What Small Business Owners Can Learn From Skills Required In These Professions

A wise businessperson understands that they are going to
consistently need to learn and develop over time. People in business that do
not develop new skills will be left behind as all industries are in constant
motion. Technology has left quite a few people behind as instead of learning
new computer skills far too many people were comfortable instead of trying to
improve. Learning from other professions is wise as everyone wants to close
sales like a top salesperson at a car dealership. The following are professions
as well as what can be learned from these professions as a small business
owner.

Attorney

Attorneys are master negotiators especially if they are
working in the personal injury field. A Nashville personal injury attorney
will have far more experience negotiating than a common small business owner.
Taking a class about the art of negotiating or selling can really help a small
business owner that hates the negotiation involved with landing a large
contract. Go into pitches or negotiations with a minimum number and try to
close on a number higher than that. A small negotiation can lead to thousands
more in profits for a month which adds up significantly at the end of the year.

Doctors

Doctors have a tough time in certain cases when it comes to
making a diagnosis. The only information that they have is the vitals of their
patient along with the symptoms the patient has described. A small business
owner can learn to look at the symptoms of a business to understand whether it
is healthy or not. A larger profit number is not the only symptom as customer
retention as well as scalable processes impact this number as well. Perfect
customer retention with healthy sales numbers is a formula for long-term
success as a company is only going to grow with quality products/services.

Professional Athletes

The preparation of professional athletes is impeccable with
hours per day focused on one part of their sport or another. Failures are
common in athletics so getting back to work after a failure is a great lesson
to learn. Small business owners are not going to kill it on every order or project
but you can improve on the next. Understanding not to get into a slump in terms
of quality of work will not only help retain customers but will provide
consistency that customers of any business are looking for. Mental preparation
is also important as visualizing a pitch or business strategy can change the entire
trajectory of a company.

Door To Door Salespeople

The ability to keep a positive attitude might seem impossible
for people that do door to door sales. There are positions that can pay very
well to those salespeople that have the gift of gab. The business world
fluctuates constantly which can lead to some very profitable times and very
tough times. Staff is going to look at a manager or owner for guidance when things
get tough. Keeping the energy up is imperative as moping around the office sets
a terrible example. This also sets a bad precedent as negative attitudes or low
energy should not be staples of office life.

Learning is important as a business owner as there will be
plenty that you do not know once you run your business for long enough. List
out things you would like to learn more about then put a plan into action to
learn. Writing this list out can help you stay motivated in terms of educating yourself
about he inner-workings of your company.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.