Learning new stuff for better small business performance

You’ve had a brilliant business idea. Or you’re brilliant at what you do, your speciality. Either way it doesn’t automatically mean you’re equally adept at every aspect of running a business. You can’t afford to employ experts in the early stages. Perhaps you don’t want to expand, happy as you are, there’s nothing wrong with that. But unless you’re a superhero you’ll need to brush up in some areas and learn new skills.

Pinning down the grey areas

1.       Jot down a list of your business-related strengths and weaknesses  

2.       Look for patterns and group your blank spots logically: 

·         Administrative

·         Financial

·         Systems

·         Sales

·         Marketing

3.       Put your blank spots in priority order using your business plan as a guide, basing your decisions on what you want your business to achieve and when.

Delve into DIY online learning

If you want to learn it there’ll be a course about it online. Often hundreds or thousands of choices from a vast choice of suppliers including trusted quality stalwarts like the Open University. You can take your pick from videos, how-to guides, animations, interactive and distance learning courses and qualifications, from dummy to degree-level and beyond.

Lose yourself in real books and ebooks

If reading is your favourite way to soak up new information, Amazon is a reliable source of new and used textbooks and course books. There’s also a world of useful stuff available on Kindle.

Face to face learning at our city’s excellent FE college

City College Brighton & Hove runs an impressive array of professional courses for the business community. Their part-time courses in employment-focused subjects are perfect for sprucing up your skills and boosting your capabilities. Courses are taught by people with recent industry experience, with professional backgrounds and recognised qualifications.

Private tuition

Do you know an expert, or know someone who does? Would they be willing to give you tuition on a paid or barter basis? Or would you like someone to simply be there for you, answering tricky issues you come across in your e-learning, testing your knowledge ad egging you on? Private one-to-one tuition and support suits some of us better than classes or DIY learning. It depends on your personal preferences.  If you’d benefit from private tuition you could even ask around at our next Curry Club event.  You never know!   

Business training in Brighton and Hove

We’re lucky to have a wealth of excellent training providers in the city. Here are just a few of them:

·         Silicon Beach Training (www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk)

·         Integration Training (www.integrationtraining.co.uk)

·         Achieve Coaching and Training (www.nlp--training-business.com)

·         The University of Brighton - Training and professional development (www.brighton.ac.uk/business/training/)

·         The Life Project (www.thelifeproject.co.uk)

·         Sussex Chamber of Commerce (www.sussexenterprise.co.uk)

·         Pitman Training Brighton (www.pitmantraining.com)

·         David Foster Associates Limited (http://www.davidfosterassociates.co.uk/)