strong management team, a team whose members had the skills and experience that he lacked. The success of Michael Dell and his company, Dell Computer, speaks for itself…

“Being at the top of your game” means that you are in control of your business activities, that you are building a company that is sustainable in the future, that you are intent on making your company better than your competitors, and that you understand and become proficient at implementing a set of fundamental business skills.

You, too, can learn fundamental business skills! Whether you are a novice or a seasoned entrepreneur, getting and staying at the top of your game requires that you maximize your business efforts by becoming proficient in a set of fundamental business skills.