What skill would you say is the most valuable in today's economy?

[MitchM]

My hope is that this this post can serve as a good place for people to look if they are still not sure what they want to do or are interested in growing their skill base as an entrepreneur.

Regardless of difficulty, what are some skills that you think bring the most value to the table and are the most empowering as a result?

I am not necessarily asking for THE TOP SKILL!!!, just skills valuable in our current economy that will probably appreciate with time.

The obvious one to me is programming. Less obvious - skills in construction and perhaps regenerative medicine seem increasingly valuable.

What would you guys say are some of the most valuable skills to learn within the coming years?

 

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[RBefort]

My hope is that this this post can serve as a good place for people to look if they are still not sure what they want to do or are interested in growing their skill base as an entrepreneur.

Regardless of difficulty, what are some skills that you think bring the most value to the table and are the most empowering as a result?

I am not necessarily asking for THE TOP SKILL!!!, just skills valuable in our current economy that will probably appreciate with time.

The obvious one to me is programming. Less obvious - skills in construction and perhaps regenerative medicine seem increasingly valuable.

What would you guys say are some of the most valuable skills to learn within the coming years?

People have always said to hire programmers and not spend time learning it...but for dudes like me who don't have a brilliant idea, being able to program means you can move basically anywhere and build something from nothing for anyone. This already gets you freedom. While it may not make you a millionaire, it can break the chains of a cubicle job. Have a friend doing programming for this sole reason. I can't get myself into it quite yet

 

[Argue]

Sales.

 

[SquatchMan]

Sales.

Need money to hire programmers?

Pre sell stuff and then hire programmers.

Need investors?

Sell people that have money on your: idea, business, business plan, equity, whatever.

I don't mean selling over the internet either.

Stop being a little bitch and pickup the phone.

 

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[VincentStrength]

Common sense.

 

[TonyStark]

Programming

 

[Greg R]

The skill of quickly learning new skills.

 

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[Andy Black]

Building profitable businesses.

 

[TonyStark]

Saving money

 

[Delmania]

No matter what type of business, a solo entrepreneur does need to know the basis of marketing and sales. You don't need to ben a expert at copywriting, but you do need to know how to find your customers and how to present your ideas to them. The other skills you need depend on what type of business you want. If you want to build a software company, knowing how to program a bit will help you build a prototype and talk to your partner and developers. If you want to build a company that relies on a physical product, it's helpful to know a bit about the process so you can communicate your ideas. If you want to build a business based on content marketing, you need to know how quickly learn and summarize new ideas.

 

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[Delmania]

People have always said to hire programmers and not spend time learning it...but for dudes like me who don't have a brilliant idea, being able to program means you can move basically anywhere and build something from nothing for anyone. This already gets you freedom. While it may not make you a millionaire, it can break the chains of a cubicle job. Have a friend doing programming for this sole reason. I can't get myself into it quite yet

Not everyone needs to know how to program, and the fact that you have a partner that can program is definitely an advantage.

 

[Delmania]

Sales.

Need money to hire programmers?

Pre sell stuff and then hire programmers.

Need investors?

Sell people that have money on your: idea, business, business plan, equity, whatever.

I don't mean selling over the internet either.

Stop being a little bitch and pickup the phone.

Stop with this bad advice. If you read the MF, you should remember that @MJ DeMarco learned enough development to be able to build the first version of Limos.com. This forums is focused on boot strapping solo entrepreneurs with little to no outside investment. Those people do need to know to not only sell their ideas but also how to make those ideas into reality. If you seriously think you can go to a site like Upwork and hire a quality developer on the cheap to build a decent product you don't understand how hard application development is.

 

[wade1mil]

People skills - sales, persuasion, networking, etc. With those skills, you can find the right people to handle all the other stuff.

 

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[JokerCrazyBeatz]

Knowing how to persever . Because things get frustrating and you often feel like "fuuuuugggggg dis sh**"

 

[Nexus]

The ability to know what you should do yourself and what you should delegate.

 

[MitchM]

I'm going to go on ahead and toss this in there: Deep Work. I am currently reading this book and I am thoroughly convinced that it is a skill that is mostly lost and forgotten about in modern times. The ability to set EVERYTHING aside for hours at a time and dedicate your attention to one thing is what will lead to results that put you above the rest of your more distracted and more superficial competition.

 

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[Christopher777]

I agree. Focus is a skill.

