5 Short Courses That Can Enhance Your Business Processes
If you’ve set up your own business — or are in the planning stages of doing so — good for you. Many people dream of starting their own business, but aren’t brave enough to take the risk.
Whatever your business niche — restaurant, cafe, shop, agency, consultancy, e-retailer, health professional, etc. — there are a lot of cogs in the wheel that you must keep turning at all times so that everything remains in working order. These include general business management, leadership and delegation, organisation, data tracking and analysis, marketing, human resources and payroll/accountancy.
A great way of enhancing your internal processes — and therefore productivity and overall success of your business — in the beginning stages of your business venture, consider enrolling in one of these short courses and honing your business skills. Your business will thrive because of it.
- An advanced Excel course
All businesses can benefit from Microsoft Excel. It is an incredible tool that aids with organisation and allows for data input, sorting and tracking.
On Excel you can create lists, charts and graphs as well as perform calculations and analyse data. This can improve productivity, accuracy, financial tracking and customer management. It is therefore crucial that you and/or your employees are familiar with Excel.
However, if you really want to make the most of Excel and its features, you should endeavour to learn beyond the basics, and should enrol in an advanced course. Such courses are typically a day or two in length, and can even be completed online.
What’s more, if you or someone in your business has advanced Excel knowledge, it eliminates the need to hire external help and means your business is self-sufficient.
2. A payroll/accountancy course
A lot of businesses outsource their payroll and accountancy tasks to external agencies, but why not have the expertise in-house and pocket the money saved.
To effectively complete payroll and basic accountancy within your business, you require accounting software. Don’t assume that you need to have years of practice and a degree in accounting or bookkeeping to operate these softwares — you just need to take a short course.
Being skilled at using these sorts of softwares will not only enhance your business but will also hone your administration and organisational skills in other areas of your life.
3. A management course
A good business is built upon sound management, smart decisions and communication. By taking a short management course a business leader or junior manager can give you insight into contemporary, state-of-the-art business management and administration processes. With this advanced know-how, your business can operate more productively and achieve its goals faster.
A diploma of practice management offers knowledge and skills that can aid with business growth, strategy and organisation — especially if the business in question is within the health sector.
4. A team leadership course
Team leadership is key when running a business. The employees of your business are the beating heart and without them you won’t be able to reach your goals. So, it’s imperative that you lead them in the best way possible.
As a team leader you need to possess excellent communication skills; you need to be attuned to your team and recognise their strengths; and you need to demonstrate a strong work ethic and passion for the business.
Through a short team leadership course you can learn all the tips and tricks for holding meetings, WIPs, employee reviews, etc. With this knowledge, you can ensure your team are happy, reach their full potential and stay loyal to the business. In turn, your business will thrive.
5. A social media course
All businesses — whatever size, industry or niche — should harness social media. It can be used as an incredible marketing tool to reach wider audiences, showcase your products and services, communicate your brand’s message and enhance your brand awareness. You can also use social media effectively without paying a single penny, so it should be a key ingredient in your marketing strategy.
If you are a little behind with social media (perhaps you’re not a millennial or Gen X — therefore you’re not a digital native and struggle coming to grips with it), it is well worthwhile to update your understanding. Otherwise your business will lose out on large audiences and opportunities to stand up next to your social media-literate competitors.
A short course in social media will teach you all the basics: how social media works, and the differences between each platform/which platform suits particular businesses (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.). A course of this sort will also teach you how to implement a social media strategy and use the basic tricks (hash tagging, tagging, geotagging, linking to your business, using CTAs and creating engaging content).
Once you have the basic social media knowledge and understanding, you can leverage its power and influence. Plus, you won’t have to spend money utilising the expertise of an external social media marketing agency.
Conclusion
As you go through life you should never stop learning, especially when you’ve started your own business. There is no room to get complacent and you should always be looking to learn and grow so that you can better enhance your business skills and industry knowledge.
Consider enrolling a short course today — it doesn’t take long and is the best investment of your time and your money.
