sjsmith.com.au - blog

Staying Current

Keep Learning

I've long held a theory that you can learn anything from a book.  From accounting to cookery to rocket science there is a book somewhere to teach you how.  I'm not necessarily saying that just because you learn something you'll be any good at it. To get good at anything you need to practice and perfect it and hone your skills.  The great thing these days is you probably don't even need to go to the library when you want to learn a new skill. With the explosion of YouTube and online courses there are tutorials and courses for pretty much anything you want and, much of it is free! If you want something more formal you can study with most universities online and get your qualification without ever visiting the campus. I've been running and working in my own businesses for nearly eighteen years and the only certainty is that things will change.  I talked a little in last weeks blog about how I started but aside from the technological changes that have happened, people do business differently. Invoices and payments are almost always done electronically, social media continues to be a shifting landscape for all businesses.  

If you'd try to describe Pinterest or Instagram to me when I started I wouldn't have had a clue (back then I didn't even have a computer!). As a business owner you need to keep up with not just what changes in your industry, but also, what changes in the bigger business landscape.   Need help with marketing or running a retreat then jump online.  If there's something you don't know then ask Google or DuckDuckGo  Keep educating yourself.  Subscribe to journals and magazines that have relevant information, either in print or online.  If money is tight go to your local library - they usually have tons of magazines from all over the world.  Borrow one from another country to get a different perspective. There's always more to learn and there's tons of resources available.  The great news is that it's all readily to hand.  

Till next time,

Sarah-Jane X