As human beings we essentially never stop learning. From the moment we are born until the moment we die we are constantly gathering information, making judgements and forming opinions based on our life experiences. As small business owners we should never stop learning either. Educate yourself. Constantly. When beginning a small business you set out on a path. A journey which will undoubtedly be filled with challenges, heartaches, and hopefully a few mountain top experiences. But along the way you will need to learn. You'll need to grow, to adjust, and to modify your strategies. Just because something was successful when you began doesn't mean it will always remain successful. Small business owners must be forever willing to listen to others and to educate themselves.
Continuing Education
Running a small business is a bit like continuing education. Only the stakes are much higher and the course isn't graded (other than by your business success). Just as in personal life, business life is a never slowing pace and decisions must be made daily. What ways can you educate yourself as a business owner to ensure you ace the course? You can educate yourself by learning from others, learning from history, and learning from the market.
Education from Others
The first way small business owners can continue to grow in their knowledge and understanding is through other's experiences, stories, and successes. Small business owners should be always listening. This is the key to educating yourself from others. If you're so wrapped up in your own ideals and your own focus then you'll easily miss the nuggets of gold being shared by others around you. When you choose to listen to others you have a couple of options.
Learn from Competitors
Obviously, you can learn from your competition. This is possibly the easiest way to educate yourself from others. You'll naturally tend to do this anyway as you establish your business, identify your target market and identify the competitors in the space. Once you've seen who you're competing against you'll see what they do and what they don't do. You'll learn by looking at their track record, their approach, and their marketing. Don't just copy their tactics. Be smarter and learn from them. See what they do that is successful and more importantly what they do that is not successful. Then you can capitalize on that.
Learn from Customers
You can also educate yourself by learning from your customers. Those loyal and the one-offs alike. Follow up with them, reach out to them and listen to them. Ask them what they appreciated and also what they disliked. You'll only be able to improve if you take the good and the bad. Remember, don't fool yourself into thinking you don't need to improve, change or grow. No business is perfect and the customer will always be quick to tell you what they don't care for. Obviously you don't blindly change your business model because a single angry customer thinks you should. But exercise discretion and educate yourself on how you can improve for the benefit of your customers and ultimately your business.
Learn from Culture
The last area we can look at when educating yourself from others is the culture. Be aware of the culture which surrounds your business. Are you a local shop targeting only local customers? What matters to the community? What are the social acceptable business practices for the culture? Educate yourself on how to market effectively and be culturally appropriate. You will gain the respect of the community if you are conscientious of those things which matter to them.
Education from History
History is an excellent teacher. As a small business owner there is an almost endless supply of knowledge which can be tapped in to held within the history of businesses and particularly your business. Take advantage of this knowledge and educate yourself about what has been successful for other businesses in history. It's important also to learn from your mistakes. Acknowledge those times when you've failed to do what you anticipated, and learn from your own history.
Learn from Business History
You are very clearly not the first small business owner in the world. There have been many many more before you who have gone through the same struggles, the same hardships, and the situations you are now in the midst of. Solomon, a historically recognized thought leader once made the following statement which I think aptly fits here.
"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9
I have to admit, even in the overwhelming world of technology where new things are constantly appearing, this quote often comes to my mind. The underlying problem to be solved may be one which has existed and been solved in a variety of ways throughout the centuries. Take advantage of these historical records and learn from them. Apply them to your situation and your current problems and find ways in which you can educate yourself.
Learn from Your History
But sometimes even more importantly you should learn from your own history. When you make a mistake be thoughtful and retrospective. Write down the details so you don't forget them. Share them with others. Find ways to help analyze what happened, what was the action taken and what led up to the outcome which you experienced. Learn not only from your mistakes but also from your success. Take the time to do more than blindly rush through business doing a million different things trying to find something successful. Instead be methodical in your approach (I hate that word, I personally mistakenly equate methodical with slow. That is absolutely an untrue assumption) Be methodical and put thought into what has been successful, and what will continue to be successful in the future.
Learn from your history, apply it to your present, and use it to shape your future.
If you take the time to learn from your mistakes you're more likely to not repeat them in the future.
Education from the Market
This last point is an easy one. Especially if you are in the software or tech sector. You absolutely must be willing to educate yourself constantly to stay aware of changes in the market space. Things don't stay stagnate for long and small business owners must always be aware of the current and changing trends in their market sector. It's foolish to believe that what you did 10 years ago is still relevant today with no other influencing factors. Things change, people change, markets change. As a result, you must be willing to frequently visit and review the state of the economy, your sector, and your target audience. Learning from the market involves staying aware of new competitors, new opportunities, and new perceptions by your target audience. Be willing to listen (as stated above) and be willing to change. Change can be scary but change can be good. If you educate yourself by reading blogs, news articles, press releases; by watching videos, interviews, trends; and by communicating with industry leaders, attending events, and getting to know your audience you will position yourself to achieve greater business success. Small businesses are vitally important to economies around the world. Your small business is even more vitally important to you. Do everything you can to educate yourself to achieve great things. Make the effort to keep learning, keep changing, keep improving. The reward is worth the investment.