Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

By Henry Brown

Whether you’re running a small business with a talented team or striving for solopreneur success, you must be good at what you do. Without this most fundamental skill, your business will never experience the growth and success you crave. While some business owners fall into good fortune this will not last forever, and if they are not capable, they will be found out quickly. To avoid this, you must gain competency through accessing whatever education and training is required. But why is competency so important in business?

You won’t waste time with questions 

Inefficiency and productivity drops are two severe problems in business and they often come from uncertainty or asking too many questions, whether to managers or clients. For small businesses and solopreneurs, asking clients questions can affect your relationship and derail even the simplest projects.

Everyone has received a vague project brief at some point, but the difference between competent professionals and those unsure of themselves is that the competent individuals get on with it. Rather than waiting around fretting over details, they start the work, which makes it easier to achieve the client’s vision.

You can solve problems quickly 

No business runs smoothly continuously. There will be problems that arise that could disrupt the workday and delay projects, which could be damaging to your business. If you are competent, you can avoid long-term downtime by being able to solve problems quickly.

These problems could include double-booking meeting rooms or experiencing issues with your New Office Internet system. Rather than panic about what to do, you must get ahead of the issue and find solutions.

You can train people easily 

Sharing knowledge efficiently is not as easy as it seems. You might know how to work your systems or use equipment, but it’s challenging to pass this knowledge on to your small business employees.

Competent small business training is an essential skill that minimizes mistakes from the trainee and ensures they are prepared to take on new roles. If you can explain complicated processes and procedures concisely, you improve your company’s chances of success and reduce missteps that could damage your business or client.

You increase your reputation 

Gaining respect can be tricky as a small business or as a solopreneur. You don’t have the PR machine behind you, and you lack the name value that corporations in your industry enjoy. But you still have your competency to prove your capability.

Work spreads quickly in all industries, and if potential clients hear about your talents, there is a strong chance they will get in touch. Above all else, clients want to work with professionals that know what they are doing. By proving your competency time after time, you can establish yourself as someone worth working with.

Being capable 

Investing in whatever training you need to be capable of the basic tasks involved with running your business will give you a head start over competitors and other entrepreneurs who believe they can coast by working half as hard as you. Although they may enjoy short-term success, they will not have the foundational skills to maintain this. With competency, you can get ahead when it matters and ensure your business is a good prospect within your industry and beyond.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.