10 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs by Kevin Sudbury - HTML preview

Trait 9: Entrepreneurs Invest in Themselves

Let me put it this way: successful entrepreneurs are not “know it alls.” The smart entrepreneur realizes that there is always more to learn, so he invests in himself by setting aside time every week to learn something. This study time may include reading a book, watching videos, attending a workshop, watching a webinar, or similar activities.

If you want to be successful too, then make it a weekly habit to set aside time to improve your skills, learn about something new, or even just read or watch inspirational material to help you get or stay motivated. You can set aside one afternoon a week for this activity, or you can set aside a small amount of time every day (such as reading for half an hour before bed).

Now, what you choose to learn is matter of your needs and your personal preferences. However, here are some of the more common areas of study:

• Business start up and planning. If you’re new to the business world, then learning as much as you can about the mechanics of starting and running a business is a good idea.
• Marketing and related fields. Even people who’ve been in business for many years can learn something new about marketing, as there are so many facets. You might study copywriting, advertising, sales funnels, the psychology of selling, upselling, branding, or most any other topic that will help you be a better marketer.
• Motivation and inspiration. This may include self-help books that teach you how to motivate yourself. You may also find that reading biographies or autobiographies can be very inspirational and motivational.
• Specific skills. Here you might study a skill that could be useful to your business, such as learning some website coding. (That way, you don’t need to hire a freelancer for simple tasks that only take a minute or two, such as correcting a typo on a web page or changing a graphic.) Other skills include writing, copywriting, project management, people management, time management… and so on.
• Accounting and taxes. Most people don’t find these topics particularly exciting, but knowing a bit about the financial end can save you a lot of money.
• Industry specific information. Here you’d learn more about your specific industry by reading blog posts, news, academic articles, opinion articles, trade magazines, books and so on.

Again, these are just a few examples. The point is to invest in yourself by learning as much as you can about your industry as well as how to run a successful business.

And finally…