10 tips to help you improve your business acumen and succeed in your tech career

What is business acumen?

The term acumen means the ability to make good judgments and take quick decisions. Therefore, having good business acumen is highly beneficial to the success of a company. To have good business acumen, means you understand how best to deal with certain situations within the business whether they are risks or opportunities. It includes being aware of the following:

• How each department in the company plays an important role, and how they all function together.
• Cash flow and how the company makes money.
• Risks and how best to handle them.
• Who is your competition?
• How do you market yourself in your industry?
• The ‘big picture’ in terms of operations and strategy.

Why is business acumen important?

Business acumen is important because it’s a skill that can help companies achieve their goals. According to a study by Cisco, 42% of businesses say business acumen is their biggest skill gap that prevents companies from business transformation initiatives. This number is closely followed by technical skills, which is at 37%. Developing your business acumen can not only help with company growth it can also help with personal development as it will give you a clearer focus on your career paths and goals.

How can improving business acumen help your career?

Business acumen is often an essential skill for people who are applying for more senior roles. Therefore, developing your business acumen can help you progress in your career. It is also an important skill for roles that help with digital transformation, some of these roles include Software Developers, Web Designers, and Project Managers. Within these roles, it is important to understand how your actions or suggestions can help with the company’s success.

How can I improve my business acumen?

1.     Understand the business model

Understanding the business model will be most beneficial to developing your business acumen. A business model is comprised of nine different building blocks including:

• Customer Segments
• Value Propositions
• Channels
• Customer Relationships
• Revenue Streams
• Key Resources
• Key Activities
• Key Partnerships
• Costs Structure

The better you understand these business factors, the better you will be able to help make strategic decisions that contribute to the success of the company.

2. Learn about company financials

At a basic level, you will understand how your company makes money. But in order to help make strategic decisions, you need to understand how the financials of how your company works. You need to be able to know what drives cash flow and profits, what core performance measures your company uses, and how your actions will impact the financial results. Developing your financial skills includes learning about budgeting, reporting, and forecasting. Often you can ask people in senior roles to help you better understand this side of the business.

3. Attend senior role meetings

Meetings between CEOs and Directors will often be about company strategy, yearly targets, and long-term goals. If you are able to be in these conversations it will help you get an understanding of how to respond to certain risks and opportunities.

4. Find a mentor

Often the hands-on experience is the best way of learning new skills. Therefore, find someone who is more experienced within your industry, and who can pass on their knowledge and their skill set and teach you how to apply it to everyday situations. If you are unable to learn from someone in your company, you can always look online where can read their blogs listen to podcasts or follow them on social media to learn more about how they operate and the knowledge they possess.

5. Educate yourself

Nowadays we are lucky enough to have lots of resources online, where you can educate yourself on business models, company financials, supply chains, operations, and many more factors that all impact a business. There are also courses online that can help you develop your business acumen skills. The Business Skills Course from The Learning People works on developing soft skills including critical thinking and written communication skills. It also helps you to understand finance essentials, how to manage risk, negotiation, and many more elements that will help you become a well-rounded candidate for future employers.

6. Research industry news

Keeping up with the most recent industry news and applying this information when making business choices is a great way to put your business acumen abilities to use in the workplace. Follow industry news including trending topics and learn about economic changes and understand how other businesses in your sector are adapting and reacting to changes.

7. Listen to your customers

Listening to your customers and putting their suggestions into practice to address any business concerns is another aspect that can help you better develop your business acumen. Knowing more about your consumers can help you produce a profitable strategy, which in turn will lead to an increase in loyal customers. 

8. Build your leadership skills

Leadership skills are developed in situations where others will rely on you. Someone who possesses leadership skills is often self-motivated, trustworthy, organised, innovative, and honest. A great way to develop these skills is by taking on new projects and tasks where you can demonstrate all of these to your colleagues.

9. Build your communication skills

Communication skills aren’t just about being able to talk to your colleagues, it includes actively listening to them and being able to convey your ideas and thoughts clearly. Improving your communication skills helps avoid misunderstandings, resolves conflicts, and builds trust between employees. It is also good to have good written communication skills for presentations or important email communications.

10. Build your decision-making skills

The more senior your role in the company the more important your decision-making skills become, you need to be able to analyse the outcome of situations based on your decision and be mindful that your decision has the least amount of consequences to the company.

A lot of the factors listed above can only be improved through real-life experiences, they are not things you can learn overnight, therefore developing a strong business acumen takes time. Making your company aware that you want to improve your business acumen skills will make you stand out from your employees as it shows are self-motivated, focused, and dedicated to helping your company achieve its goals. In turn, you could be presented with exciting career opportunities including becoming involved in important projects or even being offered an internal promotion.