Business courses are an obvious way to go for anyone looking to get involved in the industry. However, universities and colleges continue to focus on the analytical and logical aspects of entrepreneurship, when they should be considering growing their students’ creativity.

Getting creative outside of working hours can be a fantastic way to use originality to your advantage. There are so many transferable skills to be gained from learning a musical instrument that are vital for the business world. So open your creative mind and grab that guitar!

Creativity/originality

Playing a musical instrument can stimulate your creative side, which can help with any number of entrepreneurial problems that you might be stuck on. By consistently learning an instrument and creating melodies, you unlock originality, which can help you with ideas.

Listening skills

To create great music, you have to be able to hear yourself. Remember those X Factor contestants that thought they were great because their family told them so? Yeah, you get the idea…

Listening in business is vital for so many reasons; listening to your customers to know what their needs are, listening to your competition to be aware of how well you’re performing in comparison and listening to your employees to know how office morale is performing. All the best entrepreneurs listen to others and interpret the data accordingly.

Self-discipline

Self-discipline is defined as ‘the ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses’. Beginning to learn an instrument can be incredibly frustrating, and requires persistence and getting over your failures.

This is important in the business as in order to succeed you must change your weaknesses into strengths, which can make you more personable and identifiable to your customers.

Collaboration

An essential part of being successful in music and business is being able to work in harmony with others. The result can mean a great song, or a fruitful partnership; both of which can result in a great return for you.

Working with others also means you will be again building on your listening skills, as well as brainstorming with others to create a positive result. It also means you will work on communication, as people have to listen to you as much as you have to listen to them.

Presentation skills

If you get to the point where you’re ready to play Glastonbury, the chances are you will have been on stage and played to an audience. This can be a terrifying concept, as on stage the musician is completely vulnerable, and allows their songs to take criticism from others.

Having a thick skin in the boardroom can be a huge advantage; while it’s important to listen, it’s just as important not to get upset by other people’s opinions and take them personally.

Do you play a musical instrument? Have you found it to help your entrepreneurial skills? Or are you thinking about starting to learn? Leave us a comment in the section below!