The biggest secret about training as an entrepreneur is that you can do most of it for FREE!
Initial job training helps you to acclimate to your position and role within a company when you work a traditional 9-5 job as an employee. In management positions you often receive additional training that goes in depth about management tactics and tasks to be performed along with the front end operations. As a department director, you would be trained even further on Human Resource procedures and internal business functions regarding finances, growth, and infrastructure. This continues all the way up to the head of most companies and sometimes the CEO or Founder is the only person who seems to be free of the endless training cycle. Ironically so, the reality is the CEO or Founder needs to be the most trained in the company to ensure that as the company grows, the people brought in and/or partnered with are equally, if not better, qualified based on their work and training. So as an entrepreneur, training is obviously a need, but where does one begin in finding appropriate training when there’s no one handing out packets for completion or assigning online modules?
Before I got to a point of panic upon leaving my 9-5 career, my mind was eased when I learned that there are endless free
trainings, online seminars and webinars that assist entrepreneurs in educating themselves on virtually any and every topic related to building their business. When it was time to get started I simply made a list of the areas I knew I would need to develop new skills in along with some skills I could afford to refine. I made the list as simple and specific as possible so that I could find the right trainings for me. Although they are free trainings there’s still no justification in wasting time learning material that will not directly impact your business.
So now that this need has been recognized, the obvious question is: “Where can we find free trainings for specific skills and verify the validity of the information being received.” Many of us are aware that many people have put out information that may not be as useful, valid, or relevant as we need it to be for business purposes. With that in mind, begin your search for quality training online by researching successful companies in your industry and seeking trainings held or advocated for by those brands. If you find a training that is aligned with a company that you respect, you may have struck gold in regards to finding high quality training that can be applied right away.
To go one step further, you can research the companies or people who are known specifically for training specific skills in your industry. While finding several niche experts you are bound to come across blogs, social media posts, and more free content provided by experts. As you research these brands and individuals ensure that they have testimonials or reviews from other quality companies in your industry before absorbing their information.
Quality trainers are often recognized for the most 
prestigious brand they have worked with and they generally use their big clients’ names as bragging points to validate their training capabilities. Take advantage of as many free trials and intro offers as possible for the large brand trainers and then use the names of the top training companies found to do more specific research for free youtube videos or blogs with their content.
Ongoing training keeps local entrepreneurs relevant as industries evolve and adapt to consumer needs on a large scale. As we look to grow our businesses, sharpening our skills will become a necessity at some point to avoid hitting a roadblock. Take advantage of the tools available to us via the internet so that you can maximize your expertise as an entrepreneur, while minimizing your monetary investment.
