Alright, you own a business now, you gotta make it work, no question about it. You don’t have to start from scratch, or re-invent the wheel to be a successful entrepreneur and more so, have a successful, aka a profitable business. There are thousands of tools out there that can better your business skills and become a total ninja at this business thing. Now, let’s just start with five today, and let me know if you want to hear more about it.
5 Helpful Resources to Improve Your Business Skills
- Sign up for newsletters from industry experts to get the latest, and the 101 on topics you could be struggling with. Most of the time, successful experts, don’t charge a dime for free advice, and you should go after free resources to up your game in your business world. There’ll be a time when you need to go to the advance stuff and for that, I’m sure you’ll have to pay, but for now, let’s start with the basics. Some of these free resources that can give you guidance on 101 business topics can be Harvard Business School, there are many topics out there Harvard is constantly posting that you can benefit from, for instance, the amazing article by Rebecca D Minehart, Benjamin B. Symon, and laura K. Rock of What’s Your Listening Style?
- Listen to TED Talks. This is nothing new, I think a few years ago, listening to TedTalks was a trend, I’ve seen it slow down, but that does not mean you ignore this AMAZING tool, which has millions of topics that you could benefit from in different areas of your business, and even personal ones that can definitely help you be a better person, therefore a better business owner, a better boss, a better leader. The other day, I came across a great video by Dorie Clark that talked about “the real reason you feel so busy and what to do about it.” It was a great video and a lot of the time in my case, is stuff I may know but the stuff I am not thinking about, and it helps to get reminded of this “stuff” – there are other topics that I never even considered and at some point of my professional journey, it made a positive impact in my business.
- Update your education from time to time. If you’re done with your MBA or you’re in the process, kudos to you! It’s quite a challenging journey, TRUST ME! But if you’re not there yet, that’s okay, many of us took a while to get there anyway, but I do want to recommend that while you make the decision to invest in your MBA, you should try resources like the Khan Academy or Coursera, most courses are free unless you want the certificate of completion, then you have to pay. The other day, one of my employees was looking to understand the business basics to better his skills in the area he had been assigned, now don’t get me wrong, he’s very talented, but some people just know their bread and butter, and a little help from online business classes can be of much help, so I recommended him the “Wharton Business Foundations.” – this was a free course, and I think you can still enroll, it’s offered by the Wharton School, and I believe over 7 professors are part of this program.
- Learn about accounting and investments. Understanding your numbers and where you need to be financially free, is a must in any small business journey. A great place to learn for free is Investopedia, there is always great content on this site from dedicated financial experts. The best part about it in my opinion is its dictionary, like I said, I don’t know it all, and when I need to quickly search for something, I go to the Google of Finance, Investopedia. This is by far the easiest, fastest way to get what you need to grasp a concept and expand it as much as you want.
- The new radio is a must, what I mean is Podcasts, listen to podcasts about business and entrepreneurship. Find well-rated programs that can give you business advice, talk to you about the essentials of running a business and why not, and hear from other business owners like you to get the scoop on how they manage challenges, how they’ve grown, and what mistakes to avoid. I have a couple of favorite podcasts I listen to weekly, one of them, is a local one from Sugar Land, Texas, tune in, it’s great, I listen to it every week on Spotify; it’s called Small Business Insights with Laura Fisher.
The world is your oyster, all you have to do is look for the information, and if you don’t know how to find it, message us, we’re big in advocating and helping small businesses get where they need to be.
Author: David Jaquez
