To succeed, entrepreneurs must have many skills that allow them to conceive, launch and grow new products, services and/or companies. This article describes some of the most critical skills that an entrepreneur must possess.

Focus: Entrepreneurs must focus. They must focus on goals to ensure that they are reached, customers to ensure that they are satisfied, and employees to make sure they are motivated.

Vision: Entrepreneurs must have a vision of where they want their company to be in the future. In addition, the entrepreneur must be able to communicate this vision in an exciting manner to employees and investors, so that they share the vision and are motivated to help achieve it.

Leadership: Rarely can entrepreneurs make a company succeed by themselves. This is much like the fact that greatest athlete doesn’t ensure that their team will win if the other players cannot perform. As such, entrepreneurs need to be able to identify staffing needs, expertly fill them, and lead the team to success.

Persistence & Passion: An entrepreneur must be passionate about what they are trying to accomplish. Likewise, they must be willing to commit whatever is needed of them. They must persist through trying times, since there are always bad times, and fight as much as needed to achieve the goals they have set.

Technical skills: While entrepreneurs may not need to have the greatest technical skill sets in their organizations, they need to be savvy enough to lead the technical team. They need to understand the technical team’s language and have a general understanding of the challenges they face in order to effectively lead them.

Flexibility: Successful entrepreneurs understand that the world and the environment in which they operate are constantly changing. While they must focus on the end-game, they must adapt their strategies and offerings to meet changing market conditions.

There has often been debate regarding whether entrepreneurship can be taught. For instance, can you really teach persistence or passion? Even if you can’t, by understanding the importance of skills such as these, entrepreneurs can focus on these skills and bring to the table what is needed to succeed in their entrepreneurial endeavors.