One of the biggest mistakes that can be made by someone who is a success in business is that they stop trying to learn. It’s perfectly fine to consider yourself an expert in your niche, and it’s fine to consider yourself a business expert as well – just remember that real experts know the importance of continuing education.
Spend time studying your own business; spend time studying the businesses of others. Find people who are your role models, take their best practices and apply them to your own business. Let those people be your mentor – even if they don’t know it!
Do a quick search, you’ll find that every week there are seminars and meetings all over the world – it probably wouldn’t be too hard to find one relatively close to your area. Check out the list of speakers and see if there’s anyone who piques your interest; even if there’s not and you’ve got the time, the networking alone could prove invaluable.
Listen to podcasts, read books and blogs. The world is full of people who love to give advice, and sometimes it’s even good! Again, do a quick internet search and see if you can find online (or offline) resources that are geared to your topic. Remember – you may know it all, but you don’t know it all.
Stay focused on your business – don’t lose sight of why you first started doing what you’re doing. Wanted to raise enough money that you could quit your nine to five? Keep working towards that goal – and then the next goal, and the next goal, and so on and so forth.
Be sure to give the most attention to your best ideas. If you’re in the middle of two or three smaller, less important projects, it’s okay to put them aside if you come up with a great and better idea. In the long run, those side projects can wait – but your best ideas will often be your largest money makers. The longer you put them off, the longer you putt off profits as well.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Someone once said, “The only stupid mistake is one you don’t learn from.” That holds true in business as well as life. The more mistakes you make, the more you’ll learn both what and what not to do.
Finally, something you should do both in business and your life in general. Surround yourself with peers who can both challenge you and raise you to the next level. Don’t spend time with naysayers or those who are full of gloom and doom – they can convince you that nothing you’re doing will work. If you spend time with those who will back you on your ideas and can hold you accountable you’d be surprised at how quickly you can achieve things.
These are just a few of the general rules for continuing your business education. If you liked this post, you might want to follow the director of Melbourne SEO Services blog – he’s a little bit of a nut when it comes to this stuff – www.davidjenyns.com