Even though most of us bring all sorts of skills and work experience to our home businesses, we may feel ill-prepared for all of the demands of the job we have taken on. I know that even though I thought I was well prepared to run my own business, I definitely learned quite a bit not just from business magazines and books, but also by actually doing the tasks and dealing with issues as they arose. When you feel overwhelmed or think you are completely out of your comfort zone in your home business—just think of all the valuable hands-on training you are actually getting!
I have learned things about accounting, bookkeeping and invoicing that I never learned in any of the jobs before I had my own business. I have also learned all sorts of things about record-keeping and taxes. After all, it seems every year I add more pages to my tax return and the days of the one 1040 are long gone. I have made mistakes and I continue to make mistakes, but I learn a bunch every time I do. In fact, I learn more from the mistakes than I do when I accidentally do something right the first time.
In addition to the obvious, we are also gaining networking, marketing, sales, and organizational skills that we might not have developed before. Even if we did get a chance to grow some of these skills and talents in our previous work incarnations, chances are, we have a much more extensive opportunity now. Most of us are one-person operations and this means we have to wear all those hats and figure out how to do all the jobs. What a marvelous opportunity to learn and grow and develop as we bumble and march along—just think of all the real work and real practice and real training that you are getting!
Also: Who Decides What Sort of Training You Need?
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