If you want to outsmart your competitors, you need to invest in your ongoing education. Let’s have a look at some of the key areas to work on this year to get you that edge. We suggest Udemy for training but we’ve also included some alternatives below.
Leadership
One of the most effective ways to give your business an advantage is to create more productive teams. Teams that work better together, are motivated to work hard, show initiative and go further for your customers. This doesn’t happen naturally. It takes good leaders who know how to select the right staff and inspire them to work at their peak. Leadership training will show you how to choose the right people, place them in the right roles and manage them so you get the most out of them. Some people prefer to work autonomously, others like verbal praise, others like a sense of belonging. Do you know your staff well enough to identify these often unspoken qualities and get the best performance out of them?
From change management to emotional intelligence, here are a range of leadership courses to get you started:
https://www.leadershipdirections.com.au/courses/
Technology
All industries are being transformed by technology including automation, data gathering tools, artificial intelligence and more. What is a key area of technology that you could learn today to give your business an advantage in customer service, customer retention, sales, complaint handling, lead generation and more? Get to know how technology could gain you that edge and get the customised tech training you need to make it happen.
You might develop unique excel based calculators to serve your customers. You might create an app that allows them to send you a photograph of their problem so you can quote on fixing it remotely. Perhaps you’ll develop an online survey that gives them meaningful insights into a problem they’re facing and lets you filter out good prospects from bad ones. Whatever it might be, seek out where you can build a technological lead over your peers and put together the team to do it. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn some basic coding, you can teach yourself for free in the below course:
https://dash.generalassemb.ly/
Pitching
Whether you’re seeking investment, bank finance, customer orders, supplier partnerships, or major media coverage, you need to know how to pitch well. This includes how to grab attention, speak and write concisely, create a compelling story, blend emotion and reason and make persuasive arguments. Most of what we achieve in life is done as a team, in partnership with others. Pitching is essential to creating those partnerships but most people wing it or rely on what they already know.
You can learn effective pitching from the below team.
https://www.executivespeaking.com.au/presentation-skills-courses-brisbane/
Finance
No matter how much you develop your pitching, technology and leadership skills, it all collapses soon enough if you can’t handle money. Cashflow is the number one reason why small to medium sized business cease trading and we can help you to ensure you get this area of your business right. With some financial training, you can learn how to interpret key reports and have an even more productive conversation with your accountant about the subject and identify key areas to focus on improving. Financial training will help you to think in terms of money and see problems and opportunities that you would otherwise miss. You’ll learn how to identify waste, grow productive product and service lines, maintain adequate cash reserves, optimise your insurance, manage your accounts receivables and utilise the right amount of debt financing.
The Australian Institute of Management offers the below course:
https://www.aim.com.au/courses/finance-fundamentals
How to Claim Deductions
You can claim on education as long as the training will specifically improve your ability to do your job or run your business. Choose courses that will achieve this specific benefit and then keep a record of:
- Your tuition fees
- Computer expenses relating to the course (such as printing costs)
- Textbooks
- Stationery
- Phone calls
- Postage
- Travel costs
- Depreciation on assets that you have bought to complete the course.
If some assets are used for both personal and business purposes, you will need to apportion them accordingly. With a background in accounting, finance and business consulting, we can advise you on the key areas of training you should focus on in the 12 months ahead to significantly improve your business and how to optimise that investment for tax purposes.