Why Entrepreneurs Should Continuously Learn New Things
I love the word kaizen.
According to Wikipedia, kaizen (, Japanese for “continuous improvement”) is a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement throughout all aspects of life.
Every small business owner and entrepreneur in general should - no - MUST apply kaizen throughout their entrepreneurial career.
Why?
Entrepreneurs are dynamic in nature (or at least, they should be…)
Entrepreneurs have to keep up with changes in the niche they are in and in the global business world.
Today, thanks to the Internet, information streams very quickly, catching unaware and non-kaizen entrepreneurs off guard. This results in poor business performance and competitive edge.
Today, entrepreneurs should blog - not to grab more opportunities anymore, but to survive the competition; If others blog, you should blog, too.
Today, entrepreneurs should be active in social media to collaborate and network with fellow forward-minded entrepreneurs - this way, you keep your competitive edge sharp, while getting precious information that will come to you sooner or later almost for free!
Today, entrepreneurs should be wise in discerning tech advances. Owning a Blackberry is nice, but is it useful to you? Owing a gadget doesn’t make you tech-savvy. Using your gadget to the max with a visible improvement in productivity is what tech-savvy all about.
And many more examples…
What if I don’t want to continuously improve?
You might said, “Well, I can hire people that are more knowledgable than I in to stay competitive.”
Not entirely wrong, as hiring people that can add value to your business is one of the essentials in entrepreneurship. However, hiring smart people without improving yourself in every facet of your personal and business life can have you, like I mentioned above, catched unguarded.