Your skills are your currency in today’s competitive environment
I often say in my seminars and my writings that people, especially entrepreneurs need to invest in themselves and, to a great extent, I find that my little piece of advice goes in one ear and out the other.
I often say in my seminars and my writings that people, especially entrepreneurs need to invest in themselves and, to a great extent, I find that my little piece of advice goes in one ear and out the other.
I’m going to break this down in simple terms so that you get to see the impact of investing in yourself and thereafter you can decide if this is something you should do or continue ignoring.
The thing is that business owners are often focussed on the wrong things like making money, We fail to see what would attract money and what we are capable of doing in exchange for money.
In the quest for money, we compromise on equipping ourselves with enough skills and knowledge to withstand any obstacle we may come across.
Time and things change and the more skills you acquire, the better position you will be in to solve problems that your clients may experience. When you ask where the money is in business, you will get different and interesting answers.
For example, if you are a good plumber, irrespective of where you are located, because of your craft you will always be in a position to apply your trade for any amount of money.
This is all because of the skill you possess; irrespective of where you are based.
Other professions such as doctors, lawyers, accountants and engineers earn their income based on the level of skill they possess; the higher the skill set, the higher the earning potential.
It is unfortunate that it is not compulsory for entrepreneurs to possess a certain set of skills. As such, they do not put much effort and focus towards improving their skills.
In fact, in the corporate world, there are people who have been fired because of a lack of skills and these people don’t understand this.
What they do know has become obsolete and no longer applicable and the responsibility to improve skills is purely on the part of the employee, although the employer also has a vital role to play.
In short: you are what you know.
Kholofelo Pholafudi