An important lesson that I learned last year allowed me to achieve hard goals, goals that I never thought I could achieve, was this :

It's not about what you must do and focus on. It's about keeping yourself from doing the things you shouldn't.

How simple is that. Yet subtly powerful.

It's hard man. It gets boring sometimes. we want to be distracted. It's more fun.

The question then is : how bad do you want it?

Can you handle the mundane, the pain and boredom?

 

[Ika]

The skill that can solve the problem in front of you.



Working on a technical problem for a SAAS? --> programming

Working on scaling your business? --> business development

Need to get a customer? --> sales

 

[maverick]

Curiosity, continuous self improvement and the ability to lead people.

I'd also disagree that programming is a skill that is most valuable. If you have the brain power to identify opportunities, craft a solution and write up the technical specs, you will be able to find somebody to build it for you.

Having a technical foundation will definitely help you to create these tech specs however it is in no way the 'holy grail'.

 

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[CareCPA]

The ability to know what you should do yourself and what you should delegate.

Second this.
Know what you're good at, and what's a waste of your time to learn.
So, I guess self-awareness would be the skill.

 

[wade1mil]

Some good answers in this thread.

 

[Guest3722A]

Likability!

 

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[GoodluckChuck]

The ability to make yourself do what you know you should do when you don't feel like doing it is a skill that will take you farther than any other. If you can't do this you will struggle with everything.

How do you do this? Repeat "Do it anyway." As you force yourself to get started.

Get good at this and the world is your oyster.

 

[Joe Cassandra]

A bit biased in my answer considering I do this for a living....

Writing copy is as important as it's ever been.

Let me explain.

-->We are in the most text-dominate age ever.
-->We are also in the most 'skeptical customer' age ever. Customers are dying for ways to trust you first before even talking to you. ​

Reason #1: cold-calling or door-to-door sales is tougher than ever (especially in a B2C environment).

With new networks to market to (most of which is text-based) the ability to catch someone's attention and send them down your rabbit hole of copy...you're far ahead of the game.

Even with direct mail: Want to guarantee someone open your letter (screw email) ... send them a hand-written letter in the mail! Send out 10,000 of those and you're bound to get a truckload of sales.

All from the power of written word.

"Oh, but videos are all the rage now idiot!"

Umm....someone has to write the $&%*# script!
All I hear now that I'm on the inside: "We don't have enough good writers....we are overrun with content to produce..."

AI and automation will steamroll manual labor and middle-men positions. The jobs that will survive? THOSE A FREAKIN' MACHINE CAN'T DO...

Creative writing and BIG IDEAS. We should all be dead before a machine will have the ability to think up BIG IDEAS. (hopefully).

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Sales and effective communication because it is done every day.

The entirety of life is all about sales and communicating effectively.

Sell the customer.
Sell the employee.
Sell to get the employee.
Sell to investors.
Sell to bankers.
Sell to your children to clean up their room.
Sell to yourself to a potential mate..
Sell to negotiate a better deal on any transaction.

Additionally, the ability to communicate effectively lends grease to networking, finding friends and good associates, ya know, the old "its not what you know, but who."

 

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[Argue]

Sales and effective communication because it is done every day.

The entirety of life is all about sales and communicating effectively.

Sell the customer.
Sell the employee.
Sell to get the employee.
Sell to investors.
Sell to bankers.
Sell to your children to clean up their room.
Sell to yourself to a potential mate..
Sell to negotiate a better deal on any transaction.

Additionally, the ability to communicate effectively lends grease to networking, finding friends and good associates, ya know, the old "its not what you know, but who."

MJ, silly question, but any books you've read in the past that improved "effective communication"?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

MJ, silly question, but any books you've read in the past that improved "effective communication"?

I actually do remember reading books relating to communication, mostly writing, some persuasive writing (now copywriting) public speaking and a little bit of interpersonal relationship stuff. Can't remember the books though, this was years ago. How to Win Friends and Influence People was probably on the list -- because I did own it.

 

[MitchM]

MJ, silly question, but any books you've read in the past that improved "effective communication"?

Crucial Conversations.

 

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[rollerskates]

The ability to adapt.

 

[Delmania]

Crucial Conversations.

That's a good one. Although, if you really want to improve your communications, you need to practice. Joining an organization like Toastmasters will help you improve your speaking skills, practicing active listening will help you learn. I'm reminded how when asked for a crucial skill for success, both Gates and Buffet responded with listening.