Do you need to think about training if you own a home-based business? If you’re running a company all by yourself after all, who are you going to train? And even if you have a handful of employees who work for you, why train them? Isn’t training for companies that employ dozens, hundreds or thousands of employees?
That kind of thinking might be logical, but unfortunately it is wrong. I have a saying that I learned early on and it stuck with me, “Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development.”
How are you developing your skills and abilities? If you want your home-based company to succeed, you need to know a large number of skills. If you were a middle manager in a small company, you would only need to master one or two areas of expertise. But in your own little company, you need to know them all yourself. How do you learn all those skills? You learn them through training.
Let’s consider how that will happen.
Take All the Training Your Parent Company or Franchise Offers
If your business is a franchise, be sure to explore all the educational opportunities available. That could mean traveling to take company seminars, making full use of eLearning and other options, or simply investing plenty of time reading manuals and guidebooks. Your franchise wants you to succeed, so be sure you are learning from all the materials that are available to you.
Learn and Train Around Your Key Job Functions
Larger companies create specific training that teaches employees how to perform the functions that are needed on their jobs. If you were running a fast food restaurant, for example, your enterprise would need training for the people who filled order and ran the cash registers, who staffed the drive-through window, who prepared the food, who oversaw staffing, and more. Similarly, you should identify the specific functions that you need to perform on your job as a business owner and seek training to master them. You might have to learn how to build your business using social media, for example, build an eCommerce website, sell products on eBay, or keep the books. Just like any professional, you need to identify the key job functions that support your success and be sure you know how to handle them capably.
Learn the Fundamentals of Running a Business
If you are running a home-based business, you need to know a large number of skills. Although you might outsource some of your operations, you need to know most of them yourself. Depending on the nature of your business, they could include . . .
- Business law – How is your company structured? Would it be most advantageous for you to be a sole proprietorship, an LLC, a partnership?
- Employment law – What laws do you need to follow when hiring, retaining and terminating employees? Failing to understand employment law could cost you a lot and potentially put your ability to do business in danger.
- Accounting – Even if you retain an outside accounting firm, do you know enough about standard accounting practices and taxes? As a business owner of any kind, you need to know more than just the basics.
- Insurance – Do you know what kind of coverage you need to protect your company? You need to make informed decisions about liability insurance, insurance that protects you if critical equipment is lost to fire or theft, and more.
- Marketing and advertising – Do you know what you need to market what you are selling and succeed? You need to have strong skills for marketing using direct mail, online and newspaper advertising, social media, email, website optimization, and more.
- Sales skills – Have you mastered the basic sales skills of identifying prospects, approaching them, selling by assessing and meeting their needs? Any business succeeds or fails based on its ability to make sales.
- Customer service – Even if you only interact with customers on the phone or online, you still need to master the skills for keeping customers satisfied, for resolving issues, for managing the reviews you are getting online, and more. Do you know the skills you will need?
- Project planning – Companies grow and succeed by making plans, and that means project management. Are you sure of your skills in this area?
- Skills for supervising employees and managing vendors – Even if you operate your company largely by yourself, you need to know the fundamentals of motivating and supervising others, whether they are your employees or your vendors.
How Can You Find Training in All Those Areas?
Learning all those skills seems like a very big undertaking. But many resources are available to you, including . . .
- Books – They can be great self-training tools for all facets of business. For years, business owners have used them to learn the fundamentals of accounting, employment law, marketing and more.
- Learning materials from your franchise company, if available – As we noted earlier in this article, franchises typically offer training materials and programs to franchise owners. Be sure to learn what they are and take advantage of them.
- Classes and courses – Chances are that your local community colleges and other institutions offer courses that will teach you what you need to know to run a successful enterprise. Many courses are taught by successful entrepreneurs whose knowledge has been gained through personal experience.
- Training courses from commercial companies – A number of training companies, including my company Tortal Training, offer a variety of off-the-shelf training products that teach fundamental business practices and skills.
- Trade and professional organizations – No matter what kind of business you have, chances are good that there is a professional or trade organization that presents conferences, courses, trade shows and local events. They offer great opportunities to learn new ideas and to connect with other business owners. Be sure to get involved and learn.
Remember that saying I shared with you, “Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development.” Take a look in the mirror, see what you need, where are your gaps? Then start developing.
