First of all, business acumen can also be referred to as business sense or business savvy. Strong business acumen skills are necessary skills required for basic understanding and dealings with business situations, business risks, and business opportunities in a positive manner that will likely lead to a good outcome.
However, business acumen skills emerge as a better driving force for improving the leadership development and financial performances of a business. Business strategies are in two components as, “Business Acumen” which deals with the ability to make good business judgments and decisions, and “business literacy” which has to do with the knowledge and understanding of the various functions of a business.
How to build strong business acumen skills
The need for building strong business acumen skills is very necessary. If you are a business owner or planning to manage a business in the nearest future, then acquiring business acumen skills is highly recommended. Below are simple steps and guidelines for building strong business acumen skills.
Start by building your business skills:
Many companies have a specific standard that they want their employees to meet and such include the ability of the employee to make good business judgments and decisions that will help in improving and developing the business scope. So if you want to stand a better chance and also stay up-to-date with the global business standards, make business acumen a better part of your business professional development.
Check out what is happening in the world of business.
Better business acumens skills will come when you explore what is trending in the global business market. The most reliable sources of such information are through business news. All you need to do is to stay up to date on current business events that take place around the world.
By doing such, you will get to acquire new business ideas and skills which will help you to improve your own business. Some of the best business news websites to get business insights are:
- Forbes
- CNBC
- Bloomberg
- Business Insider
- Market Watch
- Entrepreneur
- Wall Street Journal
- Financial Times
- Business Review
- The Economist.
- Wall Street Journal.
- Google Finance.
- Nairametrics
- Business Week, etc.
Get ideas from your customers.
Your customers may suggest good business ideas for you if you can interact with them very well. All you need to do is to pay attention to what your customers say about your company, what services they wish you provide, the common challenges they face doing business with your company, etc.
Work hand-in-hand with your coworkers
If you are the owner of the business or the one managing a business, working hand-in-hand with your coworkers might bring improvements to the business, Of course, business grows better and faster when running in a team. The contribution of different ideas will go a long way in building strong business acumen. So apart from seeking ideas from people that buy or do business with your company, your coworkers may also be good contributors to the business improvement.
Explore!
There are good business materials to read to get more insight into building strong business acumen. Some of these books can improve your business ideas, give you new business strategies and insight, and improve your business within some months. All you need to do is to, first of all, get the books, read them one after the other, and apply what you have read so far and monitor how effective they are in the business. Some of the best business books to read are:
- The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferris.
- The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton M.
- Good to Great, by Jim Collins
- The Innovator’s Dilemma, By Clayton Christensen
- Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson
- The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
- Profit First, by Mike Michalowicz
- The Effective Executive, Peter F. Drucker
- Deep Work, by Cal Newport
- Getting Things Done, by David Allen
- Great by Choice, by Jim Collins
Check other company’s administrative plans:
You may have to advance your business acumen by tapping into the business ideas of other companies. Check their business plan, their standard of services, and how effective their business strategies are. However, I will recommend you try getting ideas from businesses that are in-line with yours. In most cases, you can visit other companies, interrogate with them, or even run partnerships with them if it calls for that.
Learn.
Finally, the best way to acquire strong business acumen skills is to learn from experts. Get a mentor that will teach you more and also give you the opportunity to ask necessary questions.
In all, know that developing strong business acumen skill is not something that can be achieved overnight. All you need to achieve it is hard work and dedication and if you make it a priority, you will get a better result in no time.