Business owners wear many hats, from secretary to bookkeeper to manager. We are expected to find advertising venues, keep track of our earnings, promote our companies, return phone calls, handle irate customers or clients and work on our product or service all in the course of just a few hours.
Small business owners often do not hire people to help and instead handle all of these jobs on their own, which can be not only time consuming but difficult as well. Unless you have taken classes in economics you may not understand the market as well as you should. Unless you have studied technology you may not be as web savvy as the next business owner.
If you are new to small business ownership you may be feeling overwhelmed by the numerous hats you are wearing. If so, you may want to consider taking a class or two to brush up-or to start up-your skill base in the different areas that small business ownership encompasses.
Community colleges are a great place to look for business coursework. In fact, many offer adult education classes that meet at night or on the weekends-and some that meet completely online-that may work perfectly with your schedule and your family requirements. A
class in business management can teach you how to handle employees if you have them; a course in marketing may offer great tips and resources for getting your name out in the community; a class in English can help freshen up your grammar skills, so your written communications exude professionalism.
While you may think that you don’t have the time to take a class or two, the truth is you’ll spend even more time trying to figure something out if you have no idea of where to begin. By taking a class or two in your weakest areas you are strengthening your business by sharpening your skills.