“Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is reached” – Swami Vivekanand

Every year, National Youth Day is celebrated on 12 January. This day is dedicated to those young people who want to take the country forward on the strength of their skills. Whether it is entrepreneurship or growing a business, the role of youth is important in everything.

Now, when we talk about business and entrepreneurship, the role of Gujarati youth becomes very important. We learned about many successful mentors from Gujarat and saw their insights. Based on this, we have brought 5 such skills that every Gujpreneur should adopt in the year 2026. Let us learn about them.

5 Skills Every Young Entrepreneur Must Build in 2026

Whether it is a family business or building a modern startup, mentors from Gujarat have been ahead in every field. They are not only business inspiration, but what we can learn from their journey also matters a lot.

Whether it is Zydus chairman Pankaj Patel or EssKsee Consultancy founder Sanjay Chakraborty, everyone has some quality that can prove to be a game changer for us. Let us talk about them.

1. Decision-Making with Speed and Clarity

In today’s market, taking the right decision at the right time and doing it fast is the main key to success. You can learn this quality from Zydus chairman Pankaj Patel. Started in 1952, this pharmaceutical and research-based company today does an annual business of more than ₹25,000 crore. As Pankaj Patel has said:

“Leadership is about taking responsibility and acting decisively, even when the situation is uncertain.”

The success story of Zydus is also the same – Pankaj Patel took bold and clear decisions even in times of market uncertainty and took the company to new heights.

The skill you can learn from him is that you should not miss opportunities while waiting for perfect conditions. A decision taken at the right time will take you forward. Yes, every decision comes with risk, but it also gives you a chance to prepare.

2. Narrative Branding & Storytelling

Today, if you step into the market, you will find not just two or three but dozens of products in every sector. Whether it is ice cream, a TV, or anything else. In such a situation, users have many choices, but only a few companies are able to sell their products on a large scale.

This is where mentor Sanjay Chakraborty’s insights become useful. He says that there are thousands of products in the market, but the product that sells is the one that connects with people’s emotions.

“If you don’t sell your story, no one else will. And silence isn’t humility, it’s lost opportunity.”

This means that the most important factor in marketing or branding any product is storytelling. No user will feel attracted to a product until emotions are attached to it. How you narrate your story depends on you.

3. Ability to Learn, Unlearn, and Adapt

Do you think that what you learned one year ago and which gave you success, will also work in the new year? The chances are very low that it will always work. It may even backfire. In this fast-changing market, you must adopt the skill of learning and unlearning.

We get this lesson from Tally Solutions Managing Director Tejas Goenka. He has made this skill his main asset. He says:

“The biggest risk for any entrepreneur is assuming that yesterday’s success guarantees tomorrow’s growth.”

In a way, you must adapt yourself with the growing world, otherwise you will be left far behind. For example, after 2020, many Gujarati SMEs shifted their business to e-commerce, and many adopted digital tools instead of manual accounting.

4. Strategic & Digital Communication

Today, how do we reach out to customers or clients? The biggest power is digital communication. But many entrepreneurs and businessmen are not able to take proper advantage of this opportunity. This is because most people think communication only means talking, whereas the real insight is delivering the right message on the right platform.

This is what Khushboo Solanki Sharma, founder of Zero Gravity Communications, believes. She feels that we should keep modifying or altering our strategy based on changing algorithms and perception.

“In a world where attention is the new currency and perception is half the product… They were doing digital long before it became a buzzword.”

There are many social media and digital media channels today, but you should know where your company or product should be present and which users you should target on which platform.

5. Strong Financial Discipline

Everyone knows that funding is very important to run a business idea. If your business idea is good, you may get good funding in some time. But do you know that most businesses fail even after receiving good funding? Have you ever thought about why this happens?

On this, Hasmukh Adhia, Chairman of GIFT City, Gujarat, has said something very true:

“A business does not fail because of lack of ideas; it fails because of poor financial control.”

This simply means that you may get money for your business, but how you use that money is a very important factor in keeping the business alive. Understanding cash flow properly and analysing it will take your company’s value to the next level.

Conclusion

There are many skills, and they keep changing. But through Gujpreneur, we have shared the top 5 skills that can prove life-changing for every young entrepreneur in the year 2026.

If you work on these skills and move forward by keeping mentor insights in mind, then surely this year will write new milestones of success for you.