Constantly learning for the small business owner

Scaling the Learning Curve
“Jack of all trades, master of none,” is generally used as an insult today. In its original form, however, it included an additional phrase, “though oft-times better than master of one,” and was intended as a compliment. While most small business owners are used to wearing many hats and become pretty good at doing a lot of different things, it’s the rare entrepreneur who can truly claim to be a “master” of more than just one or two.
Additional training and education is available in virtually every aspect of business and from a multitude of different sources. The cost of ongoing business training runs the gamut from free to an Ivy League tuition bill. (Think six-week leadership programs at Wharton or Harvard Business School.) Most business owners should be able to find what they need at little or no cost through online resources, state and federal government programs, local community colleges and similar sources.
What you learn, and how you learn it
Entrepreneur Susan Ward, who runs an IT consulting business with a partner and holds a Master of Education degree, taught business education for many years before going into business herself. She’s a proponent of learning as a lifelong pursuit for small business owners. With so many options available, however, she advises spending some time determining just what you want to learn and the best way for you to learn it.
“Identifying the need you want to fill is the obvious starting point,” Ward says. If you have a glaring lack of business acumen in a critical area, such as marketing or finance, for example, it makes sense to look at training in that field. Whatever kind of training you choose, it is sure to involve a considerable commitment of time and, in some cases, money on your part, so make sure you choose something that will really fill a business need.
There is a cost-benefit decision to be made here in terms of both time and money, Ward stresses. Some skills take a great deal of time to learn, but if you will only be able to use that skill infrequently in your business, is it worth it? If that’s the case, it might make more sense to use an outsource provider for that particular service. Even if it’s a skill that your business does use frequently, is it one that an employee already has? If so, learning it yourself may not make much sense.
Once you have identified an area where business training can really benefit you and your business, you also need to determine your own learning style to choose the best type of training solution.
Learning styles are simply different approaches or ways of learning. While there are more than 80 different learning style models currently in use, most involve variations on three basic types. Visual learners learn best through seeing, auditory learners through listening and tactile/kinesthetic learners through moving, doing and touching. If you plan to attend business training classes in person, scheduling is a consideration, Ward notes. Some training programs are offered as intensive, weekend-long seminars, while others are spread out over a period of weeks or months. If possible, see if you can sit in on a session before signing up to determine if the instructor’s approach is a good fit with your learning style.
Many small business owners find online training to be a more practical alternative, and the web offers a huge and ever-expanding array of options, including degree programs ranging from associate and bachelor degrees all the way up to MBAs and PhDs. Government and quasi-government organizations can also be valuable sources of free and low-cost business training options. SCORE, for example, offers more than 25 online courses through its virtual learning center, accessible at SCORE’s Learn Online area. The SBA’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) offer another rich source for business training at centers located throughout the country.
If you’re thinking about getting off to a good start this year, this just might be the perfect time to expand your business knowledge horizons.
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