posted 08/20/10 | Enterprise University
Kay Erb
Enterprise University Registrar
As an entrepreneur, you are adept at many things and balancing multiple tasks. To prevent from becoming stagnant or stuck, you know you must challenge yourself to continuously grow personally and professionally. For many, personal and professional growth is the same because your company is an extension of your personality. You know change happens. It’s a matter of how you decide to grow.
Finding uninterrupted time to reflect about your business and areas where you need to focus your attentions can be a challenge. From my experiences in working with business owners, I’ve learned that there are some subjects that come up year-after-year where education is requested for additional training and learning.
For more than five years, I’ve been working with business owners, senior managers and non-profit executives by overseeing and managing Enterprise University (EU, an educational program that offers high-impact, university caliber business courses). It is a service provided by Enterprise Bank & Trust, a subsidiary of Enterprise Financial Services Corp. Courses range from cyber security and business strategies, to estate planning for business owners and performance management.
Through the years, there are some topics that come up as “need to know” or “must have” courses for business owners that are repeated each semester. Even though the content is fresh each semester, I find it interesting that these topics continue to draw new questions as attendees look for solutions for areas that always seem to change.
So when thinking about your educational opportunities for personal and professional development, below are topics or what I like to call “business owner touchstones” that I find continuously challenge the most green and seasoned of entrepreneurs:
- Performance management – If you work for yourself, are a hiring manager, or own a business that employs 10 people, you need to understand how to effectively manage people. In today’s environment, there are interesting challenges in managing people from telecommuting and different forms of communications because of technology to making sure that department goals are met and managing different generations. Business owners want to do the right thing – build a successful company by working with talented associates to achieve a business goal. Sounds simple but it is not. How to you build a winning team? How do you compensate fairly? How do you motivate different generations within the same department?
- Wealth management – For many business owners, your wealth is tied up in your business. You keep pouring your profits back into it. As your business grows, you need to start planning for your own retirement, know your succession plan, and understand the best estate planning for you.
Succession planning is a critical component of any business, even a start-up. People need to understand their exit strategy when they start a business. Sounds counter-intuitive, but every business owner needs to have a plan for each case scenario. Each business owner needs to have a customized plan for the “what ifs” for the business whether expanding, closing, being acquired, selling to the next generation, or the death of the owner. You need to have a general understanding of how each event could impact you, your family and business financially.
From an estate planning side, an entrepreneur needs to learn what happens to her estate in order for her family to be taken care of in case of her death. There are too many legal and tax implications that if not handled correctly could cost a family everything. The estate planning laws and tax codes change frequently so business owners need to have a general understanding of how those changes can affect them.
- Business growth – Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your sales and distribution, organizational structure and access to capital are key areas to know how to grow your business. Business owners who attend EU classes are asked questions such as:
-Is our sales and distribution model effective and well aligned?
-Are we properly organized to achieve our strategy?
-Are we properly capitalized to achieve our strategy?
Now the answers are different for each class participant and are most likely different from year to year but the opportunity is to learn how you can run your business more effectively, efficiently and profitably.
It does seem like a luxury to take time to strategically think about your business. I know that as a business owner you have many fires to put out at any given time. Having been involved with Enterprise University since it began, the content and focus of the courses change but the overarching themes of business growth, personal growth and wealth management continue to be the areas that class attendees want to learn more about.
Becoming stagnant or stuck for an entrepreneur can be what it takes to unravel a business. Continue to push yourself to learn new things. Change is inevitable and growth is optional. Will you choose to grow?
Kay Erb oversees and manages Enterprise University (EU), an educational program offering high-impact, university caliber business courses sponsored by Enterprise Bank & Trust. EU is one of the unique ways Enterprise Bank & Trust serves private business owners, their families and other success-minded individuals. For more information about any of the courses or to register, go to www.enterprisebank.com, or contact Kay at 314.512.7203 or .